The White Sox are signing outfielder Austin Slater to a major league deal, per a report from Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The terms of the agreement are not yet known. Slater will need to be added to the club’s 40-man roster when the deal is made official, though Chicago has space available so a corresponding move will not be necessary.
Slater, 31, was an eighth-round pick by San Francisco out of Stanford during the 2014 draft. The outfielder spent more than a decade in the Giants organization as he made his big league debut in 2017 and remained with the club through last season. In the first three seasons of his career, Slater was a decent but unspectacular fourth outfielder for San Francisco, slashing a combined .254/.335/.368 in 544 total plate appearances during that time. While primarily an outfielder, he also received occasional time at first base and even made token appearances at both second and third base off the Giants’ bench.
The outfielder broke out during the shortened 2020 season, however, with a 150 wRC+ and a .282/.408/.506 slash line in 104 trips to the plate while appearing in 31 of the club’s 60 games. That leap forward offensively earned Slater an expanded role over the next few years, and from 2021 to 2023 he became a regular for the Giants against left-handed pitching. While he was still generally shielded from righties, Slater slashed a respectable .257/.345/.412 in 343 games from 2021 to 2023. That’s good for a respectable 113 wRC+, and across those 838 plate appearances he walked at a 10.5% clip, swatted 24 homers, and swiped 29 bases despite frequent trips to the injured list cutting down on his playing time over the years.
Unfortunately for Slater, his production cratered in 2024. The outfielder hit just .209/.321/.266 (76 wRC+) overall in 212 trips to the plate this year while bouncing between the Giants, Reds, and Orioles. Even more surprisingly, the outfielder actually carried reverse splits this year after years of feasting on left-handed pitching. While he enjoyed a 141 wRC+ against lefties from 2020 to 2023, Slater hit just .188/.310/.231 against them in 142 plate appearances this year. Dismal as that overall production last year was, there is a silver lining in Slater’s performance. Once he arrived in Baltimore on the day of the trade deadline, he looked much more like the player he’s been throughout his career. In 79 plate appearances with the Orioles down the stretch, Slater hit .246/.342/.333 (102 wRC+) overall and posted a 114 wRC+ against southpaws.
That late-season rebound could inspire additional confidence in Slater’s ability to return to form in 2025 and beyond. That appears to be what the White Sox are betting on, and Slater makes plenty of sense for the club as a right-handed platoon option. Veteran lefty bat Andrew Benintendi is entrenched in left field, while the club also employs a host of left-handed youngsters in right field and at DH including Zach DeLoach, Dominic Fletcher, Gavin Sheets, and Oscar Colas. Of that group, only DeLoach (in a sample of just 79 big league PAs) lacks a significant platoon split.
Mixing in Slater against left-handed pitching should be a huge boost for a Sox offense that produced an MLB-worst 74 wRC+ against left-handed pitching last year, even if he merely recreates the production he offered the Orioles rather than bouncing back to the excellent form he showed from 2020 to 2023. While even an excellent short-side platoon bat isn’t going to make the White Sox contenders in 2025 following a 121-loss season this year, Slater was sufficiently attractive as a trade piece this summer to get dealt not once, but twice prior to the deadline. If he can garner that level of interest amid a down season, it’s easy to imagine the White Sox recouping some value for his services next July in the event he bounces back.
Kind of shocked to see them hand him a major league deal. 5th outfielder at best.
Someone should give Slater a cognitive test.
Care to expand on that comment? Not a Giants fan so haven’t watched his career that closely.
Who else was offering an MLB deal?
2nd on that team.
He’s statistically one of the most elite pinch hitters against LHP. He’s athletic enough to play all three OF positions. There should be no shock or surprise about a major league deal unless you aren’t paying attention or don’t know ball
Yes, but it does move the needle a bit for the White Sox. I can see them going from 121 losses to 120 losses now. Good move.
The White Sox should be fielding a team of cheap MLB veterans in 2025 with the hopes of offloading them at the trade deadline.
I imagine this is the plan they pitched to Austin Slater, who could be a LHP terrorizer, something any team would likely want in the postseason.
Good luck.
Several yeasr from now, we will look back at this moment as to when the Sox once again started to become a juggernaut..
What do you mean they signed a major leaguer?
Shouldnt white sox be trying to sign young players with potential instead of bad old players?
It seems that the White Sox have had a hard time doing what they should be doing for a couple years now. (To be fair, their players have also suffered from the same thing of not doing what they’re supposed to do)
Pretty harmless if it’s a 1yr MLB minimum salary level agreement. There are no significant OF prospects knocking on the door unless that is part of a return for Crochet or “if” they trade Robert this offseason.
Bad teams sign vets with the hopes that they can flip them at the deadline if they play well and cut them if they don’t. Your idea would never work because free agency is not where you find “young players with potential,” it is where you find guys around 30 that will play at (or below) the level they have already reached. Unless you want to overpay for someone like Soto, that is.
That’s true. But, also, the Sox are still trying to find “competency” at positions around the diamond.
Especially, when it comes to the outfield. They’ve had the worst group of outfielders for years now while playing first basemen like Gavin Sheets in RF. It’s been a joke how little production they’ve had in their OF.
Another thing is that the Sox seem to be the only team that cannot draft, sign or develop any good outfielders. It’s amazing. Almost like they’re trying not to.
Extraordinary. Pham was the only regular with an OPS+ as high as 100. After Pham, only Moancada with 45 PA beat 100.
That’s incredible.
Not really incredible when you consider it was arguably the worst team ever put on the field in MLB history.. More explanatory than incredible.
I’m not sure of anything regarding the White Sox farm, but the Rockies have a major glut of outfield prospects right now. Is there potential for a prospect swap there?
There’s no harm in signing a couple cheap free agents. They can raise the floor a little and hopefully set a good example for the younger guys. As the article mentioned, don’t forget that a decent bounce back from Slater could allow the ChiSox to flip him for something.
Gina: Oh, they’ll flip him alright. Can’t see Slater signing with this trash of a team other than using it to add something to his value, then escaping the asylum to, well, anyone else.
Slates is a smart guy, Stanford grad and was a good Giant. I wish him nothing but the best
@ Digdugler. Young players with potential typically aren’t FA. When they are, the contracts tend to be long and for a lot of money. That doesn’t make sense for the White Sox right now. They need a good, productive farm, then they can start shopping on the top shelf.
All I can figure is Slater has some sort of dirt on MLB – how else does he keep landing deals?
A 115 OPS+ from ‘20-‘23?
Lord: And, of course, the Sox wait to sign formerly good players until their value drops. They should be called “The Chicago Showcase.”
This is his first time in free agency. Thus, the first time he has “landed a deal”.
They might as well, he’s been a solid enough hitter as recently as 2023. If he has some sort of bounce back maybe they could get a lotto ticket for him at the deadline. Next I think they should sign some bounce back relief candidates on a 1 year deal. There is never a shortage of teams who need relievers at the deadline.
Nice! ChiSox & Angels more active in the offseason than the Yankees and Dodgers.
Old York: The difference is, the nyy and Dodgers don’t sign players on their way down.
Seems like a good move. Cheap and the type of bat that will likely be desired at the trade deadline, so easy to move for another lottery ticket.
Every year a few of these under the radar moves end up looking brilliant in hindsight.
I like the sign, good numbers, hits and .OBP are respectable, he starts on the White Sox. I am in the contingent that Robert should be moved for whatever you can get for him at this point. He is potentially an all star caliber player and should draw some interest and return one or two decent prospects. I also would like to see them move start Sheets at first base. I can’t stand having a short right handed first baseman and Vaughn doesn’t hit enough to make that kind of sacrifice defensively.
Enjoyed Slater’s brand of “less injured Austin Hays” that he brought to the Orioles.
Can’t argue that!
‘tis a slow news day when the debate is on for/against Austin Slater’s value to the White Sox
When healthy Slater is a solid rotational player who can pinch hit as well.
On a team that lacks depth, he’s a good guy to have around.