The White Sox announced Monday morning that outfielder Adam Eaton has been granted his unconditional release. He’s now a free agent available to any other team for the prorated league minimum.
Eaton, 32, returned to Chicago on a one-year, $7MM contract this past winter after spending four years with the Nationals and winning a World Series there. He’d struggled through a tough showing during last summer’s shortened 60-game schedule, but Eaton was productive in his other three years with the Nats, hitting .288/.377/.425 in 1133 plate appearances from 2017-19. The Eaton reunion wasn’t the big outfield splash for which ChiSox fans were pining early in the offseason, but it was a reasonable enough roll of the dice at an affordable price considering Eaton’s generally strong track record.
Things (obviously) didn’t go according to plan for either Eaton or the White Sox, however. While he got out to a great start in the season’s first 15 games (.268/.379/.482 in 66 plate appearances), Eaton’s production cratered not long after. From April 20 through the time he was designated for assignment on July 7, he mustered only a .173/.262/.286 batting line with a sky-high (by his standards) 27.4 percent strikeout rate; entering the season, Eaton carried a career 16.8 percent punchout rate and had never fanned in more than 19 percent of his plate appearances during a single season.
While Eaton’s contract contained an $8.5MM club option for the 2022 campaign (which carries a $1MM buyout), that option buyout is now the responsibility of the White Sox, along with the remaining $3.1MM on Eaton’s contract. He’ll again be a free agent at season’s end. A new team that signs him will owe him the prorated league minimum — about $252K from now to season’s end. That sum would be subtracted from the roughly $4.1MM the Sox still owe him.
As for the White Sox, they’ll continue leaning on an outfield mix that currently features Brian Goodwin, Billy Hamilton, Adam Engel, Gavin Sheets, Andrew Vaughn and Leury Garcia. Slugger Eloy Jimenez, however, will have his minor league rehab assignment transferred to Triple-A Charlotte tomorrow, according to the team, further signaling that his return isn’t too far off.
Jimenez began his rehab assignment with Class-A Advanced on Friday and can be on rehab for up to 30 days — or until the Sox deem him ready for a big league return. He’s been out for the entire season so far after rupturing a pectoral tendon during Spring Training and undergoing subsequent surgery. Center fielder Luis Robert, meanwhile, is still expected back later this summer after suffering a Grade 3 strain of his hip flexor at the end of April. The Sox could still pursue outfield upgrades in the 18 days leading up to the trade deadline, but the positive progress of Jimenez can only make them feel a bit better about their internal outlook.
I would love for the Cardinals to take a flyer on Eaton. Their backup outfielders are putrid and Nootbar needs some AAA time, so that would make a lot of sense for them.
Even though it’s not allowed, Mozeliak would want him to give a discount off the league minimum.
I guarantee he’ll be good if he doesn’t have to play every day.
The guy gets hurt every other time he’s in the line up, he’s 10-ply soft
Not as soft as the rest of the Sox OF apparently lol.
Less of an issue if he’s tabbed to play once every three or four games at league minimum. Who knows if he wants to hold out for a starting spot though
What’s that. Eaton might be holding out for a starting spot! With who? The Orioles!
Is he soft, or did he play hard. I remember this guy running into walls and diving for balls in the outfield. There comes a point you got to pull back, then you also loose the value that got you there
As much as I hate doing this, I have to agree with Dogbone. I can’t see any team desperate enough to give him a starting gig right off the bat.
Agreed Ron Tingley- there will be a spot for “Mighty Mouse” & the team won’t regret it.
@ron running into walls is just dumb.
You increase injury risk and doesn’t always end in a play being made. I guess you’re saying he was a stupid player and is paying the consequences for sacrificing his health on fly balls during a 162 game season?
Look how that worked out for guys like Aaron Rowand…
Thought also he’d be a perfect PT player an NYY a good fit. Don’t want to peeve off that base, but they are so hung up on Gardner’s longevity.. He’s done for. Eaton is 5y younger and there is some upside with him. Heck, I’d prefer him in Boston over Santana also. Eaton plays the game the right way. Sure he may get hurt, but it’s not for lack of effort.
He’d certainly be a cheaper oft-injured outfielder than Ellsbury, and Cashman and Hal do like cheap players these days.
I agree
I was hearing rumors he was headed to ATL with Nesolony(sp) headed back to the WSOX. Guess not.
Go Braves.
See you in pinstripes, Eaton
Doubt he wants to ditch the beard since it’s how people know that he’s an adult.
Especially wouldn’t want to shave for league minimum…
Why? He is already paid.
Why?
Why would he shave his beard to make the league minimum and miss the playoffs?
I saw a guy in a commercial today shave his eyebrow for a Klondike Bar. Why not a beard for $500K?
Something tells me that guys got bigger issues than a craving for ice cream.
Eaton’s getting the ENTIRETY of his 1 yr contract PLUS the buyout of next year’s option. If he signs w team x, they are RESPONSIBLE for paying the remaining of a PRORATED LEAGUE MINIMUM the balance of the 1 yr contract is going to be paid by the C-SOX.
So basically he’ll cost an extra million for someone to pick him up. Yea that could work against him.
No surprise. Goodwin has been solid and Engel is playing very well. Andrew Vaughn has done a great job in LF for a 1B They have so much depth at OF that Eloy can slip back into DH hopefully at the end of the month
back to Nats maybe?
Hopefully. His grit is needed there.
If grit was all it took to play baseball…
….Rooster Cogburn would be MVP
And Mattie Ross for Cy Young…
Truly
Drake LaRoche in shambles
Childish comment.
Fair comment.
Don’t want to get made fun of for calling the children of players clubhouse leaders, don’t call the children of players clubhouse leaders.
One of the reasons I would have never brought him back.
jerk alert
He’s probably in high school by now
The poster? I doubt it.
Drake was a true leader in the clubhouse… That’s why Eaton looked so lost out there without him.
Good riddance, Eaton, you Nick Swisher wannabe.
I was suprised they hire Eaton to begin with hes really not that good no more. He must have a few friends in the organization otherwise I think they would have been better off hiring Puig.
Eaton may be a scumbag and a clubhouse cancer, but credit to him for not having any sexual assault allegations. Unlike Puig
I didnt know he had any I apologize
Key Word: Allegation
Guilty until proven innocent and all that stuff………
Puig basically proved that all false. It’s not how many allegations, its how many convictions a guy has… Innocent until proven guilty, and all of that.
Yeah, I would just prefer guys like Schrawber, Rosario, Pederson, you know, guys who don’t have rape allegations, and don’ t think kids are clubhouse leaders.
I mean, it really isn’t that hard to find such players, and in many cases, they are actually better players and human beings.
hire? I didn’t realize he was in the CWS’ front office the past two seasons.
sign*
Ugh with the Puig nonsense. He’s not good; he’s a headache (at best). Just enough with Puig already.
Or, the White Sox could have not signed either, and there were plenty of options.
Or signed no one, which would have worked out better than Eaton.
yankees sign him and continue being mediocre
Probably won’t happen. The Yankees have the mindset that the more they spend the better they’ll get. This guy comes too cheap.
That they do and while it does work sometimes, it’s not that simple.
He won’t shave his beard for league minimum
If he can catch a fly ball the Angels need him. I think a high school team has a better chance of catching an outfield fly than the Angels.
Cue opening credits
Starts flapping his arms next to a young Gordon-Levitt
I wouldn’t mess with the Gosselin-Lagares-Ward outfield. Lol.
@Halofan, if you want to feel better about the Halo’s OF defense – just watch Eloys adventures out there, once he gets back. Lol, you’ll never complain again.
I’ve been an Angel fan since the 60s. This may be the worst outfield I’ve ever seen. Winston Llenas and Richie Sceinbloom might be better than Goslin and Rengifo.
It’ll improve once Trout comes back.. Eaton isn’t an upgrade at any position.
There’s a blast from the past: KCR had 3 All Star OFs during their infancy: LF Lou Piniella, CF Amos Otis and RF Richie Scheinblum. I do remember that he was a horrible fielding OF.
Same old story year after year in RF for the White Sox. How many times can you scrape the bottom of the barrel? Mazara, Eaton… can’t wait to see which scrub is next.
Cespedes Jr played in the Futures game yesterday lol
That’s Yoenis’ brother, not his son… Although who knows with how well Cuba keeps both records
Yeah, I don’t know how many times they have to learn that they get what they pay for. They paid 5.5 mil for Mazara last year and 7 mil for Eaton this year. They could’ve paid Castellanos 16 mil per and a had a great OF on a bargain contract. I know that’s 10.5 and 9 mil more each year respectively, but doesn’t that beat setting 12.5 mil on fire? Not to Jerry, I guess.
I wonder how much the total money spent filling right field has cost the Sox in the last two years. I know it’s still not close to the 16 mil for Castellanos, but I’d be curious to know how much money they’ve essentially thrown away instead of actually paying someone that’s worth a damn.
They’d have been better off holding on to Avi Garcia, as inconsistent as he is
That’s why I would advocate for a Frazier deal.
He could play 2B this year, and RF next year.
Definitely see the braves taking a flyer on him with acuna out for the season. Not that he will replace him by any means but he is a good clubhouse guy
That part about being a good clubhouse guy is false.
Correct. He’s all about Adam Eaton, and in his eyes the rest of the team is just his supporting cast.
AA, there ya go……. cheap
Gotta be going to Oakland, unless they are upgrading the injured Canha with big name rental. The A’s are playing 30 year old lifetime AAA players right now. Contenders cant be doing stuff like that…
go Nats now.
Cardinals could use him and I heard they tried to get him before. But then, he may actually want to go to a team that has a chance to win. Sadly we don’t….
I like Eaton. I wouldn’t mind if the Angels picked him up considering our right field situation, our left field situation, oh, and our current, albeit temporary, center field situation.
What is there to like? The guy is a turd
How so WhiteSox?
Drake LaRoche, enough said.
Maybe Cleveland?
It’s very obvious that he’ll be a Brave. He should be cheap and Atlanta desperately needs outfielders due to all the injuries. Besides, it’s pretty clear that they don’t want to give Waters a shot right now.
Eloy should be a DH only upon return. He’s too accident prone in the field.
Eloy only 24.
OF and DH both.
He just needs to know not to try so hard.
Should play like a Cubbie!!
@nottinghamforest13
I’m sure he will be the rest of this year, though he could play a couple games in LF when they are at N.L. teams (though I doubt it).
Next year might be a different story.
There is no reason whatsoever that Eloy should play the field. Vaughn is at least as good defensively, and is not a danger to himself and others. Eloy has banged into walls and missed at least a game or two like 4 or 5 times now in his short career. His spring accident was predictable, on a ball so far over the wall that probably no other mlb outfielder would have injured himself. Enough of him in LF, keep him safe… he is a beast of a hitter. And he contributes nothing if he is on the DL.
@jhomeslice
I won’t argue that, but I have this strange feeling the Sox will give him one more chance in the field (obviously not this year). A lot depends on if the Sox get both a strong LF and RF in the next couple of seasons, and it also depends on if Abreu retires after ’22 (then Vaughn slots in at 1B). I agree, Vaughn has done an adequate job in LF, much better than I anticipated when Eloy got injured.
I was for Eloy eventually going back to LF, but now that enough time has passed, I agree that Eloy should be the permanent DH for the next several years.
@83
Not sure “obviously not this year” is true. He played LF yesterday (with an error already). I’m not concerned about his defense, only him getting hurt again. Since he was in LF right away, one would assume the plan is for him to play out there at least some of the time. If he gets hurt again, it is pretty much moronic decision making by whoever agrees it is safe for him to play LF. It would be tragically sad if he needs to get hurt once more for them to come to their senses.
I think Vaughn is an adequate LF and a good athlete, and 1b’s are easier to come by. So once Abreu goes, they may get another 1b rather than put Vaughn there. Could be Burger, who knows. We’ll see how Jose looks after next season. Would not surprise me if he stays another year or two as long as he is still playing pretty well.
@jhomeslice
What are they thinking? Do they not have DH in A ball? I get that it was a fluke injury (though most other OF’ers wouldn’t have made an attempt at it), but they have to play it safe with him. Nothing like having his season end before it starts by getting injured on a meaningless play in A ball. I don’t like that at all.
Though I lean toward having him as a permanent DH, I can live with him playing LF from time to time a year or two from now. But not this year. With what he and the team has gone through with injuries this season, it’s best to just leave him as a DH.
@83 They do have a DH at A ball. He was at DH his first game, out in LF the second. I know he loves to play the outfield and has said that he wants to play out there, but for the good of the team this year they need to talk him out of that. They’re paying him, he needs to adapt and go with what is best for the team. Anyway we agree… can only hope they play him out there very infrequently and nothing happens when they do.
I give mouth breather status to anybody advocating for Eloy to play OF at this point. His age is irrelevant, dude is below average and injury prone. That makes him ill suited to play in the OF. Period. Either give him a bat and let him DH at an elite level, or give him a glove and park him at 1B.
I don’t know why any team would sign him.
He hasn’t shown any ability to stay healthy over the past several years, and his injuries have sapped his defense.
There literally are guys in AAA who could provide more than Eaton.
@maximumvelocity
Not that I disagree, because I think he’s done, but I could see a team gambling on him just to see if they could catch lightning in a bottle (like what he did for the Sox the first few weeks of the season).
When he bombs (if a team does gamble on him), he will ride off into the sunset, thankful to cash $8MM in checks from the Sox this year.
watch him catch lightning in a bottle for the rest of the year and stay perfectly healthy then someone offer him 7yrs – 70mil … and yes that is sarcasm 🙂
Get him Cards
I agree!!
No
@Dumpster Diving Theo
Sorry bro
Haha
I would’ve released Jake Lambs sorry ass first. That dude has zero value
Would love to see Cleveland give him a shot.
Atlanta wouldn’t surprise me, though, now with the Acuna injury
As a Sox fan, I would love nothing more than to see Eaton in an Indians uniform. Fantastic idea.
Bring in the Todfather to apply beatdown
Atlanta would surprise me. If they’re still going for it, they need someone who can actually play. The White Sox, despite all their injuries, decided he was weighing them down. Why would it be different for the Braves?
And if they are punting on the season, they might as well bring up one of their prized OF prospects and have them learn the job in a low-pressure situation. In either case, Eaton doesn’t seem like what they need.
He would be Ty Cobb on the Royals.
Is he still a viable option in CF? If so, I’d like to see the Twins patch an injured outfield with him, especially with such little financial commitment. He’s still a gritty player.
As a Sox fan, I would love nothing more than to see Eaton in a Twins uniform. Fantastic idea.
Hahaha I bet.
Hahaha
The Sox should sign the Todfather too! Beatdown
It’s always interesting when a player with diminished skills can still find a team willing to take a risk (albeit at league minimum). Eaton is trending down at this point but he has a great attitude and still hustles. I didn’t have high expectations for him (with the White Sox), but he’s capable of filling a gap for a while and sometimes that’s all it takes. I wish him well.
Nats reunion Friday
Sounds like a Dodger pick up.
Angels have Infielders playing the OF. Braves need OF help, so do the Indians. Nats could use the bench help as well
Maybe Indians, because zimmer is not the answer at cf anymore
Eaton is no better than Zimmer though.
I was just reading on another site he might connect with the Braves. Hopefully just a rumor.
I see a Cardinals uniform on Eaton…the team needs OF help they don’t have any assets to swing a big deal for a corner OF and a platoon of Bader, O’Neil and Eaton alongside Carlson just makes to much sense.
Cards are 8 back in the division, 7.5 back in the WC. They need a bigger upgrade than Eaton.
I honestly don’t know if any team picks Eaton up at this point. A team would have to be pretty desperate and on the cusp of the playoffs to have a use for him, even on the cheap.
Look at his stats. He’s filler, he’s not really improving anyone.
Enjoy our trash Yankees!
He’s from Springfield Ohio. C’mon Reds ! Who cares if we are overloaded in the outfield.