The White Sox recently agreed to a minor league contract with outfielder Mark Payton, according to his transactions log at MLB.com. He made his first Spring Training appearance with the Sox yesterday.
A Chicago-area native, Payton was selected by the Yankees out of the University of Texas in the 2014 draft. He spent five years in the New York organization before landing with the A’s in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. After a very strong Triple-A campaign with Oakland in 2019, the Reds selected Payton in the big league phase of the Rule 5 draft the following winter. He didn’t stick with the MLB club and was returned to Oakland, but the A’s traded him back to Cincinnati for cash not long after.
Payton eventually got a big league call from the Reds late in the 2020 season. He played in eight games and logged action in 24 contests last year before being designated for assignment in July. Cincinnati traded him to the Mets, and he spent the rest of the season with New York’s Triple-A affiliate. Despite putting up an impressive .305/.385/.477 line with Syracuse, Payton was never recalled to the majors and non-tendered after the season.
The 30-year-old only has 44 big league plate appearances under his belt. He’s a career .297/.371/.505 hitter in more than 1300 Triple-A plate appearances. He’s only played the corner outfield in the majors but has a fair bit of experience at all three outfield spots in the minors. Payton adds some left-handed hitting depth to the high levels in the Chicago system.
Seems like a decent pick up
Where’s your ‘dumpster divin’ Chisox fan, now?
Without knowing anything about him, one quick glance and I’d say his size has prevented him from getting more opportunities.
I have no idea about all that.
But: for one reason or another, the Yanks never gave him a chance.
i was thinking there had to be something we couldnt see turning teams off, he has put up decent numbers a few times. this could be it but who knows
Rubbish grabbing Ricky Hahn!
I don’t know if I would go so far to call it “rubbish”. Maybe they may find a diamond in the rough. Who knows? The Sox need to build up their farm system. I think Hahn will find what he needs to push the Sox into a World Series. Just have faith and patience
Hahn bringing back John Cangelosi
My son plays for John’s travel baseball team. Dude is still in shape, and has energy to coach forty 13 year olds at a time… couldn’t be worse than Adam Eaton!
Hahn needs to get back Drake LaRoche. – if nothing else, for his leadership.
Was a super great hitter with Oakland’s triple A team in 2019. 30 HR 97 rbi high OBA SLG etc. His only year in the Oakland organization. Are Canseco and McGuire
still consultants there?
Just a local kid probably trying to catch up with his favorite team….Triple AAA here he goes.
Dude hit 34 homers with Oakland’s AAA affiliate in 2019. Juiced baseballs, juiced balls (huevos) or both?
Sox fans had ZERO faith in me to answer our right field woes. Ungrateful lil arseholes. #InJerryWeTrust
Peyton is a tough St.Rita kid that knows how to play the game the right way. .505 lifetime AAA slugging pct. is quite impressive. He isn’t a punch and judy hitter. I give the young man credit for not giving up.Good depth piece.
So, they picked up another slugger whose defensive skills keep him from making the majors? Think Sox have plenty of that, so not really depth, just redundancy.
What they need is a slap-hitting 2b who can run, and a rifle-arm RF who hits left handed line drives.
He can hit ! With the DH in both leagues, there’s definitely a line up spot for him somewhere. Not so much a numbers game anymore. (signed; a Reds fan that appreciated Payton’s play when part of the team)…