The White Sox have sent outfielders Trayce Thompson and Clint Frazier through outright waivers, the team announced. They’re each eligible to elect free agency, although the club didn’t indicate if either player has yet done so. Both players would have qualified for arbitration and seemed easy non-tender decisions.
It is very likely that both will head back to the open market. Thompson, a former Sox draftee, rejoined the team midseason in the Lance Lynn/Joe Kelly deal with the Dodgers. He was on the injured list at the time. Chicago reinstated Thompson on August 3. He hit .171/.261/.232 with a massive 43.5% strikeout rate in 92 plate appearances.
Between the two clubs, he finished the year with a .163/.285/.294 showing while punching out 43% of the time. Thompson had been a key contributor for Los Angeles in the second half of 2022. He’d connected on 13 homers with a .268/.364/.537 slash in 74 games, albeit with a 36% strikeout rate.
Frazier signed a minor league deal with Chicago at the end of April. The club selected him onto the MLB roster a month later. The former #5 overall pick nevertheless spent much of the season on optional assignment to Triple-A Charlotte. He hit .231/.363/.442 with a 26.6% strikeout rate at the top minor league level. Frazier got into 33 MLB games this year, running a .197/.303/.242 slash.
Tracye Thompson
25H to 77K says it all about last season. – a player who has some homer potential but only in spurts at 32 he will likely seek a minor league deal and to prove he can correct that hit to K ratio.
Boy, I don’t know. Teams have been waiting for him to turn the corner for years, but he always turns out to be fool’s gold. Whoever offers him even a minors deal has to be fixated on his 2022 second half performance. That’s about all he can hang his hat on, and that hook is pretty wobbly.
He was not on the Royals at some point, Getz does not like that. Maybe Getz will go and try to overpay for Lorenzo Cain next….
And no, I do not think Thompson should be around. Should not have even been playing at the majors, It should have been Colas. This team was going nowhere, and given what they paid for Colas they should have just left him on the major league roster and put him out there everyday for the rest of the season. Now they likely
trashed whatever little confidence that kid may have had in his abilities (also speaks volumes as to how they think of him)
As erratic as Klay with the swing and misses. But at least he plays defense.
Frazier , from untouchable to footnote
The Sox got quite the haul of crap when they sold off the team last season. BRILLIANT!!
Yeah, I get law of averages, but as a whole, looking back on it, they got a lot of underachievers to say the least. I think part of the issue were the contract extensions these kids got.. Once they signed off on that they are set for their lives and I think were done trying to get better (and further enabled to that feeling apparently by the past and current coaching staffs and org)