8:42 am: The White Sox have agreed to a deal with outfielder Austin Hays, ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reports. He said the one-year deal will pay Hays $6 million Jon Heyman of the New York Postand the contract becomes official after a physical examination. Hays is represented by Agency MAS+.
Earlier today, Heyman reported that Hays was “would decide on its next landing site this weekend. Heyman mentioned the White Sox, Cubs, Padres, Tigers and Rangers as teams that had shown some interest in Hays at some point this offseason. These five clubs were new to Hays’ market, as previous reports this winter linked the Royals, Reds, Mets, Yankees and Cardinals to the 30-year-old outfielder. Zack Meisel of athletics also wrote that the Guardians were “putting out feelers” about Hays’ services.
Playing time was a clear priority for Hays, as Meisel wrote that the outfielder was looking for “a situation where he could play every day.” That didn’t happen in Cleveland because the Guardians didn’t want to lock down any of their emerging younger outfielders, but Hays will now land with another AL Central team that has plenty of at-bats to offer. Hays plans to serve at least semi-regular duties in right field, and he could also see time in his regular position in left field, depending on how the White Sox go about it. Andreas Benintendi‘s play time. Brooks Baldwin, Derek Hill, Tristan Peters, Everson PereiraAnd Jarred Kelenic are among the names in Chicago’s outfield mix, plus Luisangel Acuna will probably get a lot of time in midfield.
Hays has held his own defensively for 483 MLB innings as a center fielder, though he hasn’t played the position since 2023. With both glovework and health in mind, Hays is likely a better fit at corner in the outfield, and some DH at-bats are also likely a consideration for a player who has made six separate trips to the injured list over the past two seasons. Four of those six IL stints were due to left calf and hamstring strains, and Hays also missed a few weeks last season with a left foot contusion.
It was almost exactly a year ago that the Reds signed Hays to a one-year, $5 million guarantee that amounted to $4 million in salary and a $1 million mutual option buyout for the 2026 season. As with virtually all mutual options, Hays was let go after the 2025 campaign, though he had a respectable .266/.315/.453 slash line and 15 home runs in 416 plate appearances for Cincinnati.
On a team that struggled to generate consistent offense, Hays’ 105 wRC+ was the third-highest among all Reds players who had at least 111 trips to the plate. While Hays was once again hampered by injuries, it was at least a step up from the uncertainty surrounding the kidney infection that plagued him for much of the 2024 season, and completely messed up his numbers after a deadline trade with the Phillies.
As of Opening Day 2021, Hays has a 106 wRC+ over 2348 PA, and he basically played an everyday role with the Orioles from 2021-23. Despite decent production, Hays has never walked many or made much hard contact, and his strikeout rates have skyrocketed over the past three seasons. Hays’ viability in an everyday role will likely depend on how much he can hit as a right-handed pitcher, as his splits have made him look mostly like a lefty in recent years.
The Reds kept Hays around last summer, both because they needed him for their own playoff push and likely partly because his injuries hurt his trade market, but it certainly seems possible that the Sox could acquire Hays at the upcoming deadline. The focus remains on the future for the rebuilding White Sox, and many teams would have trade interest in a veteran bat who has a 160 wRC+ against left-handed pitching over the past two seasons.
The signing of Hays is the latest intriguing move for a White Sox team that plans to be more competitive in 2026, even if a full-fledged run at a playoff berth is still at least a year away. Trade Luis Robert Jr. to the Mets freed up $20 million in payroll space, and the Sox reinvested that money in a two-year, $20 million deal for Seranthony Dominguez to become Chicago’s next closer.
With Dominguez only getting $8 million of that money in 2026, the White Sox have now been able to sign Hays and seemingly have $6 million more to spend from the $20 million hole Robert left in the team’s budget. An addition at pitching may be more likely than an addition for another position player, given Chicago’s rotation and bullpen needs.
Inset photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas – Imagn Images
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