While Tony La Russa chastised White Sox fans who thought the team's current outfield options weren't enough, the White Sox front office might've betrayed the true level of organizational faith in their depth.
Or maybe by acquiring Adam Haseley from the Philadelphia Phillies for hard-throwing A-ball reliever McKinley Moore, Rick Hahn made it so everybody could feel a little bit correct.
Haseley, a former first-round pick taken three spots ahead of Jake Burger in the 2017 draft, won't upset the current depth chart. He's a lifetime .264/.322/.373 hitter over 116 games, but his production went the wrong way in 2021, a season interrupted by a monthlong absence for personal reasons.
And those reasons remain personal, as he talked around them this spring:
Haseley is not ready to discuss his time away, only saying that, “It’s more just learning from things that personally went on. I don’t know if it necessarily feels like a second chance as much as it is just learning. It’s a process. It’s a road, and we’re all walking through stuff. So, yeah, my outlook is just being thankful for being here.”
He got off to a slow start this spring, going 2-for-18 with five strikeouts in seven games thus far, so the White Sox are hoping a change of scenery can serve him well.
If Haseley can return to his previous form, he's got a good glove in center field and some on-base skills, least when facing right-handed pitching. He has two options remaining, so there's no need for immediate production. What he offers is the White Sox a little bit of first-half outfield insulation between Adam Engel and Yoelqui Céspedes, at least depending on what the Sox are able to do with Micker Adolfo.
(Going back to Burger, it might not hurt to have them share a clubhouse in a low-pressure environment given Burger's experiences and enthusiasm for promoting mental health awareness.)
As for Moore, the White Sox drafted him out of Arkansas-Little rock in the 14th round on the strength of his arm alone, and improved his control enough to be a decent late-inning option for Kannapolis and Winston-Salem. He struck out 59 batters against 21 walks over 40⅔ innings, which were significant improvements over his draft-year form. The White Sox let him finish the year in the Arizona Fall League, so here's a case where that showcasing might've had some effect.
The White Sox will have to make room on the 40-man roster, but Yermín Mercedes' hamate-bone surgery makes him a candidate to move to the 60-day injured list, much like the Sox did with Jonathan Stiever to make room for claimed reliever Yoan Aybar last week.
(UPDATE: The White Sox designated Blake Rutherford for assignment instead.)
