The White Sox introduced that they’ve signed infielder Bobby Dalbec to a minor league take care of an invitation to main league spring coaching. Chris Cotillo of MassLive experiences that Dalbec will make $1.25MM if within the majors with $500K of incentives out there to him as properly. The CAA Sports activities shopper may even have alternatives to opt-out of the deal in June or July if not on the roster.
Dalbec, 30 in June, joins a brand new group for the primary time in his profession. He was drafted by the Purple Sox in 2016 and performed for that membership on the huge league degree for elements of the previous 5 seasons. The guide on Dalbec is that he has energy potential however strikes out far too usually to utilize it. He has taken 1,044 journeys to the plate in his main league profession to this point, hitting house runs in 47 of these but in addition getting punched out 36.8% of the time.
That’s one thing that’s truly gotten worse over time. He hit 25 house runs in 2021 whereas putting out at a 34.4% clip, with the Purple Sox absolutely hoping for that quantity to return down as he acquired extra huge league expertise. However he’s had 146 plate appearances over the previous two seasons and been set down on strikes at an enormous 48.6% clip in these. He was outrighted off Boston’s roster in September and elected free company at season’s finish.
The White Sox are a very good match for him, as there’s not a lot blocking his path again to the large leagues. Dalbec has largely performed first base in his profession however has additionally seen important time at third, whereas making temporary appearances within the center infield and in proper area.
Chicago simply wrapped up the worst season of the fashionable period and has little or no settled in its place participant combine. Andrew Vaughn remains to be the primary baseman however his manufacturing has declined in every of the previous two years. Even when he bounces again, the White Sox are extremely prone to commerce him since he can solely be retained through arbitration by means of 2026.
Veterans like Josh Rojas, Mike Tauchman and Austin Slater have been introduced in to shore up numerous elements of the roster however any of them might be reduce free or traded all year long, relying on how issues go in 2025. Children like Miguel Vargas, Bryan Ramos and Colson Montgomery will probably be allotted a lot of future taking part in time however none of them are established within the majors simply but.
Regardless of the strikeouts, Dalbec has continued to provide within the minors. He’s had 956 Triple-A plate appearances over the previous three years with 58 homers. Although he had a 34.6% strikeout price in that pattern, he additionally had an 11.8% stroll price, a mixed batting line of .260/.358/.523 and a 121 wRC+. If he can carry a few of that as much as the majors with the White Sox, he has lower than three years of service time and might due to this fact be cheaply retained past this yr through arbitration if he has a roster spot at season’s finish. He’s now out of choices, nonetheless, which might make it difficult for him to carry a roster spot even when he will get one.
