Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Fisher moved to Oklahoma as a child. He attended OU before signing with the Giants in 1958. A knuckleballer, Fisher reached the majors within a year of signing his pro contract. He pitched sparingly over three seasons with San Francisco. The Giants included the 6’2″ righty in a trade package to the White Sox for veteran pitchers Billy Pierce and Don Larsen during the 1961-62 offseason.

Fisher spent parts of five seasons in Chicago. Working primarily as a long reliever, he rattled off four straight years with at least 120 innings and a sub-4.00 earned run average. Fisher had his best season in 1965, when he turned in a 2.40 ERA while leading the American League in appearances (82) and WHIP (0.974). He made his lone All-Star appearance, where he tossed two scoreless innings. Fisher finished fourth in AL MVP balloting behind Zoilo Versalles and future Hall of Famers Tony Oliva and Brooks Robinson.

It was more of the same in ’66. Fisher carried a 2.29 ERA over 35 1/3 innings for the White Sox, who swapped him to the Orioles for middle infielder Jerry Adair that June. Fisher tossed 71 2/3 frames with a 2.64 mark down the stretch for Baltimore. The O’s went on to win the World Series, getting Fisher the only ring of his career. He didn’t make an appearance in the Fall Classic. Baltimore’s sweep of the Dodgers included complete game shutouts from Jim Palmer, Wally Bunker and Dave McNally, so they had little need to use their bullpen.

Fisher continued to soak up innings out of the ’pen for multiple teams into the 1970s. He pitched one more season with Baltimore and spent four years with the California Angels, for whom he turned in a 3.22 ERA. He had a brief second stint with the White Sox and wrapped his career with the Cardinals in ’73.

He concluded a 15-year big league run with a 3.41 earned run average in more than 1500 innings. Fisher won 85 games and recorded 812 strikeouts. He finished 344 contests and was credited with 82 saves (most of them retroactively because the stat wasn’t officially tracked by MLB until 1969). MLBTR sends condolences to Fisher’s family, friends and loved ones.

In the short term, the biggest significance is that it’s a major setback in the Twins sale process. The Pohlad family announced in October that they were looking to sell the Minnesota franchise, which they’ve owned for four decades. The Athletic’s Dan Hayes reported in early January that the Pohlads had received robust interest and were hoping to have the sale finalized by Opening Day. There were reportedly multiple interested parties, but the Ishbias seemed the early frontrunners.

Mat and Justin Ishbia co-own the Phoenix franchises in the NBA and WNBA. While Mat Ishbia is the majority owner of the basketball teams, Justin Ishbia would have been the control person had they purchased the Twins. It’s unclear how far down the road the Pohlads got in negotiations, but they’ll now need to turn their attention elsewhere.

Over the longer haul, this is also a potentially seismic development for the White Sox. Greenberg writes that some people familiar with the situation believe this will be a stepping stone to Justin Ishbia eventually assuming majority control of the franchise from Jerry Reinsdorf. White Sox VP of communications Scott Reifert pushed back against that notion. “White Sox limited partners have received an offer from a third party to purchase their shares in the team, providing liquidity for the limited partners on their long-term investment in the club,” he told Greenberg. “This offer to limited partners has no impact on the leadership or operations of the Chicago White Sox and does not provide a path to control.”

Reinsdorf, who turns 89 next week, has owned the White Sox since 1981. He has owned the NBA’s Bulls since the mid-80s. For more than a decade, Reinsdorf has maintained that his family should sell the White Sox after his passing. He reportedly had conversations with a Dave Stewart-led group about a sale last October. It’s not clear whether those talks made progress, though Stewart joined the A’s in a special assistant role last month.

That process also involved some speculation about relocation. The Sox’s lease at Rate Field runs through 2029. Reinsdorf lobbied for a reported $1 billion in public funding for a new stadium in Chicago’s South Loop last year. As of last October, the White Sox were continuing to pursue the South Loop project.

Clevinger returns to Chicago for what’ll be a third straight season. He signed a $12MM deal with the Sox over the 2022-23 offseason. That was a generally successful pickup, as he turned in a 3.77 earned run average through 24 starts. That came with a below-average strikeout rate for a second consecutive season, leading to a quieter market last winter. Clevinger remained unsigned beyond Opening Day. He eventually returned to Chicago on a $4MM deal.

As a result of the late signing, the veteran righty agreed to start the season in the minors. That afforded him a few weeks to build his arm into game shape. The White Sox recalled him in early May. He took four turns through the rotation, allowing 13 runs (12 earned) across 16 frames. Elbow inflammation shelved him for a couple months. Clevinger was building back from that when the Sox announced in late July that he’d undergo season-ending surgery to address a disc issue in his neck.

The injury-plagued season limited Clevinger to minor league offers as he enters his age-34 campaign. He’s clearly comfortable with the White Sox, where there’s plenty of opportunity in the rotation. Chicago has added Martín Pérez and Bryse Wilson on one-year deals this offseason. No other starter on their 40-man roster has even reached one year of major league service. Clevinger joins Justin Dunn and Jonathan Heasley as non-roster invitees who have MLB experience.

White, 25, is a logical pickup for the White Sox. He has had rough results for the past two years but was a top 100 prospect before that. The Sox aren’t expecting to be good anytime soon, with their 2024 season being historically bad. Of the 30 clubs in the league, they are the one best positioned to take a flier and hope for a bounceback. White also has one option year remaining, so he can be kept in Triple-A throughout 2025 as the club gets a close-up look at him.

Drafted by the Rangers with the 55th overall pick in 2018, White’s debut was delayed for a while. Tommy John surgery prevented him from pitching in 2019 and then the minor leagues were wiped out by the pandemic in 2020. But despite that lengthy layoff, he went on to put up some eye-popping numbers once on the hill. Over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, he logged 115 2/3 innings on the farm with a 3.42 earned run average. He had a strong 7.5% walk rate and a massive 34.1% strikeout rate.

Going into 2023, he was a consensus top 100 prospect, with Baseball America giving him the #59 spot. The Rangers added him to their 40-man roster to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. But as alluded to earlier, his results have tapered off significantly since then.

He has made his major league debut, which surely wasn’t what he dreamed of. In seven big league frames to this point, he has allowed 13 earned runs, giving him an ugly 16.71 ERA at the moment. His minor league numbers haven’t been great either. He threw 151 1/3 innings for Triple-A Round Rock over 2023 and 2024 with a 5.41 ERA. The Express play in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but he also didn’t impress with his 17.4% strikeout rate nor his 11.7% walk rate.

The Rangers did get experimental with White midway through 2024, giving him a shot at a relief role. In his final 13 Triple-A appearances on the year, he logged 18 frames from the bullpen. His 5.50 ERA still wasn’t impressive but he did strike out 25.6% of batters faced in that time.

That wasn’t enough for him to hang onto his roster spot. He was designated for assignment in December and traded to the Reds for cash. He was designated for assignment again in late January and put on waivers, with the Sox passing at that time. Given their record last year, they have top waiver priority, but he was claimed by the Yankees. But since then, the 60-day IL has opened up, which gave Chicago a bit more flexibility to make an addition such as this.

The Sox can bring White into camp and see how things go. Perhaps he can get back on track as a starter or find new life with a move to a relief role. As mentioned, they don’t need to give him a spot on the active roster this year. He still has less than a year of service time, so they could cheaply control him for years to come if things click while he’s on the roster.

Gallo is looking to rebound from the worst season of his career. The two-time All-Star inked a $5MM free agent deal with the Nationals last January. He appeared in 76 games and hit .161/.277/.336 with 10 homers across 260 plate appearances. Gallo struck out in 39.2% of his plate appearances, the second-highest rate among hitters with 200+ trips to the dish. While the whiffs are nothing new, that came with a personal-low 12.3% walk rate and slugging percentage.

It was the third straight season in which Gallo has had a tough time offensively. His bat has dropped sharply since the Yankees acquired him from the Rangers in a big deadline trade in 2021. Gallo had hit .211/.336/.497 over parts of seven seasons in Texas. Since leaving Arlington, he owns a .165/.289/.384 slash in more than 1200 trips to the plate between four teams.

Gallo won consecutive Gold Gloves in the outfield in 2020-21. His sprint speed and defensive grades have dropped since then, though he’s still capable of playing right field. Washington used him mostly at first base last season. He logged nearly 500 innings there while starting just seven games in the outfield.

Chicago is likely to give Andrew Vaughn another chance to take a step forward at first base. Right field is wide open. Mike Tauchman and Austin Slater are probably lined up for a platoon there. Gallo, Dominic Fletcher and former highly-regarded prospect Oscar Colás could compete for reps in camp.

February 11: The White Sox and outfielder Michael A. Taylor are in agreement on a deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The ALIGND Sports Agency client gets a $1.95MM guarantee on a one-year deal with performance bonuses, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The Sox have a full 40-man roster and will need to open a spot.

Taylor, 34 in March, has long been one of the best defensive center fielders in the game. From 2015 to 2024, he has 78 Defensive Runs Saved in center. That tally puts him third in the majors for that stretch, though the two guys ahead of him are now retired: Kevin Kiermaier and Lorenzo Cain. His 62 Outs Above Average at the position put him sixth in the league.

Offensively, he’s been more mercurial. He strikes out a lot and doesn’t take many walks. He does have enough pop in his bat to occasionally overcome those deficiencies somewhat, with four seasons of double-digit homer tallies, though he also remains vulnerable to deep troughs in his production.

The last two seasons highlight the up-and-down nature of his work at the plate. With the Twins in 2023, he struck out 33.5% of the time and only walked at a 6.7% clip but did park the ball over the fence 21 times. That led to a .220/.278/.442 batting line and 95 wRC+. That means he was still 5% below league average on the whole, but thanks to his defense and 13 stolen bases, FanGraphs considered him to be worth two wins above replacement.

He signed a one-year, $4MM deal with the Pirates in 2024 and things went downhill. His strikeout and walk rates held fairly steady at 35% and 7.7% respectively, but he hit only five home runs and produced a dismal line of .193/.253/.290.

After last year’s historically poor season, the White Sox have been giving deals to various veteran players to pad out their inexperienced roster. That includes adding Mike Tauchman and Austin Slater to an outfield that already included Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Benintendi. Elsewhere on the roster, they’ve signed Josh Rojas, Martin Perez and Bryse Wilson.

Going into the season, Robert will be the everyday center fielder, at least until a trade comes together. He had an excellent season in 2023 but scuffled through an injury-marred 2024. All reporting from this winter has indicated the Sox have set a high price on Robert. As opposed to selling low, they would rather let him prove his health and effectiveness in the early parts of 2025 before hopefully striking a deal at the right time.

They would also surely love to flip Benintendi and the three years left on his deal, though he’s coming off two rough seasons. He did have a strong second half in 2024, so perhaps there’s some hope of him getting back on track. Like Robert, the club should run him out there for regular playing time in the hopes that he plays well and builds some trade value.

Tauchman and Slater could perhaps form a platoon in another corner. Slater hits right-handed and has been better against lefties in his career. Tauchman has fairly neutral splits but does hit left-handed.

Taylor seems likely to be on the bench in a fourth outfielder role, though he does give the club a bit of insurance in the event Robert gets bitten by the injury bug again. Or if some club meets their lofty asking price and gets a trade over the line. Until that happens, he can serve as a defensive replacement or pinch runner from time to time. The club could also put Robert in the designated hitter slot from time to time as a way of easing his workload, putting Taylor in center.

Oscar Colás and Dominic Fletcher are also on the roster but they have options and could be in Triple-A until they either earn their way into bigger roles or injuries opening up opportunities. Players like Corey Julks and Zach DeLoach have been bumped off the roster this winter but are still around in non-roster roles.

Nick Pivetta stands as the most notable starter who's yet to find a landing spot. He's surely been impacted by the qualifying offer that's hanging over his head. Any team other than the incumbent Red Sox would need to forfeit at least one draft pick (possibly two, depending on CBT status) in order to sign the longtime Boston righty. Others still on the market include veteran mid-rotation or back-end starters Andrew Heaney, Jose Quintana, Kyle Gibson, Cal Quantrill, Ross Stripling, Lance Lynn and Patrick Corbin -- just to name some. (A full list can be seen here.)

This time of year, there's plenty of talk about teams that still need to add an arm. That can take different shapes, however. I wrote about the Mets' rotation for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers last week, but the Mets aren't necessarily the type of team that needs to go out and add an innings eater to step into the fourth or fifth spot in the rotation. They have myriad options there already. Any addition for them, presumably, would be a clear-cut playoff starter. It's a similar situation with the Orioles, Cubs, Blue Jays and many other postseason hopefuls. Other clubs, like the Tigers and Pirates, have a mostly set group with a bevy of interesting young, MLB-ready top prospects knocking on the door. Signing Quintana or Gibson to eat innings likely isn't in the cards for teams in either of these groups.

At this stage of the offseason, some of those available free agents might need to wait for a spring injury or a trade to create the opportunity they seek. But there are still teams around the league that are rather clearly in need of some steady innings in the Nos. 3-5 spots in the rotation. Let's run through some clubs that have the need and, as crucially, the budget (or lack thereof) to add an established veteran arm to the back of the staff.

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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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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. Stephen 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.

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.