The White Sox announced today that infielder Chase Meidroth has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 4th, with a right thumb contusion. Infielder Jacob Amaya has been selected to take his place on the roster. To open a 40-man spot for Amaya, right-hander Gus Varland has been designated for assignment.
Meidroth’s injury actually dates back over a week. On July 30th, he was hit on the hand by a pitch from Taijuan Walker, as seen in this clip from MLB.com. The club evidently didn’t think it was a serious issue, as they didn’t put him on the IL right away. However, he hasn’t started a game since then. He did play on Sunday, entering as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning.
Presumably, the thumb hasn’t healed as hoped, so the Sox will give him some more rest. IL stints can be backdated by three days if the player hasn’t played in that time frame, which the Sox have done here, so Meidroth could be back in a week if his condition improves.
While he’s been out, Colson Montgomery has moved over from third to shortstop, with Brooks Baldwin taking over at the hot corner. Curtis Mead, Lenyn Sosa and Josh Rojas have been splitting first and second base duties.
Amaya gives them an extra infielder to have on hand. He has 62 games of big league experience, mostly having played shortstop but also with some second base sprinkled in. He’s also played some third base in the minors. He’s considered a good defender but hasn’t hit much, with a .144/.176/.158 line in the big leagues. He is out of options and got passed through waivers earlier this year. Since then, he’s been hitting well in Triple-A, with a .291/.402/.464 line in 132 plate appearances. He struck out in 28.8% of those trips to the plate but also walked at a 15.2% pace.
He’ll try to carry some of that over to the big leagues. His out-of-options status may give him a tenuous hold on a roster spot. On the other hand, Mead can still be optioned while Rojas is having a terrible season and is on pace for a non-tender at season’s end. When Meidroth returns, perhaps Amaya could stick around since he’s still relatively young and years away from qualifying for arbitration.
As for Varland, he was optioned to the minors in mid-March, ahead of Opening Day. He made two Triple-A appearances before landing on the minor league IL due to a forearm strain, per Scott Merkin of MLB.com. He started a rehab assignment in June but that lasted just six appearances before he was shut down. James Fegan of Sox Machine says Varland is out for the year.
The trade deadline has passed and injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers, so the Sox will have no choice but to release Varland. Though he’s hurt now, he could garner interest from other clubs based on his past results. He tossed 20 1/3 innings for the Sox last year with a 3.54 earned run average, 28.2% strikeout rate, 4.7% walk rate and 40.4% ground ball rate. He will still have one option season after this year and has just under a year of service time.
Photo courtesy of Peter Aiken, Imagn Images
Given the current White Sox situation, I wonder what standards they use to determine when a player needs to go ? If they used the same metrics as good teams they might not be able to field a team for 9 innings.
It’s the “throw s*** at the wall and see what sticks” method
@jumanji: With respect, and without personal interest because I am not a White Sox fan, I think it’s time to stop posting things like what you have posted. A year ago, the Sox were a disaster and deserved to be mocked. But that is old news. The team now is much improved and no longer should be treated like a punchline. They have at least 8 or 9 young players on the roster who are not only promising but are good major-leaguers already, and they have a good “supporting cast” to back up those fast risers. If the season started now, they very possibly would not finish last in the division and could approach a .500 record. That or better is a realistic goal for next season. The proverbial arrow is pointing way up.
Alan53: While I agree the Sox have improved from last year (It would be difficult to do any worse), I think .500 is a bit optimistic. They still have plenty of holes in their roster and a gm that dfa’s players only to bring them back to Charlotte. They’ve gone from God awful last year to just awful this season.
Yeah Pittsburgh, Athletics, Nationals haven’t finished over .500 in five years. It would be a minor miracle if Chicago could do it in only 2 years after having the worst record ever in the modern era.
@SOB: Yes, it would be unusual. But Getz has done a very good job of restocking the farm system via trade, with major-league ready or fast-rising prospects. .500 next season is not impossible for the White Sox. Or at least close.
By the way, the 2024 Sox did NOT have “the worst record ever in the modern era.” People keep saying that, but it’s not true. They had the most losses but not the worst percentage. The 1962 Mets went 40-120, for a winning percentage of .250. The 2024 Sox went 41-121, for a winning percentage of 253.
Their X W/L is probably a good reflection of the talent level averaged over the season thus far. That is 50-65. Same as Balt, Better than the A’s, Nats and Rockies. One worse than the Angels. And not too far from the Twins which are likely now much worse than they were for most of the season. I would say the ChiSox are about the 6th worst at the moment. Very bad but not in the category I would call awful.
Absolutely. The Chisox are on the rise.
Alan, the idea of getting to 63-99 is not an unreasonable stretch goal for them as long as they don’t need to shut down their young starting pitching for hitting innings limits or fatigue.
Getz has gotten rid of a lot of the dead wood, and seems to be focusing on a mix of their own youth and some reclamation projects in Vargas and probably Mead (who never got steady playing time in Tampa). Venable is worlds better than any of their last few managers.
I like to see them not stink, except when they are playing the Cubs. There is hope for them for the future, well except for the whole part about Reinsdorf still owning the team. That’s different than Colorado, which looks like a permanent tire fire.
JR will sell the Sox to the Ishbia bros at minimum 2029 btw.
Alan53 – The team is on pace to lose 102 games. They have the second worst winning percentage in MLB baseball. They are a joke.
They’re aren’t as bad as last year.
@Aiden. Mustard seems not to have read the relevant posts carefully. No one has said the Sox are a good team right now, just that they are improving.
Or maybe Mustard is just a hater. Some of the things haters tend to hate are thoughtfulness, nuance, civilized discourse, etc. I think that they register such qualities as weakness.
They are also capable of writing illiteracies like “MLB baseball.” Redundant.
#improving
It wasn’t intended as a joke, but rather an honest question. Objectively a team with a record of 42-72 is very bad. That’s not 72 one-run, poor luck losses. They do have improving young players, but the team is still very bad.
I will re-phrase my (probably rhetorical) question. When you have a team that is doing this poorly, what do you use for standards of good and bad ?
When a team is rebuilding, I think the question is whether the most important pieces are playing well and seem to be correcting their mistakes. Smith, Burke, Quero, Teel, Vargas, Montgomery. If Michael Taylor strikes out with the bases loaded in the 9th inning, so what? Similarly if Teel is up then, did he work the count and barrel the ball?
BHCTI, first, it’s a good thing your initials aren’t in another order, lol.
Second, I agree fully. I’d also add the team’s morale into it. How hard are they playing? Are they showboating or are they trying to play solid fundamentals? And that one’s team-wide, regardless of whether they’ll be back next year, because it speaks to the coaching staff and team culture.
Yea they’re really turning it around. Montgomery is the next Adam Dunn. 40 HR’s w/a .210 AVG & 200 k’s. They’ll be 50 games under .500 in no time.
They will never be 50 games under .500 the rest of my life or probably yours. I look forward to your admitting you were wrong about that, as regards this season, on Sept. 28.
I’m sure you’ll be here. You seem to live on MLBTR
This is my last season, kid.
You will be missed
Just checking to see how you feel about the Sox rn
@D Rock: Well, obviously they are much improved from last season, or earlier this season. They have some nice young players. As we all know, having some nice young players does not equal having a winning team….With development and a couple of good adds, they have a shot at being .500 or even better next season.
One friend who is a Sox fan–we agreed to disagree decades ago!–says he is encouraged by the fact that the Royals went 56-106 in 2023 and made the playoffs in 2024. Hopes the Sox can do something similar. Maybe.
We’ll see. I’m a realistic White Sox fan. I say they lose close to 105-110 this year and maybe 100 next year if they’re lucy. Burke sucks and Montgomery needs to be sent down to AAA
The Sox were my first team. I go back to the era of Aparicio, Fox, etc. Unlike some Cubs fans, I wish them no ill.
I think the Sox are interesting as a sort of psychological/sociological phenomenon. In Chicago, they are the quintessential less-loved child. They so much want to be loved more! But it has never occurred to the people running the team–even to Bill Veeck, who was a great man–that the way to be loved more is TO BE MORE LOVEABLE. They are a nasty institution, and that has not served them well.
Being ruled out for the season would seem to be a pretty valid reason for a release, but I don’t know why they wouldn’t just put him on the 60-day IL instead.
The 60 day IL doesn’t exist during the offseason, so they’d have had to put him on the 40-man.
If anybody acquires him, I think they’d have to do the same thing. The Sox apparently made the decision that he wasn’t worth carrying on the 40-man during the offseason. Chances are, he might become available again and they can get him back when/if he’s further along in his rehab.
He blows!
Twins have a chance to do the funniest thing and bring Louie’s brother in
The Sox should release Rojas and let Mead play more.
Vargas is on the IL, perhaps after Vargas injury is healed I think they DFA Rojas. Mead can shift to 2nd/3rd if Vargas stays at 1B.
I think Mead is going to be playing some 1B while Vargas is on the shelf. They don’t like his arm at 3B. Ultimately, I think next year’s infield will be Vargas 1B, Mead 2B, Meidroth SS, and Montgomery 3B.
Rojas and Amaya just need to sit their useless asses on the bench every day.
Or, Mead at 1B, Montgomery SS, Meidroth 2B and Vargas at 3B.
Josh Rojas Mariners legend.
He proved that today.
“Infielder Jacob Amaya has been selected to take his place on the roster. To open a 40-man spot for Amaya, right-hander Gus Varland has been designated for assignment.”
Dodger legends
Perhaps Oklahoma City legends maybe
Options shouldn’t matter much on Mead. Dump Rojas and see what they have in Mead. They still have middle IF they can bring up if Mead sucks or gets hurt. Or bring Elko back up for another shot. I know he was awful in his cup of coffee, but that happens to lots of guys.
Even though they’re better this year, the season’s already lost. No sense wasting time on guys who they don’t even want to be here next year.
I have been a Sox 71 years ! Since the days of Sherm Lollar Nellie Fox Looie Aparicio Billy Pierce Early Wynn . I have seen both good and bad teams! I believe the Sox of today may be on their way to some successful years
I an almost as old as you and remember seeing all those players play. I agree that the the arrow is pointing up. Some of the players on the next playoff team are already on this one–such as Meidroth, Teel, and Montgomery, among several others.