The Chicago White Sox signed versatile veteran Josh Rojas to a one-year, $3.5 million contract in the offseason with hopes he could bring consistency to their everyday lineup as a utilityman.
Rojas has played eight different defesnive positions in his seven-year MLB career. He has seen time at third base, second base, and left field with the White Sox this season, but his on-field performance has been one of the worst in baseball.
Josh Rojas is one of the worst players in all of baseball
In 64 games and 203 plate appearances this season, Josh Rojas is batting .176 with a jarring .506 OPS.
That is, by far, the worst offensive output of any regular White Sox player in 2025. Even Andrew Vaughn, who was sent down and traded, had a higher OPS (.531) than Rojas when he was still in Chicago.
Not only has Rojas been struggling offensively, he has also been having a particularly lousy defensive season.
Of all 1,359 players to suit up for a Major League team in 2025, Rojas' -1.2 fWAR is 1,355th (per FanGraphs). There are only four players in the entire league worse, and two of them are no longer on a big league roster.
Yet somehow, Rojas still has a place on the White Sox roster, and still gets more at-bats than other players who are more deserving.
Rojas is getting way too much playing time
Since the All-Star break, Josh Rojas has 26 plate appearances with the White Sox. That might not sound like a lot, but it's eating into the playing time of younger players that are far more productive.
Rojas, with his .174 batting average and .661 OPS since the break, has more second half plate appearances than Brooks Baldwin, who is hitting .318 with an .875 OPS since the break.
The White Sox also called up 24-year-old infielder Curtis Mead over the weekend after acquiring him from the Tampa Bay Rays in a trade for starting pitcher Adrian Houser.
I, like most Sox fans, want to see Mead gets some regular at-bats with the team. There's not a good reason for Rojas to be in the starting lineup, or on the team, over Curtis Mead.
It's time for the White Sox to cut their losses
When Miguel Vargas returns from the Injured List, Rojas needs to be the guy in the infield that is sent packing. I don't care if it's Triple-A Charlotte or an immediate release.
Signing Rojas in the offseason was a sound decision by Chris Getz and the front office. It was a cheap contract for a veteran player with some versatility. If Rojas had been succesful, he would have been great player to trade away at the deadline for a prospect.
Austin Slater and Adrian Houser are prime examples of why these signings make sense for a rebuilding club.
However, now that the deadline has passed, Rojas has served his purpose. His tenure with the White Sox was a huge failure, and it's time for the organization to acknowledge that but cutting ties with him as quickly as possible.