CHICAGO (WGN) — The Chicago White Sox added a veteran free agent outfielder to their roster, according to the New York post’s Jon Heyman.
Heyman said the White Sox came to an agreement on an MLB deal Monday with 8-year MLB outfielder Austin Slater.
Slater played for three different teams in 2024, but was most recently a part of the bench mob on the Baltimore Orioles, where he slashed .246/.342/.333 with a .645 OPS and a 100 OPS+ across 33 games and 79 plate appearances for the Orioles.
Slater’s best years in the big leagues came from 2020-2022, where he posted a slash line of .256/.353/.428 with a 1.0 WAR or higher for the San Francisco Giants in three consecutive seasons.
At face value, the move appears to be one to add roster depth, while also bringing in someone who already has familiarity with Chicago’s new director of hitting, Ryan Fuller.
Slater and Fuller overlapped last year in Baltimore, where Fuller was the Orioles’ co-hitting coach at the time.