The White Sox Interesting Tender Deadline

The Friday before Thanksgiving is luckily a very quiet day in most offices. The exception being the business of MLB where teams must decide which arbitration eligible players they would like to tender a contract to and who they don’t. The White Sox had a few such cases up for review this deadline. Actually one less than anticipated since they traded Steven Wilson a couple of days ago. Here’s what they decided to do this fine Friday.

The Chicago White Sox have agreed to terms on a one-year, $900,000 contract with outfielder Derek Hill, avoiding arbitration, and have declined to tender 2026 contracts to left-handed pitcher Cam Booser, first baseman Tim Elko and outfielder Mike Tauchman.

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) November 21, 2025

It’s only fair to break these down individually and give them the time they deserve…..

Let’s Start With Tim Elko

Tim Elko wasn’t even “arbitration eligible” if you will, but this was just a convenient time for the White Sox to remove him from the 40 man roster. As cruel as it is, Elko will be recovering from ACL surgery and might not play all year, so should they want to pass him through waivers and keep him in the org it would seem that is highly likely. He was a fun story in 2025, getting a little bit of run when injuries permitted. However, it was quite clear the org doesn’t see him as “a guy” as the season transpired and opportunities were limited. It’s also a possibility that he’ll call it a career as he’ll be 27 next month and probably has a cushy job at Ole Miss waiting for him.

Cam Booser is in the Same Boat!

The White Sox traded for Booser last off-season and it just didn’t work out. No reason to hold on to him just because. Cost is sunk, move it along. He’s off the 40 man roster. NEXT!!

Derek Hill??? WHO THE HELL IS HE?

I have little recollection of Derek Hill, I assume you are the same. The White Sox claimed Hill from the Marlins in the twilight of the 2025 season, well after the STEAK DINNER BET had been won. Well after the RSW total bet had been clinched. Well after the 108 Bobblehead had been given out.

Hill netting $900,000 seems to be a shock to the system for White Sox fans, but just a little deeper look has me realizing that he’s legitimately the only Centerfielder on the 40 man that isn’t making $20 million dollars in 2026. That centerfielder is also no stranger to spending time in the infirmary, so from a risk standpoint this signing does make some sense. I’d assume this is your 4th outfielder if Luis is here on March 26th and your starting centerfielder if he’s not. Hill is another one of these thrift store buys that is out of options, so he’ll need to be on the big league roster or passed through waivers.

However, the roster churn may continue and he might only be the best choice to hold that role as we speak. Mr. RIGHT NOW, if you will. It’s a LONG off-season and the Chris Getz GM era has not been afraid to change its mind and move at a moment’s notice.

Why The Fuck Didn’t the White Sox Keep Mike Tauchman?

Sorry for my candor, but I feel this is what a lot of White Sox fans are thinking right now. In 2025 out of White Sox with at least 200 plate appearances he was 2nd in OBP .356, 3rd in wRC+ 115 and tied for 3rd in fWAR 1.4. When the White Sox didn’t trade him at the 2025 trade deadline I think a lot of us (present company included) assumed he was locks (not lox) for the 2026 roster. Where did our thinking go wrong? What are the White Sox thinking here? Let’s dig in!

Does this mean the White Sox are going to sign a real Right Fielder in Free Agency?

There are certainly a fair amount of options out there that would fit the bill. The White Sox are allegedly flirting with Ryan O’Hearn (May I Meet You?). As we recently covered in the 108 podcast (video below), the payroll is quite low. Even signing several mid-market free agency would leave them with a relatively low payroll for this era. Are the Ishbia capital infusions being used for operations? Is this team turning a corner? I guess we’ll see…

Is Braden Montgomery Closer Than We Think?

Braden Montgomery is fresh off of a .366 / .527 / .634 slash line in an abbreviated appearance in the Arizona Fall League, where he was also featured in the league’s all-star game. Montgomery is the highest ceiling’d and closest to the majors position player prospect on the White Sox farm. He also just so happens to call Right Field his primary position.

I’m not usually a fan of this sort of anointing of a position before a prospect is pushing the incumbent out of the spot. More and more though you see prospects requiring “learning on the job” as a key part of their development. With 2026 being an obvious rebuilding year, maybe this is the plan.

Are the White Sox going to give Brooks Baldwin a little run?

In 2025, the White Sox scrapped the plan of Brooks Baldwin “Shortstop” and immediately pivoted to Brooks Baldwin “Super Utility Man”. They played him EVERYWHERE! But materially the White Sox changed him from a guy that plays on the dirt to a guy that plays on the grass. As the meme denotes, it was a rocky ride on the grass. He was a negative defensive player in all three outfield spots via several advanced metrics. However, Brooks hit in the 2nd half! After July 4th (the demarcation point in the 2025 season aka the day Colson Montgomery was promoted) he hit .261 / .316 / .460 for a 115 wRC+. He was even better vs RHP .274 / .333 / .481 for a 126 wRC+. Would the White Sox move Tauchman out of the way to give him a real shot at playing right field for a few months to see if he can replicate that performance?

The White Sox are deep in a rebuild and many interesting iterations await us. It’s only November 21st, I can’t wait to see what they do next.

-BeefLoaf