Two perfect White Sox free agent targets who just became available

Another deadline day has passed, bringing a flurry of roster moves throughout Major League Baseball. Teams had until Friday to decide whether or not to tender contracts to their arbitration eligible players. The White Sox made the surprising call to non-tender OF Mike Tauchman, 1B Tim Elko, and LHP Cam Booser, creating more roster needs that they’ll look to address. Fortunately, a few more options have just hit the market as the other 29 teams made similar decisions. Here are a couple new free agents that the White Sox could consider pursuing.

OF Adolis Garcia

Perhaps the most notable non-tender of the day,  the two-time all-star outfielder became a free agent this week after launching 141 home runs over the past five seasons with the Texas Rangers. Garcia’s best season came in 2023, when he hit 39 home runs and drove in 107 runs while helping lead the Rangers to their first World Series title in franchise history. Garcia’s production has dropped off a bit since 2023. His OPS dropped below .700 in each of the past two seasons, though he still hit 25 and 19 home runs, respectively. Now entering his age 33 season, Garcia may never be the 125 OPS+ hitter he once was, but there’s plenty of power left in his bat and the White Sox are in desperate need of power in their lineup. With Mike Tauchman now a free agent, the White Sox have an opening in right field for a short-term answer as the team awaits the arrival of top prospect Braden Montgomery. Garcia could be an ideal fit on a one-year deal as he looks to regain value. 

LHP Sam Hentges

Hentges, a former fourth-round pick by the Guardians in 2014, was non-tendered after missing the entire 2025 season due to a shoulder injury. Hentges struggled in his first big league stint in 2021, but moved to the bullpen full-time and put together much more solid seasons in 2022 and 2023. His 2024 season was off to a good start before his injury, and he’d started to look like a reliable late-inning option for the Guardians. Hentges features a fastball, slider, sinker, cutter arsenal and posted impressive underlying numbers before his shoulder surgery. In 2024, he struck out hitters at a 29.7% clip and only walked 5.5% of the hitters faced. Hentges had a ground-ball rate nearing 50%, as well as an above-average ground ball rate. To put it simply, when healthy, Hentges is a reliable arm in a big league bullpen. He’s expected to be back close to the beginning of 2026 and shouldn’t cost too much to sign. Hentges is still arbitration eligible for two more seasons, so he wouldn't be a free agent until after the 2027 season. The White Sox recently said goodbye to Fraser Ellard and Cam Booser, so a left-handed reliever with upside would be a welcome addition. 

Now that the non-tender and Rule 5 deadlines have passed, the free agent pool is set. It’s time for Chris Getz to get to work on improving the White Sox for 2026, and he now has a couple more great options to consider.