The White Sox are signing outfielder Dustin Harris to a minor league deal, reports James Fegan of Sox Machine. The lefty hitter will be in camp as a non-roster invitee.
Harris, 26, is a former A’s draftee who was traded to Texas early in his career. He showed a decent power-speed combination in the minors and ranked among Baseball America’s top 10 prospects in the Rangers system each year from 2022-24. The Rangers carried him on their 40-man roster for a couple years. Harris received a brief look as a September call-up at the end of the ’24 season. His prospect stock had already begun to dim by that point, as his .272/.358/.391 showing in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League was a little worse than average given the hitter-friendly setting.
The Rangers bounced Harris on and off the active roster for the first few months of this past season. They designated him for assignment at the trade deadline and successfully ran him through waivers. He came back up in September while Adolis García was on the injured list but was outrighted again at the beginning of the offseason. Harris elected free agency the second time around.
His big league résumé consists of 21 games, in which he has hit .217 with a .280 on-base percentage. Harris has posted solid but not exceptional numbers over two and a half seasons in Triple-A. He’s a .276/.367/.420 hitter in nearly 1300 plate appearances. Harris has posted strong strikeout and walk rates, but his exit velocities at the Triple-A level are near the bottom of the scale. He can play all three outfield positions and probably fits best in left field.
The White Sox have Andrew Benintendi in left field and Luis Robert Jr. (barring a trade) to play center. Out-of-options Everson Pereira is probably lined up for right field work. Pereira has a .146/.227/.215 line in 50 major league games. Fourth outfielder Derek Hill and depth types Brooks Baldwin and Tristan Peters are on the 40-man roster. They’ll enter Spring Training ahead of Harris on the depth chart, but it’s a good spot for a non-roster invitee to carve out a role with an impressive camp.
Sounds like about the weakest outfield bunch ever.
Braden Montgomery will be up at some point most likely.
Stole 33 bases. Didnt staike out an over amount. Not bad batter. Worth a look
That is a guy I always had an eye on in Texas’ system. Pacific Coast league or not those stats scream potential leadoff hitter, especially the steals. Between him and Pereira one of them should blossom into something useful, even if its only a platoon or 4th OFer.
Could be another nice pickup, Tauchman and Slater were savvy value pickups last season who netted the team prospects and mentorship
Venable should be familiar with him, right? At least he’s got some good tools and a prospect pedigree. Sadly it remains a high possibility that this current outfield group won’t even match last year’s and that was weak.
Wow, they’re going for it today!! First the Japanese slugger, Murakami, now they’re building around him already…. World Series bound!
Harris could be a decent 4th outfielder as long as he isnt over exposed.
As a Rangers fan, I liked Harris, but he didn’t have a ton of opportunity with the Rangers. Glad to see him go somewhere where he’ll at least have an opportunity. Could be a solid player if things can click fast enough to earn more runway against major league pitching.
I see Getz is going for the AAA championship again by accumulating AAAA players.
this could mean a few things
1) they realized their AAA Charlotte team only had 2 outfielders under contract
2) they’re throwing darts at the major league outfield corner depth and hoping something hits; or
3) they think they have a luis robert jr. trade that they like lined up
#3 would be nice for both parties to begin a new chapter.
I loved his very competitive at bats. I was hoping Texas would keep him around.