Sheets sent to the cleaners

White Sox refuse contracts on Gavin, midseason pickup Enyel De Los Santos

In advance of the deadline to tender contracts for the 2025 season, arbitration-eligible first baseman Gavin Sheets and reliever Enyel De Los Santos were cut loose by the White Sox.

Sheets, drafted in the second round in 2017 and having spent eight years with the White Sox organization, could be seen as a bit of a surprise cut given his relative effectiveness in 2024 and measly $2.6 million contract estimate for 2025.

“Relative effectiveness” is doing quite a bit of work in that sentence, of course, as we’re talking about a -1.0 WAR player in 2024 and -2.7 for his career. Still, the more expensive (and lesser defender at first) Andrew Vaughn ($6.4 million arb estimate, lord in heaven please don’t hand that much money over for 2025, Sox) racked up just 0.4 WAR on the season. Clearing out the lefty bat who can field first for the more expensive righty who cannot is, well, we’re not expecting fewer than 110 losses from these White Sox in 2025 anyway, right?

De Los Santos, despite more than four years of service time due for just an estimated $1.7 million salary in arbitration, was somewhat solid out of the pen for the White Sox. His 0.4 WAR tied for second among all pure relief pitchers for the White Sox in 2024, although his 3.63 ERA/7.15 FIP combination might have provided a flashing-red danger sign for 2025.

Cutting Sheets and De Los Santos from the roster opens up two additional spots, reducing the White Sox roster to 37.

Today’s decision neglects to mention specific players tendered deals, but among the arb-eligibles that includes starter on the block Garrett Crochet and relievers Justin Anderson and Steven Wilson.