6:05pm: The White Sox introduced that they’ve tendered Vaughn a contract for 2025.
3:40pm: The White Sox should not going to tender a contract to first baseman/outfielder Gavin Sheets, per a report from Robert Murray of FanSided on X. As soon as official, Chicago’s 40-man roster rely will drop to 38.
Sheets, 29 in April, was a second-round decide of the White Sox in 2017. He hit nicely all through his minor league profession, which made him a notable prospect within the membership’s system for some time. Baseball America ranked him as considered one of their prime 15 prospects in 4 straight years from 2018 to 2021. Within the final of these years, he made his main league debut with a splash, hitting 11 residence runs in simply 54 video games. That led to a .250/.324/.506 slash line and 123 wRC+.
However his manufacturing has fallen off since then. The Sox have given him 1,255 plate appearances over the previous three years however Sheets has hit simply .227/.291/.368 in these. That manufacturing interprets to an 84 wRC+, indicating he’s been 16% worse than league common.
The Sox have had first base largely occupied by José Abreu after which Andrew Vaughn over the previous few years. That has compelled Sheets to spend extra time within the outfield corners, the place he’s not thought-about a robust defender, to place it mildly. In 1,618 innings on the grass, he has -22 Defensive Runs Saved and -13 Outs Above Common.
He crossed three years of service time in 2024, permitting him to qualify for arbitration for the primary time. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a wage of $2.6MM subsequent 12 months. Given his efficiency up to now, it’s unsurprising that the Sox have determined they’re tired of bringing him again at that value level.
It’s doable that the 2 sides might reunite on a cope with a decrease wage, however Sheets will now be free to speak to all 30 golf equipment and assess his choices. If he latches on someplace and will get again on monitor, he can theoretically be managed for 3 extra seasons.
The Sox nonetheless have Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Benintendi, their two highest-paid gamers, of their outfield combine. They only signed Austin Slater and added him to the group. Zach DeLoach, Oscar Colás, Dominic Fletcher and Corey Julks are additionally on the roster and needs to be battling one another for taking part in time. Vaughn continues to be the primary baseman on paper, although it’s doable that he additionally winds up non-tendered at the moment.
