Grading the latest Chicago White Sox offseason acquisitions

The Chicago White Sox are truly embracing the saying “out with the old, in with the new” this offseason. 

For mostly better but in a few cases worse, several players won’t be returning to Chicago next year. Chris Flexen, Dominic Leone, Max Stassi, Michael Soroka, Mike Clevinger, Nicky Lopez, and Yoán Moncada elected free agency.

Notable minor league departures include Jimmy Lambert, Matt Foster, Rafael Ortega, and Zach Remillard.

General manager Chris Getz is combating this voluntary house cleaning by ushering in new guys. In what is seasonally a slow period, five new players have been signed this month.

With more roster moves on the way as free agency agreements and trade talks heat up heading into December, the 2025 Sox will hardly resemble the record-losing team they were.

Here are the rankings of this offseason’s acquisitions so far...

Austin Slater

Slater has more depth and ability than what meets the eye. He joins the Sox after an underwhelming year with the Giants, Reds, and Orioles, where he combined to slash .209/.321/.266, and recorded 37 hits, and 24 runs.

On the surface, his acquisition doesn’t warrant much excitement as he’s coming off the worst performance of his career. However, his prior years show a bit of a silver lining. Excluding 2024, Slater has a career batting average of .257, an on-base percentage of .345, and a slugging percentage of .402, all coming from his seven years with the Giants. He’s not an All-Star, but he fills the need for consistency in the Sox lineup. 

Despite a rough last year, Slater still has a career 4.5 WAR. He’s a reliable utility outfielder who can get outs and steal bases. Slater brings depth and additional veteran experience to an outfield that could benefit from stability amidst the swirling Luis Robert Jr trade rumors. Slater deserves a fair chance to improve this year, which makes him a realistic fit for Chicago in their current rebuilding state. 

Grade: B+

Hendry Alcala and Juan Berroteran 

Hardly any information on Alcala and Berroteran exists. Alcala is a 17-year-old, switch-hitting Venezuelan center fielder. Berroteran is a shortstop and is also 17 years old. He is part of Guaicaipuro Prospect Academy and, coincidentally, comes from the same Venezuelan village, La Sabana, as Alcides Escobar and Ronald Acuña Jr.

Unfortunately, there are no player stats available.

Predicting how Alcala and Berroteran may perform for the Sox requires assessing David Keller, special assistant to Getz and head of international scouting. Keller was a special assignment scout with the Mets for the last eight years, and their draft picks since 2017

Jarred Kelenic, for example, is currently with the Braves and hasn’t unlocked his full potential yet, and Brett Baty has struggled in the majors. Though he isn’t the only throat to choke, Keller still has to prove himself. 

While it’s too early to tell how Alcala and Berroteran will turn out, the good news is that investing in them costs pennies. Alcala and Berroteran are far from coming up, but signing them at a young age shows that the talent is already there.

Grade: C+

Justin Dunn

Claiming Dunn off the Reds’ waivers doesn’t add much immediate value. While with the Mariners, Dunn put up an adequate 3.94 ERA AND 1.35 WHIP over nearly 100 innings from 2019-2021.

He bounced back and forth between Triple-A and the majors and struggled to hold runners on base and prevent steals. He regressed significantly in 2022 when he was traded to the Reds, where his ERA and WHIP dropped to 6.10 and 1.58 over 31.0 innings.

He suffered a rotator cuff injury before the 2023 season began and didn't pitch this year. 

With the Sox where they are now, signing Dunn isn’t surprising. As a former first-round pick with a promising scouting report, he has plenty of room to improve with deceiving breaking and offspeed pitches.

His ability to command the ball, however, is his biggest issue. With Ethan Katz as the Sox pitching coach, the chances of Dunn fixing his pitching mechanics on the Windy City are low. For a team with a low bar to clear, Dunn should get plenty of chances to grow into a fourth or fifth starter.

Grade: C

Penn Murfee

Although short, Murfee has had two solid years of MLB pitching. He has a career ERA of 2.70 and sub-1.00 WHIP while with the Mariners.

Tommy John surgery cut his 2023 season short and required him to miss 2024 entirely, but one can hope that his performance wouldn’t have been much different. He has a dangerous sweeper that, coupled with his sidearm release, gets hitters to expand the zone and elicits plenty of strikeouts.

Murfee is a great signing for the Sox.

If he returns to his pre-Tommy John self, the Sox bullpen will be marginally better and the Sox can either trade him at the deadline or keep him through their rebuild. If his pitching slips a bit, the Sox will have only spent $800,000 on a depth piece who can take some innings off other relievers’ hands. It’s a win-win either way.

Murfee is the least problematic signing for the Sox this offseason with the highest ceiling. 

Grade: A