The major-league deadline for teams to tender contracts to their arbitration-eligible players passed Friday, with the White Sox taking a pass on veteran first baseman/outfielder Gavin Sheets and right-handed reliever Enyel De Los Santos. Both will become free agents.
All remaining unsigned players on the 40-man roster have been tendered contracts for the 2025 season. That includes first baseman Andrew Vaughn, whose status was in some doubt until an announcement from the Sox came an hour before the 7 p.m. deadline.
The #WhiteSox have declined to tender 2025 contracts to right-handed pitcher Enyel De Los Santos and infielder/outfielder Gavin Sheets.
All remaining unsigned players on the White Sox 40-man roster have been tendered contracts for the 2025 season.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) November 23, 2024
Sheets, a powerful left-handed hitter who was a second-round draft pick by the Sox in 2017, played the last four seasons with the big-league club. As a rookie in 2021, Sheets hit a solo home run against the Astros’ Lance McCullers to put the Sox ahead 1-0 in Game 4 of the American League Division Series at Guaranteed Rate Field. It was downhill for the Sox from there; they lost that game 10-1 and were eliminated. For Sheets, there really wasn’t any uphill from there, either.
The Sox gave Sheets, 28, a shot to find more at-bats as an outfielder, but that defensive task proved too much for him. In 501 plate appearances in the team’s disastrous 2024 season, Sheets hit .233 with 10 homers, 45 RBI and 106 strikeouts. Overall with the Sox, he hit 46 homers and drove in 175 runs, with a slash line of .230/.295/.385.
One little thing for which Sheets should be remembered well: his willingness to assume a thankless role as one of the spokesmen of a 121-loss team. As awful as last season got, Sheets was a stand-up presence in the clubhouse, consistently available to reporters seeking comments about a subject without a bright side.
De Los Santos, 28, appeared in 15 games for the Sox after being claimed off waivers from the Yankees in August. The Sox were his sixth major-league team.
NOTE: The Sox announced the return of their fan fest but in a different form. “SoxFest Live” will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Jan. 24 and 25 at Ramova Theatre. Tickets go on sale at noon Tuesday on the theatre’s website. General admission is $56. The last SoxFest was held in January 2020.