White Sox Notes Free Agency Robert Montgomery

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White Sox Notes Free Agency Robert Montgomery

White Sox general manager Chris Getz spoke with reporters on Thursday in advance of this weekends SoxFest. The second-year baseball operations leader indicated the team was unlikely to make any significant moves for the remainder of the offseason. For the most part, we feel like weve got our roster. Yeah, its just a matter of getting to Spring Training and prepping for Opening Day , Getz said ( ). While he left open the po sibility for an addition here and there , it doesnt seem the Sox expect to do much else before the season gets underway. Thats to be expected. The White Sox are coming off the worst season in modern baseball history. They certainly werent going to be major players in free agency. Theyve somewhat surprisingly signed five MLB free agent deals this winter, though none goes beyond this year. ($5MM), ($3.5MM), ($2MM), ($1.8MM) and ($1.1MM) are guaranteed a combined $13.4MM. Theyve added backup catcher and lefty reliever via minor trades. While the Sox surely hope theyll be able to flip some of their free agent acquisitions at the deadline, no one from that group is going to net more than a marginal return even if they play well in the first half. Chicagos biggest decisions were tabbing Will Venable as manager and sending to the Red Sox for a four-player prospect return headlined by and . Crochet was easily the Soxs top remaining trade chip. That title now falls to The star center fielder is coming off the worst season of his career. Robert hit .224/.278/.379 through 425 plate appearances. Few players had a sharper drop-off relative to their 2023 production. Robert finished 12th in AL MVP balloting two years ago. He played elite defense and hit .264/.315/.542 with 38 homers and 20 stolen bases. Robert is the only player on the Sox roster who has the ceiling to net them a franchise-changing trade return. That very likely wouldnt be on the table this winter, though, so its logical for Chicago to hold him until Albert Suarez Jersey the deadline. While Getz didnt firmly shut the door on trading Robert before Opening Day, he didnt sound eager to deal the 27-year-old. Were open minded, were not looking to move anyone , the GM said ( ). With that being said, there are other teams that are working through the free agent proce s perhaps and there could be some opportunities to have dialogue. We do feel like the majority of our moves have been made. But with that being said, were not quite there yet and I look forward to getting this group together out in Arizona. Robert will be the Soxs most important player in the seasons first few months. Hes playing on a $15MM salary in the final guaranteed season of his pre-debut contract extension. Hes guaranteed at least a $2MM buyout on $20MM club options covering the 2026-27 campaigns. If Robert finds anything near his 23 form, Chicago would market two and a half seasons of club control over a star outfielder. If he plays like he did last season, theyd be looking at middling returns on a player who might get bought out at the end of the season. The Sox have already seen the latter situation play out with and , each of whom struggled enough to get bought out of what initially seemed to be very team-friendly contracts. In either case, its hard to envision Robert remaining on the White Sox into the 2026 season. By that point, could be the new face of the franchise. The lefty-hitting shortstop was one of the sports top 15 prospects at this time last year. Montgomery underperformed in his first crack at Triple-A. He hit .214/.329/.381 while striking out at a 28.6% clip during his age-22 season. That has dinged his prospect value to some extent, though he still ranks among Top 50 minor league talents. The White Sox added Montgomery to their 40-man roster in November. That was a formality to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. Theyd be justified in starting him back in Triple-A, but Getz left the door open for the former first-round pick to take the shortstop job out of camp. Hes going to get a lot of opportunity come Spring Training , Getz said (via Merkin). We expect to see Colson Montgomery playing shortstop for the White Sox this year at some point. Hes going to get a shot to make the club. Now, weve got other players on the roster that are going to compete for shortstop opportunities. , who started nine games at shortstop last year, is the only returning player who logged any time at that position. Rojas has been their only major league infield acquisition this winter. He had a bit of run at shortstop early in his career with Arizona but hasnt played there in four years. , whom the White Sox acquired in the Crochet deal, is coming off a .293/.437/.400 showing with Bostons Triple-A club. His bat seems big league ready, but most scouting reports suggest hes a better defensive fit at second or third base who can play shortstop on occasion. Meidroth is not yet on the 40-man roster, but it stands to reason that Chicago will give him an MLB look at some point this year. Gregory Soto Jersey
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