Flurry of moves probably punctuated by something really ugly as the second half opens
The White Sox had some news on Wednesday, broadly unsurprising. And definitely uninspiring:
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) July 17, 2024
The White Sox DFAd Danny Mendick, again, in favor of a better-pedigreed Mendick, former overall No. 2 draft choice Nick Senzel. Senzel’s deal is a major league contract, thus Lenyn Sosa was demoted to Charlotte to make room.
The 29-year-old Senzel was designated for assignment by Washington on July 6 and released on July 11. Almost immediately upon release, he was tied to the White Sox with an MLB deal. In 2024 the utilityman is hitting .209 over 64 games. His career slash is .235/.302/.368 and he’s seen significant action in center field and third base, with a capability of playing right field and second base as well.
Mendick, just one year older than Senzel, has a near-identical career slash of .232/.286/.346. However, due to Senzel being bad in more games in his career, he brings a career -2.2 WAR to the White Sox, while Mendick is essentially a replacement player, at -0.2 WAR career.
An unwitting victim of the roster shenanigans is Sosa, whose offense has finally picked up with consistent playing time. While the 24-year-old is slashing .237/.274/.350 in 52 games over two stints with the White Sox this season, his numbers have improved with every month that passes and his July represents a high-water mark of .277/.306/.404 over 12 games.
So yes, the White Sox already had two Senzels on the roster, one older and expendable in Mendick, the other with far higher upside in the demoted Sosa. If he wasn’t already feeling it, this latest move — literal dumpster diving as if tanking the season for the 10th pick — should be telling Sosa clearly that his future is not on the South Side.
Also notable, the Mendick move was not (yet) necessary to accommodate Senzel, thus the freeing of a 40-man spot means one of a couple of things — the injury return of Yoán Moncada or the promotion of the abuser-starter up from Charlotte.
And FURTHER complicating the news of the day is the rumored DFA of catcher Martín Maldonado from two Athletic writers.
The White Sox have designated Martín Maldonado for assignment, sources tell me and @Chandler_Rome.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 17, 2024
Maldonado, 37, is slashing .119/.174/.230, and it took a “hot” streak in July just to get him past a .100 batting average. DFA talk surrounding the veteran was not if but when, and is the talk proves true the White Sox are starting clean in the second half. and eating a million-plus in salary. In an increasingly-crowded field, Maldonado’s career -1.5 WAR on the South Side puts him on the roster of worst White Sox free agent signings ever.
Korey Lee, already assuming the lion’s share of starts at catcher, will formally take over the starting spot, with Chuck Robinson (already on the 40-man) the likely pick to spell him as Edgar Quero has seen just six Knights games and continues to acclimate to Triple-A speed.
Surely no later than Friday we’ll get the rest of the story on the roster shuffling, and we’ll provide more details and context on the active roster then.
