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White Sox Outright Steven Wilson

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The White Sox announced that right-hander Steven Wilson, who was designated for assignment last week, has passed through waivers unclaimed and been outrighted to Triple-A Charlotte. He’ll be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee, per Scott Merkin of MLB.com.

Wilson, 30, came to the Sox just under a year ago as part of the Dylan Cease trade. He had put up some solid numbers in San Diego over the previous two seasons. He tossed 106 innings over 102 appearances in 2022 and 2023. He allowed 3.48 earned runs per nine. His 10.9% walk rate was a bit high but he struck out 25.4% of batters faced. He was trusted enough by the Friars to rack up a save and 27 holds.

But his 2024 ended up being a struggle, as he went on the injured list due to back strains on a couple of occasions. He did make 40 appearances around those IL stints but had a 5.71 ERA in those. His walk rate spike to 16% while his strikeout rate fell to 20.9%.

Despite the rough season, the White Sox tendered Wilson a contract for 2025 and avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $950K salary. They then bumped him off the roster when they claimed lefty Brandon Eisert last week. It seems none of the 29 other clubs were willing to grab Wilson at that price point, so he went unclaimed.

Wilson has three years of service time, which gave him the right to elect free agency. However, since he has less than five years of service, heading to the open market would have meant forfeiting that $950K. He’ll stick with the Sox and try to earn his way back onto the roster.

There’s a decent chance of opportunities opening up throughout the year. Justin Anderson is the only reliever on the roster with more than three years of service time. Penn Murfee is the only other guy beyond the two-year mark. That means very little is cemented in the group overall, which could afford Wilson a path back to the big leagues. If he gets back on the roster, he has a full slate of options.

Ky Bush To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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White Sox prospect Ky Bush will undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow and miss the 2025 season, general manager Chris Getz announced to the team’s beat writers this morning (via Scott Merkin of MLB.com). He’s on Chicago’s 40-man roster, so if the Sox need to free up a spot at any point, they can place Bush on the 60-day injured list.

Bush, 25, was a second-round pick by the Angels in 2021 who landed with the South Siders by way of the Lucas Giolito/Reynaldo Lopez trade in 2023. He made his major league debut for the Sox in 2024 but only started four games, totaling 17 2/3 innings with a 5.60 ERA. His minor league output was far more promising. Bush breezed through 80 2/3 innings in Double-A, logging a pristine 2.12 ERA with a 24.6% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate. He was hit hard in a small sample of four Triple-A starts, just as he was in the majors, but the bulk of his 2024 work was quite solid.

Given the patchwork nature of the White Sox’ pitching staff, Bush would’ve had a legitimate chance to break into the rotation — if not from Opening Day then certainly by midseason. The Sox currently have Martin Perez, Jonathan Cannon, Davis Martin and Bryse Wilson projected for rotation work. Prospects Sean Burke, Nick Nastrini, Jake Eder, Drew Thorpe and Jairo Iriarte are all in the running for a role in 2025.

Bush would have been in that race for a spot as well, had he been healthy. Instead, the White Sox’ No. 12 prospect (per Baseball America) will now spend the season rehabbing. The mid-February nature of his surgery gives him a chance to be ready not too long after Opening Day 2026. Assuming he spends the entire season on the 60-day injured list, he’ll gain a full year of MLB service while rehabbing. Bush would still be controllable for at least another five years — through 2030 — and would have multiple minor league options remaining as well.

Poll: Who’s Winning The Offseason In The AL Central?

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The calendar has flipped to February and the start of spring is just a matter of days away. While some notable free agents (including seven of MLBTR’s Top 50) remain unsigned, most clubs have already done the heavy lifting in terms of preparing their roster for the 2025 season. In the coming days, we’ll be taking a look around the league at which clubs have had the strongest offseason to this point. The Mets, Cubs, and Dodgers have decisively won the polls covering the National League’s three divisions, but things were much closer in the AL West with the Athletics squeaking past the Rangers by about 300 votes for the division’s best offseason. Will things be just as close in the AL Central?

Coming off a season where they sent three teams to the ALDS and had a fourth club narrowly miss the postseason, the AL Central enters 2025 in its strongest position in years in spite of the White Sox breaking the single-season record for losses last year. That strength comes with heightened expectations, however, and clubs like the Tigers and Royals that have been mired in lengthy rebuilds in recent years are looked at as genuine contenders entering the season for the first time in a decade or more. Meanwhile, the Guardians and Twins hope to keep their perpetual playoff contention going and the White Sox will look to show signs of life despite being mired in what could be a lengthy rebuild of their own following their disastrous 2024 season.

Which team has done the most to set themselves up for success this winter? Teams are listed in order of their 2024 record.

Cleveland Guardians

It’s been a busy offseason in Cleveland with plenty of turnover on the roster. The club’s biggest free agent move was reuniting with longtime ace Shane Bieber on a two-year deal with an opt out after 2025, but they also reunited with longtime first baseman Carlos Santana for his third stint with the club and inked veteran reliever Paul Sewald to a one-year deal as well. Those three free agent moves have been supplemented by a number of notable trades. They shipped out the contracts of Andres Gimenez and Myles Straw to Toronto in separate deals and flipped first baseman Spencer Horwitz (acquired in the Gimenez deal) to the Pirates for Luis Ortiz to bolster the club’s rotation.

In addition to those roster upgrades, however, they’ve also made a handful of sell-side trades including a deal that sent first baseman Josh Naylor to the Diamondbacks. The club also parted ways with right-hander Nick Sandlin as part of the Gimenez trade and shipped righty Eli Morgan to the Cubs in a separate deal. Overall, the Guardians managed to substantially upgrade their rotation after the unit struggled with depth in 2024 and cleared plenty of salary off their long-term books, but did so at the expense of an offense that loses two everyday players in Gimenez and Naylor as well as some of the club’s bullpen depth in Sandlin and Morgan.

Kansas City Royals

The Royals have followed up their breakout 2024 season by continuing to spend in free agency, and kicked off the winter’s free agent market by agreeing to a new three-year deal with veteran right-hander Michael Wacha. Wacha’s return to the rotation gave the club the starting depth they needed to trade right-hander Brady Singer to the Reds in order to acquire infielder Jonathan India and provide Bobby Witt Jr. with additional protection in the lineup.

Those early offseason moves were the most significant of the winter for Kansas City, though they’ve stayed busy by adding closer Carlos Estevez to their bullpen on a two-year deal and re-upping with swingman Michael Lorenzen to provide competition for youngsters Alec Marsh and Kris Bubic at the back of the rotation. It’s a strong group of offseason moves on paper, though it’s somewhat troubling that the Royals haven’t properly addressed an outfield group that was bottom-three in baseball by wRC+ last year.

Detroit Tigers

For much of the offseason, it appeared that the Tigers were largely standing pat as the club entered the holiday season with veteran starter Alex Cobb’s one-year deal as their only notable addition. Since then, however, they’ve added two more notable free agents who didn’t see their markets develop as much as expected. They’ve bolstered the lineup with Gleyber Torres on a one-year deal that kicked Colt Keith over to first base and Spencer Torkelson into a bench role, but most notable of all is the club’s reunion with Jack Flaherty on a two-year deal that includes an opt out after 2025.

After shipping Flaherty to Los Angeles last summer before catching fire down the stretch, plenty of fans have wondered what the Tigers’ run through the postseason last year might have looked like with Flaherty alongside Tarik Skubal at the front of the rotation. That question could now be answered in 2025, and with no significant subtractions from the club’s roster this winter it’s difficult to argue the Tigers haven’t improved headed into the coming season.

Minnesota Twins

It’s been a very quiet offseason in Minnesota. From the outset of the offseason, there’s been reports of the Twins’ payroll being more or less maxed out and the club needing to move salary in order to make notable additions. Those trades haven’t materialized to this point, despite rumors swirling around top players like Pablo Lopez as well as more ancillary pieces like Christian Vazquez and Chris Paddack.

That hasn’t completely stopped the Twins from making moves, however. In the past week, they’ve signed Harrison Bader to back up oft-injured star Byron Buxton in center field while adding southpaw Danny Coulombe to the bullpen as a replacement for Caleb Thielbar. They also managed to swing a trade for former top catching prospect Diego Cartaya with the Dodgers when he was squeezed off of the 40-man in Los Angeles, though Cartaya has yet to so much as make his debut in the big leagues to this point. Whether they can add a bat to the lineup who can help replace the production of Max Kepler and Carlos Santana, however, figures to depend on the club’s success at swinging a sell-side trade to clear salary.

Chicago White Sox

As a firmly rebuilding club, the goals of the White Sox offseason look quite different to the other clubs in the AL Central. With that being said, however, they’ve generally done quite well in achieving those goals. Their most notable move, of course, was shipping southpaw Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox in a Winter Meetings blockbuster reminiscent of the Chris Sale trade following the 2016 season. In exchange for Crochet’s services, Chicago landed a pair of top-100 prospects in catcher Kyle Teel and outfielder Braden Montgomery as well as infielder Chase Meidroth and right-hander Wikelman Gonzalez.

That excellent return for two years of Crochet aside, the club’s offseason has mostly been defined by adding shorter-term ancillary pieces who could potentially be flipped at the trade deadline in July. Matt Thaiss, Cam Booser, Mike Tauchman, Austin Slater, Bryse Wilson, Josh Rojas, and Martin Perez all fit this category to one degree or another, with the latter five names all being signed to inexpensive one-year deals that should make them easily affordable for even budget-conscious contending clubs this summer should any of them play well enough to justify a trade.

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Despite having the lowest cumulative payroll of any division in the majors, the AL Central has had a fairly busy offseason with every team having made at least a couple of noteworthy additions. The Guardians have continued their eternal balancing act of the present and future by improving the roster’s biggest weakness in 2024 while shedding significant salary, while the Royals and Tigers both made notable (if somewhat modest) additions to the rosters that catapulted them to surprise contention last year. The Twins have made a handful of minor moves as they hope their deep roster can rebound from the steps backward some key players took in 2025, while the White Sox jump-started their rebuild with a major trade and added a number of low-cost veterans with an eye towards more trades this summer.

Of the five NL Central clubs, which one has had the strongest offseason so far? Have your say in the poll below:

White Sox Sign Brandon Drury, Tristan Gray To Minor League Deals

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The White Sox announced Friday that they’ve signed infielders Brandon Drury and Tristan Gray to minor league contracts. Both will be in major league camp as non-roster invitees to spring training.

Drury, a Wasserman client, is a veteran of ten major league seasons who’s suited up for seven teams along the way. The 32-year-old has had multiple productive stretches, most recently hitting .263/.313/.493 with 58 home runs over 1179 plate appearances in the three-year period from 2021-23. Drury was outstanding in a short look with the 2021 Mets and in a lengthier look with the Reds and Padres in 2022. He parlayed that into a two-year, $17MM deal with the Angels and looked like a shrewd pickup in year one of that deal after he batted .262/.306/.497 with 26 homers (his second straight season topping 25 round-trippers).

The 2024 campaign, however, was a nightmare. Drury hit only .169/.242/.228 in 360 plate appearances. He saw a major spike in pop-ups and grounders, with his 57.1% ground-ball rate spiking by 15 percentage points over his 2023 levels. No one in baseball (min. 300 plate appearances) put a higher percentage of batted balls on the ground than Drury. For a player whose sprint speed ranked in the 18th percentile of big leaguers, per Statcast, that’s an obviously alarming and suboptimal trend.

Defensively, Drury can move all around the diamond. He’s played all four infield positions and both outfield corners, with the bulk of his time coming between second base and third base. On the whole, defensive metrics like Outs Above Average and Defensive Runs Saved feel Drury’s body of work at second base, third base and first base have been solid, if unspectacular. He did log below-average grades in 2024, though he was hampered by a hamstring strain and a lengthy bout with an upper respiratory illness that knocked him out of action for nearly two weeks and could’ve had some impact on his play on either end of that infection.

Gray, a BJB Group client, has logged brief MLB appearances with the 2023 Rays and the 2024 Marlins. He’s gone just 5-for-33 with a homer in that tiny sample, though there’s little to be gleaned from what amounts to about a week’s worth of MLB at-bats. The 28-year-old has shown plenty of thump in Triple-A. He popped 33 homers with the Rays’ Durham affiliate in 2022 and slugged another 30 big flies the following year. In parts of four Triple-A seasons, Gray is a .238/.306/.472 hitter.

Like Drury, he brings some infield versatility to the table. He’s played all four infield positions. Unlike Drury, however, his most frequent spot has been shortstop, giving him far more defensive utility. He’s played nearly 2500 innings at short, more than 1400 at third base, more than 1300 at second base and just over 900 at first base. There are some strikeout concerns, but Gray is a left-handed hitter who can move to any spot on the infield and has shown 30-homer pop in the minors.

For a Sox club with little to no infield certainty both players are a sensible fit on a non-guaranteed deal. Andrew Vaughn is locked in at first base, but that’s about the only spot that’s set in stone (and even he could switch to DH if need be; he’s not a strong defender). Free agent signee Josh Rojas will likely handle third base, but he’s plenty familiar with playing second if the Sox prefer to give someone else a look at third. Lenyn Sosa, Brooks Baldwin, Jacob Amaya and top prospect Colson Montgomery are the only middle infielders on the 40-man roster. Montgomery will open the season in the minors, leaving the other three as de facto front-runners at shortstop and second base. Drury or Gray could feasibly work their way into that group with nice showings during spring training.

White Sox Claim Brandon Eisert, Designate Steven Wilson

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The White Sox announced Friday that they’ve claimed lefty Brandon Eisert off waivers from the Rays and designated right-hander Steven Wilson for assignment to clear space on the 40-man roster.

Eisert, 27, made his big league debut last season as a member of the Blue Jays — he’d previously gone from Toronto to Tampa Bay in a cash swap following a separate DFA — and allowed three runs in 6 2/3 innings. He spent the bulk of his season in Triple-A for a third straight year. Despite generally successful numbers there in seasons past, he didn’t get a big league look until 2024.

In three seasons with Triple-A Buffalo, Eisert posted a 3.83 ERA in 183 1/3 innings. The former 18th-round pick has set down 28.6% of Triple-A opponents on strikes against a tidy 7.9% walk rate. He’s consistently posted ground-ball rates between 42-44%, right around league-average, and allowed either 1.17 or 1.18 HR/9 in all three of those Triple-A campaigns. Eisert doesn’t throw hard, relying on a 90-92 mph heater as well as a slider and changeup that both fall in the 84-85 mph range. He’s consistently generated quality results in the upper minors, however, and has a pair of minor league option years remaining.

Wilson, 30, went from San Diego to Chicago as part of the Friars’ acquisition of Dylan Cease. He wasn’t a headline piece of the return by any means, but the Sox surely hoped that he could build off two solid seasons to begin his career as a member of the Padres’ bullpen. From 2022-23, Wilson totaled 106 innings of 3.48 ERA ball with a 25.4% strikeout rate, 10.9% walk rate, 1.19 HR/9, 27 holds and a save.

Things didn’t pan out as hoped. Wilson had multiple IL stints due to back strains, saw his fastball velocity dip from 94.5 mph to 93.4 mph on average, and served up eight homers in just 34 1/3 innings (2.08 HR/9). His 20.9% strikeout rate and 16% walk rate were both career-worst marks.

The Sox still tendered Wilson a contract after the season and came to terms on a $950K salary. That salary could now help him pass through waivers unclaimed, at which point the Sox could stash him in Triple-A. Wilson would have the right to reject an outright assignment to the minors in favor of free agency, but he’d have to walk away from his contract in order to do so. He’ll likely accept an assignment if it comes to that.

For the time being, the Sox will have five days to trade Wilson. At that point, he’ll need to be placed on outright waivers (a 48-hour process) if he’s to have his DFA resolved within the allotted one-week timeframe.

White Sox Outright Zach DeLoach

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The White Sox announced Friday that outfielder Zach DeLoach cleared waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Charlotte. He’ll remain with the organization as non-roster depth heading into spring training.

Acquired alongside righty Prelander Berroa and a competitive balance (Round B) draft pick in the trade sending Gregory Santos to the Mariners last offseason, DeLoach made his big league debut with the ChiSox last year but struggled in a small sample. He tallied 75 trips to the plate and managed only a .209/.293/.283 output. He was far better in Triple-A, slashing .287/.375/.410, but even that production represented a downturn from his 2023 levels with Seattle’s Triple-A club. DeLoach popped a career-high 23 homers in 2023 but saw that number plummet to seven in 2024.

DeLoach runs well, has experience in all three outfield slots and draws plenty of walks. He’s also been plagued by strikeout issues and is better suited for work in the corners — left field, specifically — than in center. Now that he’s passed through waivers, he’ll likely compete for a backup job in camp and will otherwise head to Charlotte to begin the season.

Chicago’s outfield mix is a mess and only figures to see further turnover, with Luis Robert Jr. standing as a clear trade candidate so long as he’s healthy. (And, if he’s not, that’ll only open more need in the outfield.) Andrew Benintendi and Mike Tauchman will begin the year in the corners, with Austin Slater locked into a fourth outfielder role. Other outfield candidates on the roster include Oscar Colas and Dominic Fletcher, while Corey Julks and Calvin Mitchell will join DeLoach as non-roster invitees to spring training.

Players Who Could Move To The 60-Day IL Once Spring Training Begins

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Most of the clubs in the league currently have a full 40-man roster, which means that just about every transaction requires a corresponding move these days. Some extra roster flexibility is on the way, however. The 60-day injured list goes away five days after the World Series but comes back when pitchers and catchers report to spring training.

Per R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports, most clubs have a report date of February 12th or 13th. The Cubs and Dodgers are a bit earlier than most, on the 9th and 11th, respectively. That’s due to the fact that those clubs are heading to Tokyo, with exhibition games in mid-March, followed by regular season games against each other on March 18th and 19th. All the other teams have Opening Day scheduled for March 27th.

It’s worth pointing out that the 60 days don’t start being counted until Opening Day. Although a team can transfer a player to the 60-day IL quite soon, they will likely only do so if they aren’t expecting the player back until end of May or later. A team also must have a full 40-man roster in order to move a player to the 60-day IL.

There are still plenty of free agents still out there, including big names like Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso, as well as Nick Pivetta, Andrew Heaney, David Robertson, Randal Grichuk, Kenley Jansen, Harrison Bader, Lance Lynn, Jose Quintana and many more. Perhaps the extra roster flexibility will spur some deals to come together in the next week or so. It could also increase the ability of some clubs to make waiver claims or small trades for players who have been designated for assignment.

Here are some players who are expected to miss some significant time and could find themselves transferred soon.

Angels: Robert Stephenson

Stephenson underwent a hybrid Tommy John surgery with internal brace in late April. Given the 14-plus months required to recovery from such a procedure, he’s not likely to be ready in the early parts of the 2025 season.

Astros: Cristian Javier, J.P. France, Bennett Sousa

Javier underwent Tommy John surgery in June and is targeting a return in the second half of 2025. France is recovering from shoulder surgery and hoping to return in July. Sousa’s timeline is less clear but he underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in April. Other possibilities include Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr., who are expected to start the season on the IL but returning in April or May still seems possible.

Athletics: Luis Medina, Ken Waldichuk

Medina underwent Tommy John surgery in August and Waldichuk in May. Medina might miss the entire season while Waldichuk is likely to miss a few months at least.

Blue Jays: Angel Bastardo, Alek Manoah

The Jays grabbed Bastardo from the Red Sox in the Rule 5 draft in December, even though he had Tommy John surgery in June. Manoah also had Tommy John around that time and is hoping to be back by August.

Braves: Joe Jiménez

Jimenez had knee surgery in November with a timeline of eight to twelve months, so he might miss the entire season. Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr. are also possibilities, though those will be more borderline. Strider had internal brace surgery in April, so returning in May is somewhat possible. Acuña is recovering from a torn ACL last year and it’s possible he’ll miss the first month or so of the season. Given how important both of those players are, Atlanta probably won’t put them on the 60-day IL unless it’s 100% certain that they can’t come back in the first 60 days of the season.

Brewers: Robert Gasser

Gasser had Tommy John surgery in June and will be looking at a late 2025 return even in a best-case scenario.

Diamondbacks: Kyle Nelson

Nelson’s timeline is unclear, but he underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in May and missed the remainder of the 2024 season.

Dodgers: Gavin Stone, Brusdar Graterol, River Ryan, Kyle Hurt, Emmet Sheehan

Stone underwent shoulder surgery in October that will cause him to miss the entire year. Graterol also underwent shoulder surgery and isn’t expected back until the second half of 2025. Each of Ryan, Hurt and Sheehan required Tommy John surgery in 2024: Ryan in August, Hurt in July and Sheehan in May.

Guardians: Sam Hentges, David Fry, Shane Bieber, Trevor Stephan

Hentges required shoulder surgery in September, with an expected recovery timeline of 12 to 14 months. Fry underwent UCL surgery in November with a more fluid timeline. He won’t be able to throw at all in 2025 but could be cleared for designated hitter action six to eight months from that surgery. Bieber is perhaps a borderline case, as he underwent Tommy John surgery in April. Given his importance, the Guards may not transfer him to the 60-day IL until it’s assured that he won’t be back in the first 60 days of the season. Stephan underwent Tommy John surgery in March and perhaps has a chance to avoid the 60-day IL, depending on his progression.

Mariners: Matt Brash, Jackson Kowar

Brash underwent Tommy John surgery in May. Given the typical 14-month recovery timeline from that procedure, he would be looking at a midsummer return. However, it was reported in November that he’s ahead of schedule and could be back by the end of April. That’s an optimistic timeline but the Mariners will probably hold off moving him to the 60-day IL until the door is closed to an early return. Kowar underwent Tommy John in March, so an early return in 2025 is possible for him, depending on how his recovery is going.

Marlins: Braxton Garrett, Eury Pérez

Garrett just underwent UCL surgery last month and is going to miss the entire 2025 season. Pérez underwent Tommy John surgery in April of last year and will miss at least part of the beginning of the 2025 campaign.

Mets: Christian Scott

Scott required a Tommy John surgery and internal brace hybrid procedure in September and will likely miss the entire 2025 season.

Nationals: Josiah Gray, Mason Thompson

Gray required a Tommy John surgery and internal brace hybrid procedure in July, meaning he’ll miss most or perhaps all of the 2025 season. Thompson required Tommy John surgery in March, so he has a better chance to make an early-season return if his recovery is going well.

Orioles: Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells

Bradish and Wells each required UCL surgery in June, so they’re both slated to miss the first half of the upcoming campaign.

Padres: Joe Musgrove

Musgrove had Tommy John surgery in October and will therefore miss the entire 2025 season. However, the Padres only have 36 guys on their 40-man roster at the moment, so they’ll need to fill those spots before moving Musgrove to the 60-day IL.

Pirates: Dauri Moreta

Moreta required UCL surgery in March, so an early-season return is possible if his rehab is going well, though he could end up on the 60-day if the club goes easy with his ramp-up or he suffers any kind of setback.

Rangers: Josh Sborz

Sborz underwent shoulder surgery in November and is expected to miss the first two to three months of the upcoming season.

Rays: Nate Lavender, Ha-Seong Kim

The Rays took Lavender from the Mets in the Rule 5 draft, even though he had Tommy John in May and will miss the start of the season. Kim’s status is more up in the air after he had shoulder surgery in October. Various reports have suggested he could return anywhere from April to July. The Rays made a sizable investment in Kim, their largest ever for a position player, so they probably won’t shelve him until they get more clarity on his status.

Red Sox: Patrick Sandoval, Garrett Whitlock, Chris Murphy

Sandoval had internal brace surgery in June of last year and should miss the first half of the season. Whitlock had the same surgery in May, so he could have a bit of a better chance to return in the first 60 days of the season. Murphy underwent a fully Tommy John surgery in April and will certainly miss the beginning of the upcoming season. Another possibility is Lucas Giolito, who had internal brace surgery in March, though he expects to be ready by Opening Day.

Reds: Julian Aguiar, Brandon Williamson

Aguiar underwent Tommy John surgery in October and Williamson in September, so both are likely slated to miss the entire 2025 season.

Tigers: Sawyer Gipson-Long

Gipson-Long underwent internal brace surgery in April. On top of that, he underwent left hip labral repair surgery in July, with the club hoping to address both issues at the same time. It seems likely that he’ll miss some of the early 2025 schedule, but his IL placement will depend on how he’s been progressing.

White Sox: Jesse Scholtens

Scholtens underwent Tommy John surgery in early March. Whether he goes on the 60-day IL or not will depend on how he’s progressed since then and when the White Sox expect him back.

Yankees: Jonathan Loáisiga

Loáisiga underwent internal brace surgery in April, so he could potentially be back on the mound early in the 2025 season. It was reported in December that the Yankees are expecting him to be in the bullpen by late April or early May, so he’ll only end up on the 60-day IL if he suffers a bit of a setback.

White Sox Claim Jacob Amaya, Designate Zach DeLoach

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The White Sox announced Monday that they’ve (re)claimed infielder Jacob Amaya off waivers from the Orioles. Chicago designated outfielder Zach DeLoach for assignment in a corresponding move.

The ChiSox designated Amaya for assignment less than a month ago and lost him on waivers to Baltimore. The O’s subsequently designated Amaya for assignment themselves not long after and unsuccessfully tried to pass him through waivers. The Sox now effectively get a mulligan on the DFA that cost them Amaya in the first place, and they’ll instead jettison the 26-year-old DeLoach from the 40-man roster.

Amaya, 26, originally landed with the South Siders by way of an August waiver claim. In the past year, he’s gone from the Marlins, to the Astros, to the White Sox, to the Orioles, back to the White Sox via waivers. He played 23 games with the Sox last season but hit just .179/.255/.194 in a small sample. In a total of 81 MLB plate appearances between Miami, Houston and Chicago, Amaya is a .182/.222/.195 hitter. However, he’s touted as a high-end defender at shortstop and also has the ability to handle either second base or third base.

The Dodgers originally selected Amaya in the 11th round of the 2017 draft. He was traded to the Marlins in the Jan. 2023 deal shipping Miguel Rojas from Miami to Los Angeles. Amaya has played in parts of three Triple-A seasons and is a .246/.342/.380 hitter in 1219 plate appearances there. He’s shown a strong eye to go along with his defensive skills, drawing a walk in 12.4% of his plate appearances at the top minor league level.

Amaya is out of minor league options, so he’ll have to break camp with the White Sox or else go through the DFA process yet again. There’s no clear starter at shortstop for Chicago, so Amaya will join a competition including Brooks Baldwin, non-roster invitee Nick Maton and prospects Colson Montgomery and Chase Meidroth. Montgomery is widely regarded as one of the top infield prospects in the game, though he’s coming off a down season at the Triple-A level.

Amaya’s return to the organization comes at the expense of DeLoach, whom the Sox acquired from the Mariners last winter in the trade sending reliever Gregory Santos to Seattle. Righty Prelander Berroa and a competitive balance draft pick also went to the Sox in that swap.

DeLoach’s first and now possibly only season in the White Sox organization didn’t go especially well. On the one hand, he did make his big league debut. On the other, he only posted a .209/.293/.328 batting line in 75 turns at the dish. His Triple-A output (.287/.375/.410) was solid but didn’t include any real gains from a 2023 campaign wherein he batted .286/.378/.481 in Triple-A Tacoma. If anything, the 2024 season was a step backward, as DeLoach fell from a career-high 23 homers in 2023 to a career-low six homers this past season.

As a prospect in the Mariners and White Sox systems, DeLoach was well-regarded not because of any standout individual tool but because he possessed average — or close to it — tools across the board. He’s an above-average runner who swiped 20 bags in 2024 and popped 23 homers in 2023. He walks in well over 10% of his plate appearances but has also fanned in more than a quarter of his plate appearances the past two seasons. DeLoach has experience at all three outfield spots. He can handle center in a pinch but is best suited in left field.

The White Sox have five days to trade DeLoach, and after that they’ll have to put him on waivers (a 48-hour process). He has a pair of minor league option years remaining, so a team looking for some lefty-hitting outfield depth could have interest either on a waiver claim or a small trade.

White Sox Discussed Luis Robert With Reds, Giants; Trade Before Spring Training Seen As Unlikely

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The second White Sox rebuild of the past decade has stripped the roster of nearly all its notable veterans, but center fielder Luis Robert Jr. stands as a holdover from the team’s brief two-year run as a playoff club and a still-prominent trade candidate. Had Robert enjoyed a healthy 2024 campaign he’d likely already be gone, because at his best (e.g. 2023), he’s proven to be a five-tool, MVP-caliber talent. Staying on the field, however, has been problematic.

Robert played only 100 games in 2024 and didn’t seem to be at full strength for much of that time. His .224/.278/.379 slash was the worst production of his career. That’s made it tough for the White Sox to find a middle ground in trade conversations. Selling low on such a talented player when he’s signed through 2027 — $15MM in 2025, plus a pair of $20MM club options for 2026-27 — would be a major missed opportunity if Robert is able to bounce back with a healthy season.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports this morning that those hurdles impacted trade talks with both the Giants earlier in the offseason and, much more recently, with the Reds. Cincinnati and Chicago were discussing Robert as recently as last week and this past weekend, per Rosenthal, with infield prospect Edwin Arroyo among the names who could potentially go back to the Sox. Beyond the difficulty of agreeing on which prospects would be involved, the two parties didn’t see eye to eye on how much money the White Sox should include to cover some of the $17MM still guaranteed to Robert. (There’s also a $2MM buyout on his 2026 club option.) At this point, the Sox aren’t likely to trade Robert prior to spring training, per the report.

Until recently, it seemed as though the Reds had exhausted the majority — if not the entirety — of their 2025 payroll budget. A late agreement with Main Street Sports/FanDuel Sports Network for their 2025 television broadcasts provided an unexpected bump to president of baseball Nick Krall’s budget for the upcoming season, however. That produced renewed talks with reliever Carlos Estevez — who ultimately agreed to sign with the Royals instead — and likely facilitated the signing of Austin Hays (one year, $5MM) and yesterday’s acquisition of Taylor Rogers, whom the Reds will pay $6MM next year. (The Giants are covering the other $6MM of his 2025 salary.)

That’s $11MM in new payroll added by the Reds (a net $9.5MM over two league-minimum players) since that late TV deal was brokered. Robert alone is guaranteed more than that; even if the White Sox had been willing to kick in $6MM to bring the price down to the same $11MM the Reds wound up spending this past week, that would’ve only addressed one spot on the roster. Cincinnati would still be looking for more bullpen help and presumably doing so with at a much lower rate than the $6MM they’ll end up paying to Rogers.

While Arroyo is just one of the names the two parties discussed, it’s worth noting that like Robert, he’s a volatile player who’s difficult to evaluate at present. The 21-year-old middle infielder was a second-round pick out of Puerto Rico by the Mariners back in 2021 and was one of the key prospects shipped to the Reds in 2022’s Luis Castillo blockbuster. He ranked among the sport’s top-100 prospects in each of the past two offseasons but suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder last spring. That injury required surgery and wiped out his entire 2024 campaign.

Arroyo recovered in time to play in last year’s Arizona Fall League but in 18 games slashed just .253/.309/.333. That’s not a big enough sample to make a meaningful evaluation, of course, but it’s nonetheless a far cry from the 2022 production that helped catapult him onto the national prospect radar; that season saw Arroyo hit a combined .293/.366/.480 as an 18-year-old primarily facing much older and more experienced competition in A-ball.

A trade involving Robert could yet come together, but the challenges encountered by both the Giants and the Reds in their efforts to pry him from Chicago will persist. The Sox don’t want to take a middling return for a player who could command a genuine prospect haul if healthy. Any potential trade partner will be reluctant to trade its very best talent in exchange for a player who missed two months with a hip injury and was 16% worse than an average hitter in 2024 — even if he popped 38 homers as recently as 2023. The money owed to Robert is a bargain if he’s healthy, but that’s a major if. Plus, many teams have spent the vast majority of their offseason budget by this point on the calendar.

Back in late November, one rival general manager who’d spoken to the Sox about Robert rather plainly laid out the difficulty in working out a trade, telling USA Today’s Bob Nightengale at the time: “You’ve got to hope he finally stays healthy and can be the player everyone envisioned all along, but the White Sox are acting like he’s some big star center fielder and are asking for your top prospects.”

The Sox weren’t in an entirely dissimilar situation with Dylan Cease a year ago at this time. Cease, who had two seasons of club control remaining then, had finished runner-up in 2022 American League Cy Young voting before a pedestrian 2023 campaign in which he posted a 4.58 ERA with a one-mile drop in average fastball velocity and a corresponding dip in strikeout rate. He came back with a vengeance in spring training with stuff that looked dominant enough to generate a second act on his trade market. The Padres wound up acquiring him on March 13.

It’s possible a similar situation could play out with Robert. If he looks healthy and dynamic early in Cactus League play, perhaps there’ll be some renewed interest and diminished trepidation from interested teams wary about the explosive outfielder’s health.

If not in spring training, even a few weeks of strong play early in the 2025 campaign could pique the interest of other teams. That could create a situation similar to the one that saw the Marlins trade Luis Arraez (also to the Padres) early last May. Miami’s catastrophic start to the season effectively eliminated them from playoff contention just weeks into the 2024 season. The ChiSox already know full well they won’t contend in 2025. If Robert gets out to a torrid start and looks like the 2023 version of himself, putting him on the market in late April or early May would reduce the risk of an injury occurring in the months leading up to the trade deadline while also giving a trade partner an extra few months of production.

As MLBTR’s Anthony Franco pointed out last night when discussing the Guardians’ challenges in acquiring a center fielder, there simply haven’t been many — or really, any — impact options on the trade or free agent markets at the position over the past couple years. That applies not only to the Guards but also to the Giants, Reds, Phillies and other clubs that have sought center field upgrades recently. Clubs like the Red Sox, Mariners, Twins, Tigers, Royals, Pirates and Astros have also coveted right-handed bats and/or outfielders. Any could have interest in a revitalized Robert.

For now, the Sox’ focus will be on getting and keeping Robert as healthy as possible. If a strong spring or April showing rekindles his trade market, the past interest from both San Francisco and Cincinnati will be worth bearing in mind as the South Siders field new offers.

Drew Thorpe Suffers Setback In Recovery From Elbow Surgery

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White Sox fans recently received some bad news regarding one of their most promising young players, as right-hander Drew Thorpe told reporters (including Scott Merkin of MLB.com) that he received a cortisone shot yesterday amid a setback in his recovery from the surgery he underwent to bone spur from his right elbow back in September.

Thorpe was previously expected to be ready for Spring Training, but will be behind to start camp. With that being said, however, the right-hander hopes to start playing catch next week and both Thorpe as well as GM Chris Getz expressed optimism about the situation. Thorpe noted that he underwent an MRI earlier this month and that “everything came back clean,” while Getz indicated that the club is “confident” that Thorpe’s setback will prove to be a minor one and that he’ll be ready for big league action in April.

While Thorpe’s outlook appears to be as good as can reasonably be expected for a pitcher dealing with a setback while rehabbing elbow surgery, the news is nonetheless a worrying sign for a White Sox club still reeling from its record-setting 121-loss campaign in 2024. As one of the only actively rebuilding clubs in baseball at the moment, Chicago has little reason for optimism headed into the 2025 season. The club has added veteran pieces such as Josh Rojas, Mike Tauchman, and Martin Perez to the mix ahead of the coming campaign but the focus remains entirely on a core of young, up-and-coming players who the Sox are hoping will be able to turn things around for them in the future.

As the centerpiece of last year’s Dylan Cease trade, Thorpe is a huge part of that core. The right-hander was generally regarded as a top-50 prospect in the sport last winter when he was part of back-to-back blockbuster trades when the Yankees shipped him to San Diego as part of the Juan Soto deal before the Padres promptly flipped him to Chicago in order to acquire Cease. Drafted by New York in the second round of the 2022 draft and having only reached the Double-A level in 2023, Thorpe was a fast riser who made his way to the majors in June of last year. The right-hander pitched fairly well in his first seven starts as a big leaguer, posting a 3.03 ERA and 4.67 FIP in 38 2/3 innings of work, but was shelled for 14 runs in just 5 2/3 frames over his next two starts before going on the injured list with a flexor strain and ultimately undergoing surgery.

In 2025, Thorpe appeared ticketed for an Opening Day rotation job but now will have to focus on rehabbing for at least the start of the season before he can attempt to build on his up-and-down debut season. Last year, the righty flashed his considerable talent but also frequently struggled with his command, walking 11.1% of batters faced and surrendering eight homers in just 44 1/3 innings of work. Fortunately for Thorpe, there should be plenty of room in the club’s rotation once he’s healthy enough to return to the mound. Perez, Bryse Wilson and Jonathan Cannon appear locked into rotation jobs to start the year, while the last two spots figure to go to some combination of Sean Burke, Davis Martin, Nick Nastrini, and Ky Bush.

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