The White Sox aren't likely to unveil their initial suite of spring training non-roster invitees until the middle of this month, but we might have learned of the most notable name on Wednesday, when ESPN's Jesse Rogers reported that the Sox signed outfielder Jarred Kelenic to a minor league deal.
It's a match made in limbo, if not heaven. For Kelenic, a 26-year-old outfielder coming off a miserable 2025 with the Braves at both the MLB (.167/.231/.300 over 65 PA) and Triple-A (.213/.286/.309 over 399 PA) levels, he gets all the playing time he can eat, whether in Chicago or Charlotte. 2026 might not be his last chance, but this could shape up as his last clear chance.
On the White Sox's side, they get a crack at a former top-five prospect who had previously achieved major league adequacy for Seattle in 2023. It doesn't hurt that Kelenic, a native of Waukesha, Wisc., is a White Sox Area Codes alum who was taken sixth overall in 2018, two picks after the Sox selected Nick Madrigal, so it's an opportunity for draft day closure as well.
Should Kelenic click -- and he briefly did three seasons ago, when he hit .253/.327/.419 over 105 games with Seattle while playing all three outfield positions, good for a 110 wRC+ and 2 WAR, more or less -- the White Sox would have him for at least two more years of team control, or potentially three if Kelenic comes up short of four full years of service time at the end of 2025. He enters the year with 3 years and 35 days under his belt, so he'd have to spend about a month and a half at Charlotte to make that happen. With a career strikeout rate that's crept over 30 percent, such an outcome is entirely possible.
At any rate, that's the last unofficial transaction of 2025. Will it be the first official transaction of 2026? We'll find out shortly, but in the meantime, Happy New Year from all of us at Sox Machine.
