In his recent remarks, Chris Getz discussed the White Sox’s alternatives in right field, including the availability of internal choices to complement any acquisitions made over the course of the upcoming few months. It seems that one of those internal choices has gotten overlooked.
Rafael Ortega, an outfielder, has been signed by the White Sox to a minor league deal, which most likely includes an invitation to Spring Training, according to the team’s MLB transaction website.
The 33-year-old Ortega played 136 plate appearances for the New York Mets in 2023, hitting.219/.341/.272 with an 83 wRC+. Since 2012, he has played in the major leagues for portions of the seasons. Before moving to New York last season, he was a member of the Rockies, Angels, Marlins, Braves, and Cubs. He is a career hitter who hits.247,.324, and.352; his career wRC+ of 89 is not too dissimilar from his 2023 figures. With the Cubs in 2021, he had his finest season to date, hitting.291/.360/.463 with 11 home runs in 330 games. But his.355 wOBA and.311 xwOBA indicate that season was more of an exception than a sign of things to come.
It’s not impossible that Ortega, a left-handed hitter with some walk potential, makes the major league roster at some point this season given the White Sox’s general willingness to allow veterans to play. He has never had a season with fewer than -1 Outs Above Average (OAA) in his career, but his yearly statistics have generally stayed between 0 and +1 OAA, meaning at best he is mediocre in terms of defence in the outfield.
Put otherwise, consider this mostly as a depth move with another veteran who will be present at the club in the spring.
According to some early estimates, Cease would have cost $8.3 million, thus the team may have received a small discount on Dylan. Of course, it has to be seen if Chicago actually writes the checks; there are still a lot of rumours circulating about a potential Cease trade, but they are currently just idle speculation. In the event that he is dealt, $8 million is a great price for a top arm.
Conversely, it is evident that Chris Getz and associates spent excessive amounts for Lopez and Soroka, who were acquired from the Atlanta Braves in the Aaron Bummer transaction. Spotrac estimated their respective values to be $2.8 million and $3.6 million. Rather of $5.5 million of Bummer being, well, a bummer in 2024, we will be forced to pay extra money to witness the tragedy of Lopez and Soroka being awful. A two-for-one, hey! There will always be White Sox.
Despite having just recovered from Tommy John surgery and had a difficult season, Crochet signed for a little bit more than Spotrac had predicted ($775,000). But Michael Kopech, who also had a difficult year, consented to far less than his estimated $4.2 million. Andrew Vaughn’s deal came in considerably short of his projected amount of $4.1 million, while Touki Toussaint’s $1.3 million contract was virtually exactly on target compared to a $1.2 million prediction.
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