White Sox lose bullpen depth to Rangers, add old Sam Antonacci teammate in strange trade

The White Sox enjoyed their second consecutive win over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night, clinching their first road series win since the beginning of May. While the players were at work on the field, White Sox general manager Chris Getz was at work behind the scenes, completing a minor trade with the Texas Rangers. 

I’ll be honest, this one surprised me. Ben Peoples, who has been a popular topic of conversation among White Sox fans due to his strong start to the season in Triple-A, felt like an option to join the Major League roster soon. Instead he’s shipped off to Texas. When I saw the return, this move made even less sense for me. 

White Sox move on from Peoples despite apparent big league readiness

The White Sox acquired Peoples alongside Curtis Mead and Duncan Davitt in the deadline trade that sent Adrian Houser to the Rays last season. He posted a 5.56 ERA in ten appearances in the bullpen for Triple-A Charlotte and was invited to White Sox spring training this season. Peoples was assigned to Charlotte to begin the season and has posted very strong numbers. In 37.2 innings, he holds a 2.39 ERA with 45 strikeouts. He’s converted four of five save opportunities. The one red flag in Peoples’ profile is his walk rate, which sits at 13.8% for the season. The rest of his metrics look very strong, and with the White Sox in need of bullpen depth, it felt like his call-up wasn’t too far away. Evidently, the front office had different ideas. 

In return for Peoples, the White Sox add minor league catcher Ben Hartl. Hartl, 23, is a native of Springfield, Illinois and played a year of college baseball at Heartland Community College, where he was teammates with White Sox rookie Sam Antonacci in 2023. He hasn’t produced much since being drafted in the 14th-round in 2024, with a .694 OPS in 80 games between Low-A and High-A in 2025. In 32 games so far in 2026, Hartl is slashing .218/.369/.317 with three home runs and a .686 OPS. His biggest skill, which is ironic given his history with Sam Antonacci, seems to be getting hit by pitches. Hartl has been hit by a pitch 45 times in the minor leagues, in an eye-popping 8.6% of his at bats, according to Sox Machine. This trumps Sam Antonacci’s rate by nearly two percent, and White Sox fans know about Antonacci’s ball magnet ability. 

On the surface, trading major league relief depth for a 23-year-old catcher without any standout traits is a curious move. Perhaps the White Sox believe they can get more out of Hartl than he’s shown so far, or maybe Ben Peoples had more serious issues going on that was obvious from his statline. Either way, the White Sox performance this season has given Chris Getz and the front office the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully this isn’t one that he goes on to regret later.

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