The Chicago White Sox continue to move on from players who were part of the recording-breaking 121-loss season.
First, the team declined to exercise Yoan Moncada's option for 2025 after an injury-plagued career on the Southside. The team then let go of oft-injured relievers Matt Foster and Jimmy Lambert. Nicky Lopez was also waived.
Now, Gavin Sheets is on his way out of town as the team is not tendering him a contract.
Source: The Chicago White Sox are non-tendering first baseman/outfielder Gavin Sheets.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) November 22, 2024
Honestly, this is the right move to make since Sheets never became the power left-handed hitter that was envisioned when the club drafted him in the second round of the 2017 draft.
There was some promise he could crush home runs when he belted 11 home runs in 54 games during the 2021 season. He went on to hit just 35 home runs from 2022-2024.
Sheets hit just 10 home runs in 139 games this season--the most playing time he saw during his four-year tenure with the Sox. His slash line for 2024 was .233/.303/.357 with a wRC+ of 88 and a -.9 fWAR. That is not the type of production that a franchise claiming to be cash-strapped should hand out a projected $2.2 million in arbitration.
Sheets' advanced production also was not very good. He had poor ratings when it came to barrel percentage and hard-hit percentage.
For a guy whose floor was a power bat off the bench, he was not very good at reaching that type of expectation. The only thing he did well this season was he was one of two players on the roster who played over 100 games with an on-base percentage over .300. Even then, it was just barely over .300.
His walk percentage was 8.6% to a 21.2% strikeout percentage. Sheets was also not good at putting the ball in play with a .281 BABIP in 2024. The number was even lower in 2023 at .222.
That type of production makes it an easy choice for the front office to move on from him.