The Chicago White Sox added more competition to an already crowded infield.
The Sox signed veteran Brandon Drury to a minor-league contract with an invite to camp. They also added Tristan Gray to the mix with the same deal.
Gray joins the likes of Andre Lipcius, Nick Maton, and Cal Mitchell as players with minimal big-league experience who never got much of a run with their former team. Those are the type of players the team should be looking at in the early stages of extensive rebuild to see if there still might be something there.
Gray will likely be added to the starting shortstop spring training competition.
The White Sox front office has provided veteran cover at catcher, second base, or third base despite the hope that prospects actually win the job. That has not been the case at shortstop.
Matt Thaiss and Omar Narvaez are on the spring training roster in case top-catching prospects Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero requires more time in the minors.
Josh Rojas was added to start either at second or third base in the event Chase Meidroth is better suited to a backup role to start his big-league career and Miguel Vargas continues to struggle.
Adding Drury also provides additional cover since he can play all over the field except catcher and centerfield.
No veteran cover has been added at shortstop where the hope is another Sox top-five prospect, Colson Montgomery can win the job in spring training. However, he struggled mightily at Triple-A last season. He finished the season strong, but it could not hurt to give him more at-bats in Charlotte.
That is why adding Gray at least gives the Sox another short-term bridge option in case Montgomery is not ready for Opening Day.
The Sox recently brought back Jacob Amaya after waiving him to make room on the roster for Rojas. Brooks Baldwin also got a brief run with the team in 2024.
Still, it cannot hurt to add more competition.
Gray has played in just 17 big-league games for the Athletics and the Marlins last season. There is not much to write home about those games as he posted a .152/.222/.273 slash line with one home run. He does have a .765 OPS in seven minor-league seasons. He has also hit 82 home runs over the past three seasons in the minors.
While he is 28, this is another signing the White Sox should be making to see if he can still be something given the expectations for winning this season is super low. Plus, he can play second and third, so he also has a shot to make the club in a utility role.
The Sox are hoping Drury still has some good baseball left in him.
Drury theoretically can play short too, but he has only manned that position for 61 innings over his lengthy career. He has logged the majority of his career as second and third base. He has also played first and both corner outfield spots.
He is not the strongest defender. What the White Sox have to hope for is he can still squeak out productive seasons as the plate like he did from 2021-2023.
He won a Silver Slugger in 2022 with a .263/.320/.492 slash line, hit 28 home runs, and a wRC+ of 123. Drury followed that season up with another productive 2023 output.
Brandon Drury had 30 doubles and 26 home runs in 2023. Won a Silver Slugger in 2022. Really struggled offensively last year. Can play almost every position on the field but pitcher and catcher. https://t.co/gLwFeXMDIh
— Chuck Garfien (@ChuckGarfien) February 7, 2025
He was terrible in 2024 with a .169/.242./.228 slash line, four home runs, and a wRC+ of 34. He did battle some injuries, but he went from a 3.1 fWAR player in 2022 to -2.1.
That type of decline will earn a 32-year-old player a minor-league deal. Still, he has had three seasons where his fWAR has been over 1.5 and it can never hurt to see if he can bounce back to even being a replacement-level player.
If that does happen, it is just another veteran to deal at the trade deadline to get some additional prospects to help with the rebuild.