White Sox DFA Adam Eaton to make room for Adam Engel

Photo Credit: Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports

With Adam Engel ready to return from the injured list, the White Sox had one of those classic economic decisions where the player with the most tenuous grip on his job in terms of performance also had the most security in terms of guaranteed salary.

The White Sox made the easy/hard decision to resolve the sunk cost, designating Adam Eaton and the remainder of his $8 million commitment for assignment before today’s rubber match against Minnesota.

The emergence of Brian Goodwin as a cromulent left-handed corner outfielder made retaining Eaton a lot harder to justify. Stack up the outfielders’ performances since May 1 — which is right after the game where Eaton fell down three times — and Eaton is the clear straggler:

PlayerPABAOBPSLGwRC+
Adam Engel32.241.313.552135
Brian Goodwin82.243.346.486129
Jake Lamb*77.239.338.493129
Leury García190.263.349.363102
Andrew Vaughn201.239.294.43999
Billy Hamilton69.227.235.45581
Adam Eaton122.175.286.29167
(*Injured list)

That doesn’t include Gavin Sheets, who can also stand in the same corner and batter’s box for a game at a time.

The White Sox didn’t telegraph the move, however. Eaton batted leadoff on Tuesday, going 1-for-4 with an RBI single in his last plate appearance. That might say more about Alex Colomé that Eaton. Regardless, the single raised his average from .197 to .201, which improves the aesthetics of his performance ever so slightly.

Daryl Van Schouwen texted Eaton, who said he should’ve played better in order to avoid this fate. Tony La Russa called it a “very difficult organizational decision,” yet praised the White Sox front office for not letting salary dictate his options.

I’ll have more about the Eaton experience later. First pitch for White Sox and Twins comes in about five minutes, and the first outfield of the post-Eaton era has Hamilton in left, Engel in center and Goodwin in right.

(Photo by Mike Dinovo/USA TODAY Sports)

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36 Comments
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Drdoctor

Just noticed, Billy Hamilton’s player page on ESPN has him in a SF Giants uni. Feels weird

https://www.espn.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/31042/billy-hamilton
jhomeslice

It is seriously good to see them admit an obvious mistake even though he is still owed 1/2 a season in salary, and move on.

Last edited 2 years ago by jhomeslice
NDSox12

Hopefully this is a sign that they are confident Engel is going to be able to stick around this time.

HallofFrank

If you would have shown me this July 7th lineup on March 7th, I might have seriously thought there was a plane crash.

Last edited 2 years ago by HallofFrank
itaita

Lets not tempt fate now. There is still half a season to go.

CaptainEuphemism

On the plus side, that should be a pretty good defensive outfield. Maybe they can make the 2 run homer stand up…

As Cirensica

WOW…I did not expect this move yet I am not that surprised. Another Hahn’s free agent signing crumpled into the garbage bin.

roke1960

Is it just me, or does it seem like the bottom of the order has been more productive than the top for the last month?

roke1960

Leury has been our most valuable player the last month!!

craigws

A funny mixture of relief that he is gone and fury that they are in this position because they whiffed (can you whiff when you don’t even swing?) on all the better options.

ThisReallySox

Backwards K then

Last edited 2 years ago by ThisReallySox
As Cirensica

Who is left from the starting regulars? Abreu, Moncada and Anderson?

Eaton => He gone
Robert => IL
Eloy => IL
Madrigal => He gone
Grandal => IL
Abreu => Still playing
Anderson => Still playing
Moncada => Still playing
Yermin/Vaughn (DH) => Only one remains

Amar

I’ll take this as a good sign suggesting that Rick will put in all his chips for this year

jorgefabregas

That’s a pretty good defensive outfield (today).

I support the org making what seems to be the correct decision, but want to point out that Jim’s description of “sunk cost” is accurate, which means they’re not really costing themselves any money.

Last edited 2 years ago by jorgefabregas
WaldoWolf

It would be interesting to see how many players have made starts for us in RF and how much we’ve paid them over the last few years. I bet it’s bad, but is it Bears starting QB bad?

soxfan

It’s a series of Nick Foles without a single Justin Fields or Jay Cutler in the bunch. We didn’t pay a premium in terms of draft status or salary, so it’s not really comparable to the Bears.

WaldoWolf

Neither team has had a good player at the position in 5 years. It’s comparable, it’s also a joke.

joewho112

Baseball is a funny sport: Leury and Vaughn have about wRC+ but get there in such different ways

jhomeslice

Brian Goodwin’s tweet in response to this news supposedly “party party party let’s all get wasted”. Wonder if that suggests how other players felt about Eaton as a teammate, or if Goodwin was just happy to not be the one to get cut.

roke1960

Eaton’s gone. I know you’re ecstatic, but just enjoy this team.

Foulkelore

I would say it’s relevant to discuss a current player’s interesting tweet about Eaton being DFA’d and Engel reinstated in an article about … Eaton being DFA’d and Engel being reinstated. Goodwin direct responded to that dual news with, “Party party party let’s all get wasted.” That is very interesting, and it is valid to wonder if Goodwin liked Eaton, based on Eaton’s history of teammates not liking him. There are only two other possibilities: the one jhomeslice mentioned about being happy it wasn’t him, or just generally being happy Engel was coming back.

roke1960

Yeah, I know, I probably shouldn’t have said anything. But it has become extremely obvious that jhomeslice hated Eaton, and the continual comments about him over the last few days just pushed me over the edge. Sorry.

jhomeslice

Nothing stated about Eaton was unjustified. Nor is there a shortage of posters on this site who have been tired of watching him, as well as resentful that they signed him, and who are happy that he is gone.

If you are annoyed by my posts, don’t read them then. I may disagree with someone but am respectful and don’t attack anyone who posts something I don’t agree with. You’ve got like 8 posts under this article. I could call that a bit much, but you are free to post as often as you like. If I am offended by your posts, it’s my problem. If you are offended by mine, it’s yours. Peace.

Last edited 2 years ago by jhomeslice
roke1960

As I said in foulkelore’s post, I should not have posted that. When I tried to delete, I realized it was too late. I was following the game and posting several items about how great the game was when your last post came in. I just took it as continuing to dwell on Eaton’s situation while the White Sox were playing a great game, even though it was actually in the article originally about Eaton being released. I made a mistake and I’m sorry for that. Your contributions here are very appreciated.

Last edited 2 years ago by roke1960
jhomeslice

Likewise, no hard feelings. We all want the same result at the end of the day (or season)! I’ve posted a thing or two I wish I had taken back, so no worries.

David

“Supposedly”? What’s your source? I don’t even find a Twitter account for this Brian Goodwin.

joewho112

roke1960

This team is just amazing! That lineup they trotted out there looked awful. Now thru 6 innings they have 5 runs, 12 hits and 7 XBH and Abreu is 0 for 3. Go figure.

CaptainEuphemism

Let’s get Leury a double!

roke1960

Burger looks good at 3rd. He might be a pretty good trade piect.

metasox

I believe it is his range that is considered questionable

roke1960

A late-inning outfield of Hamilton-Robert-Engel will be a sight to see in the playoffs!!

roke1960

Another stellar effort from a bunch of misfits!! Don’t stop now, boys.

texag10

Is Brian Goodwin a thing? It feels like he should be a thing.