For the second consecutive winter, the White Sox have signed a right-handed outfielder named Austin who had previously played for the Orioles and Reds.
Last year, it was Austin Slater who fulfilled the short side of an outfield corner platoon on a cheap one-year, $1.75 million deal. This time it's Austin Hays, who is coming to the White Sox on larger one-year contract -- $6 million plus incentives -- with the idea that he can handle more responsibilities.
Hays is coming off what he would call an average season at the plate in Cincinnati ...
- 2025: .266/.315/.453, 105 wRC+
- Career: .262/.313/.435, 105 wRC+
... which makes him fairly stable for projections, all of which have him within a narrow band on both sides of average.
But there are reasons why he's not more bankable. Hays has been limited to 85 and 103 games over the last two years. Both seasons featured a left calf strain early and a left hamstring strain later. 2024 was worse, in that it included an illness that had sapped his performance for a lot of the second half before being identified as a kidney infection in September. 2025 only added a foot contusion, although it put him on the IL longer than he'd hoped.
All in all, Hays made just 57 starts in the outfield for the Reds against 38 starts at DH in 2025, which limited his value to 1 WAR, give or take a couple tenths of a win.
If Hays can shake the health issues and regain his Baltimore form -- something Ryan Fuller has seen first-hand -- he's a credible corner outfielder who's capable of the occasional sensational play, and fine to slot in a lineup against both righties and lefties. If the White Sox are acquiring Hays mid-decline, then he's more of a platoon bat, although one who's more playable against same-sided pitching than Slater.
The White Sox would prefer the former, obviously, but the latter also serves a purpose. Andrew Benintendi and Jarred Kelenic are left-handed, and the switch-hitting Brooks Baldwin has fared better against righties thus far in his career, too. Hays doesn't help in center field--his days out there were already about done when he edged out Luis Robert Jr. to start the 2023 All-Star Game--but a cohesive outfield picture is no longer so dependent on Everson Pereira suddenly figuring it all out.
The White Sox 40-man roster is full, so a corresponding move will be required when the news is made official. We'll see whether Chris Getz is able to talk about his new acquisition during SoxFest Live at the Ramova Theatre tonight, or if he's required to talk around it.
