The Chicago White Sox added Billy Hamilton to their spring camp today on a minor league contract, per the Athletic’s James Fegan (via Twitter). Hamilton was recently let go by the White Sox’ division rival in Cleveland.
In the short term, Hamilton can plug the hole in center while Luis Robert gets himself back to full speed. Long-term, it will be interesting to see if Chicago decides to make room for the speedster. The White Sox already are facing a bit of a roster crunch. Their 40-man roster is currently full, and presumably, they’ll soon need to open a spot for Jonathan Lucroy if they plan on making him their backup catcher. Andrew Vaughn is also expected to receive playing time on the big-league roster at some point this season, and he’ll need to be added to the 40-man as well.
Otherwise, the White Sox are a relatively good fit for Hamilton. Broadly speaking, the White Sox are a more traditional franchise, and manager Tony La Russa might like having an NL-style speedster on his bench to play around with. As of now, Adam Engel is the team’s fourth outfielder, while Leury Garcia can also play with his cleats in the grass. Micker Adolfo, Luis Gonzalez, and Blake Rutherford are the other outfielders on the 40-man roster.
dumpster diving Williams
And so it begins
That’s why they call Chicago “The Dumpster City.”
Wait, @baseballpun…are you telling me it’s not the Paris of the Midwest?
It’s not even the Paris of Illinois. That would, of course, be Joliet.
No, there already is a Paris, IL. Alfalfa Switzer was from there. My great-grandfather was a doctor and attended to him once.
Or actually Paris, Illinois. It’s down south by Terra Haute. Look it up
Paris, IL is really more of the Paris, TX of Illinois,
other than Timothy O’Toole’s i don’t see how chi is the pairs of the midwest i give that to future town il.
Gross lol
Only because Chicago has a toxic river, segregated neighborhoods, the continual practice of red lining, and a corrupt city council does not make Chicago a dumpster city.
“dumpster diving Williams”
There was a time in history where that joke was fresh and funny. I can’t pinpoint the year, but I’m confident it was in the 21st century.
I think the dumpster diving thing has become the Sideshow Bob Rake joke, where it’s gone from being amusing to tediously repetitive to funny because of how ridiculous it is.
Naw, this was the first time it actually was funny.
He’s done it so often the last several years, at least refer to him as “Landfill diving Williams”.
Yeah, you guys can make fun of the Chisox roster all you want. But it sure looks potent, doesn’t it? I mean how many teams could be proud of claiming to have both Billy Hamilton and Jonathan Lucroy? When Tony puts those 2 names on the lineup card, it’ll strike fear into opposing managers. They are such a deep team, due to deep pockets Reinsdork.
Ah yes, he will definitely find playing time here.
The Sox got a new Hamilton for their Burr
No, step away from Billy Hamilton! Wait, do we still have man on second, tie game, extra innings rule? That should get him into 5-7 games.
That was actually my first reaction, then I realized I don’t know… Can you use a pinch runner in that situation?? Otherwise, wouldn’t it come down to he would have had to make the last out in the previous inning (which, if he was at bat, is a good possibility)?
I think you can use the pinch-runner but you’ll lose whoever made the last out (as with any other pinch-running situation).
Thank you for the info!
Solid signing.
He can run, he can play CF.
Hamilton is the exact type of player you want as the last guy on the bench., because he can pay dividends late in games.
Hamilton, Robert and Engel in the OF late in games? Nothing will fall.
Gosh, I don’t think I would.
Hard to find any use for a guy with a .621(!) career OPS.
That’s doesn’t play.
It’s the American League. You don’ t have the need to pinch hit as you do in the NL.
With the expanded roster, you also have the ability to add one more player who can serve a utility purpose.
Hamilton can impact the game by merely pinch running late in games and serving as a defensive replacement.
And worse case, you get a guy who can play plus defense in CF while you are waiting for another player to mend. But with the roster they have, that isn’t even necessary, since they have Adam Engel, who can play GG caliber CF, and Leury Garcia, who is possible and can hit a little.
All Hamilton needs to do is what he does best – run and play defense.
I think that is a much better use of a bench spot as opposed to having a third catcher who will rarely play, or a corner outfield bat who also won’t get much time.
“Hamilton can impact the game by merely pinch running late in games & serving as a defensive replacement.”
Someone posts this on every single Billy Hamilton thread. It’s a good concept, perhaps? But teams keep releasing this guy. I don’t think pinch running & late inning D is nearly as valuable as we might think at first.
His career OBP is under .300.
He’s a really just a very fast out making machine.
If he makes the sox roster it’s because they are having some problems.
Young team really counting on *all* of their young players to continue to improve. That’s probably a long shot, so I guess they very well could see Hamilton. I would imagine sox fans hope not, uh.
Heh, that “someone” might be me. I’ll just reiterate the point you already made: pinch running and defensive replacement are not skills impactful enough to justify a roster spot. And everyone swears he won’t get any at bats, but he’ll still end up pinch hitting and in somewhat big spots; that’s why it’s not worth the roster spot.
From last year the roster has actually contracted from 28 to 26 and he had a rough time finding a team.
The White Sox are one of these two:
A solid, contending team that would be wasting a spot with his talent at this time, or
A team grasping at finding the 26th man on the roster.
They are clearly the former.
My guess is that he will be readily available in September when the rosters expand to 28. He might serve some value to a contender then.
I get it, @cosmo.
& I’ve been “someone” on the board myself.
He does have a really intriguing set of skills. It does seem like he’d be an excellent use of the 26th roster spot.
But – man – he had an OBP of .171 last year. That’s absolutely unplayable.
@ducky i agree with ya, also add in that he is playing on a tlr team and for the most part he didn’t pitch run for a player unless he is going to sub them out in the field after his at bat. only way i see hamilton making the club is that he figures out how to get on base or he is stellar on defense tlr isn’t going to use him much.
Given the way teams use their bullpens these days I think it’s been proven over the course of 162 games you can’t afford to have a guy like billy Hamilton on the roster anymore. Might be slightly easier with 26 man rosters but teams burn through so many arms each game you need 8, 9 man pens.
For the couple of games per month Hamilton is really helpful he’s loses you just as many having to play him regularly because the days of playing everyday players 154 games are over too. The game is won and lost with depth now.
It’s difficult to envision a spot on the White Sox opening day roster for Billy Hamilton short of an injury to an outfielder, particularly Luis Robert, Adam Eaton or Adam Engel. That said, Hamilton could fill a similar role to what Jarrod Dyson did last season when the White Sox acquired the speedy outfielder in a late August trade from the Pirates.
It should also be noted that an injury to Leury Garcia opened up a spot on the active roster for Dyson last season.
I still find it amazing that Hamilton stole 155 bases in 2012. Seems hard to imagine that anyone can, not only get on base so frequently to reach that mark, but also have enough opportunities to steal. He appempted a SB 192 times. He had 157 hits (159 total but 2 were home runs), 86 walks and 2 HBP. Even if you give him some leinance for times he reached via error, he attempted a stolen base at least 75% of the time he reached base.
But to steal a base you have to get on base, and you can’t steal first base.
I know, but 155 stolen bases and attempting 192 times in total in just one single season is impressive. Yeah, he doesn’t get on base in the majors, but still just a cool tidbit.
Sure you can. Its called a walk. The problem is it far harder than an actual steal.
Hed almost be better off going up to bat and never swinging.
Imagine is he was even a passable hitter? Say .250-.275 He’d have a multi-year contract for big money on a contending team!
Unless Robert has to go on the DL, he will end up at the alternate site until the AAA season starts on May 4. If nobody wants him before then, Charlotte is supposed to be a nice place to live.
I don’t think the white sox have any intention of actually keeping him…they are just messing around to prevent him from being on another team as his speed is valuable! He will be cut, you watch!
I really hope this signing isn’t an indication the injury to Robert is worse than they’re letting on.
Maybe they’re ready to give up on Rutherford. He’s shown NOTHING.
Watch Sox use him as a pinch runner, bottom of the 9th in game 7 of the WS. He’ll steal 2nd base, then score the game winning run on a base hit by Moncada. Book it!
Do you have tomorrow’s winning lotto numbers too?
Maybe, but it’ll cost you. I take Bitcoin.
Great signing for this team. TLR master of late inning moves. Allows Jimenez to DH sometimes with both Adam’s in Of and Hamilton on pines if needed. No DH signed for this season. Vaughn sent down for a month to get extra year of service a la Kris Bryant move. If Vaughn mashing in AAA will be brought up. Missing backup catcher. Grandal knee bad. He will see DH time too. Either Lucroy makes team or a discard will be picked up before season starts unless they go with Collins who needs a little more seasoning too.
You sensationalists with your “house on fire” attitude…
The Sox clearly have a backup catcher. Actually, they have four. Currently, Lucroy is said to be favored. Grandal/McCann was a luxury last year. No team is going to carry two well paid All-Star caliber catchers on the roster. Would be nice, but you’re going to have to let that one go.
The Sox don’t need more options for DH. They have eight or nine guys who can DH on any given day, so why waste money on a free agent? Nelson Cruz would have made some sense, but they don’t really need him.
Most of the concerns seem to cone from older Sox fans. You guys should know better than anyone that no team is perfect. Aside from RF, there really are no weaknesses on this roster. They have the talent, veteran leadership and management/coaching to win the AL. That’s about all anyone can hope for right now. Try to enjoy the ride. I’m guessing the Sox lead the league in All-Star representatives this year, which says a lot about the depth on this team.
This. Copy paste, universal response to the naysayers and fearmongerers
The team found a backup catcher. DH is still unresolved.
I think Vaughn can do it ultimately, but banking on Collins and Mercedes to do the job in the short run is a huge risk. There is no reason the team couldn’t have added an insurance bat like Todd Frazier or Eddie Rosario, who, BTW, would have also provided depth in case of injuries to injury-prone players (Eaton, Garcia, Moncada).
But it is what it is, and hopefully they can get something out of that platoon.
Vaughn should start in AAA, but not for nonsensical service-time considerations, which the team needs to stop.
Banking on a young hitter to DH is a “huge” risk? Really. Can’t be any more of a risk than paying some aging free agent big money to take four ABs a game. Encarnacion was an unmitigated disaster last year. We got zero contribution from him, unfortunately. They still managed to come one short of winning the division. I’m confident some combination of Abreu, Grandal, Mercedes, Vaughn, Garcia and Collins will be very productive. Eloy would be ideal at DH, but the Sox want to keep their young star happy, so no go.
If for some bizarre reason those options don’t work at DH, they can still trade for someone at the deadline. It’s really not that big a concern, and I don’t get these reactions from Sox fans. We have a ton to be optimistic about. The Sox are a top 3 team in the AL (arguably the best, but some folks don’t trust young players so…).
Luis Gonzalez has 22 at bats this spring. I think he got a long look to see if he could be the 26th man. Sub in for Eloy as a defensive replacement plus a lefty who can play small ball.
However he’s under the mendoza line. So maybe he needs more time in the minors. Hamilton would fill that spot until Gonzalez is ready.
I don’t understand what Hahn was doing with most of the young position players last season.
They wasted a developmental year for both Collins and Mercedes by adding EE, and they refused to give Gonzalez some experience by signing Dyson, who they didn’t even use much.
In fact, had it not been for injuries and the expanded roster, you probably wouldn’t have seen much from Heuer or Foster.
The fact that they opted to play vets over younger players the past several seasons may come back to haunt this team, because they missed out on evaluating their own players, who could have solved issues on the cheap.
Agreed on the Encarnacion signing. Mercedes and Vaughn should have split ABs at DH.
He still hits better than Hamilton. Hamilton is a designated fielder and runner.
I see absolutely no way Hamilton makes this team. As stated in the article, the Sox will already have to make room for Lucroy and Vaughn, if not out of spring, than shortly afterwards for some mysterious reason. If Hamilton does make this team, then you can bet there is something significantly wrong with Robert, enough to start him on the IL, which I hope isn’t the case.
Good point. I hope you’re wrong about Robert.
Luis Robert had a very mild lower abdominal strain. The White Sox erred on the side of caution and held him out of their last couple of Cactus League games. He is back in the starting lineup for today’s contest (Wednesday, March 17th) versus the Dodgers.