White Sox fans are beginning to grow restless while they wait for 1B prospect Tim Elko to make his way to Chicago.
Given his .362/.440/.691/1.131 slash line and nine home runs in AAA Charlotte this season, it’s tough to make a case for why the 26-year-old is stuck in the minors and not ready or deserving of an MLB call-up.
Hearing White Sox GM Chris Getz talk about Elko a few days ago before the current homestand did nothing but reinforce my opinions of Elko and make me wonder what the Sox are waiting for.
“He has always hit the ball hard but he has actually increased how hard he’s hitting it and most importantly, how often he’s doing it,” Getz said to the media on Tuesday.
“He’s leading the organization in home runs and I think he’s at the top in minor league baseball. Tim [Elko] is a special guy. He’s got tremendous leadership qualities. He impacts others beyond just himself. He’s a pretty good defender at first base. He’s putting together all around quality at-bats.”
The guy can hit, field, and would have a positive off-field impact on the big league clubhouse. It’s only a matter of time. But in order for the Sox to give Elko his shot, they’ll need to find a corresponding move that makes sense for the organization.
Factoring in each player’s minor league options and what I simply find to be more realistic, here are the easiest ways for the Sox to make room for Elko on their 40-man roster and call him up.
DFA Bobby Dalbec
Bobby Dalbec is out of minor league options and currently taking up a spot on the 40-man roster. Designating him for assignment would immediately clear up a spot on the 40-man and give other teams 10 days to claim or trade for Dalbec.
Dalbec has some positional versatility, but he’s primarily a first baseman that will serve no purpose in a world where Elko is promoted and Josh Rojas returns from injury.
In six games with the White Sox in 2025, Dalbec is 3-for-15 at the dish with one RBI.
DFA Jacob Amaya
Jacob Amaya is on borrowed time in the major leagues. It’s actually shocking that he managed to survive all of April without being DFA’d.
Amaya is 4-for-52 this season. That’s a batting average of .077. His OPS is .201 and his fWAR is sitting at -0.7. That’s 1,006th out of the 1,012 players registered on FanGraphs. Hilariously, Andrew Vaughn is dead last, 1,012th, with a -1.0 fWAR.
In the last three weeks, Amaya has played in 17 games and reached base only twice. He’s just not a big league player, and every day the White Sox pretend otherwise is an insult to the fanbase and those in the organization deserving of an opportunity.
With Lenyn Sosa, Brooks Baldwin, Chase Meidroth, and Miguel Vargas on the team and Josh Rojas returning soon, the Sox are all set on the infield. They can afford to swap out Amaya for Elko.
Why the White Sox won’t send down Andrew Vaughn
I’ve seen a lot of White Sox fans asking for Andrew Vaughn to be sent down to AAA when Elko is called up. It makes a lot of sense given Vaughn's -1.0 fWAR and .479 OPS. If only it were that simple...
The White Sox need to make room for Elko on the 40-man roster before they can activate him. While Vaughn has minor league options remaining and could be outrighted to Charlotte, he’d still be on the 40-man roster if he was in the minor leagues.
I already felt like Vaughn being sent down was unrealistic because of the team's investment in his development, but it‘s even more far-fetched when you consider that it would inconvenience the Sox and force them to release an additional player to make that the corresponding move for Elko.
It’s far more likely that Elko gets called up while Dalbec is DFA’d and then splits time with Vaughn at first base. We may even see Vaughn DH some if Elko, who is a better defender, has early success at the plate.