Adam

Eaton

These discussions happened before the lockout and apparently aren’t allowed to pick back up just yet because Eaton was on a major league contract last season. But it does appear that the 33-year-old is headed for retirement and planning out the next chapter of his career in baseball. He batted just .201/.282/.327 in 83 games (288 plate appearances) between Chicago and Anaheim during the 2021 campaign.

The 32-year-old outfielder was designated for assignment at the beginning of the week and passed through waivers unclaimed. He’s now free to latch on elsewhere if he has plans on continuing his playing career. Eaton slashed a disappointing .201/.282/.327 with six homers and 30 RBI in 288 plate appearances between the White Sox and Angels this season.

The 32-year-old has now been released multiple times this season and slashed just .200/.232/.277 over 69 plate appearances for the Angels. Let’s see if there is another desperate team out there who thinks they can use the veteran outfielder’s services.

The homer was Eaton’s first for the Angels and sixth of the season. He’s batting .265/.275/.367 in 51 plate appearances for his new team, and with both Brandon Marsh and Jo Adell up, he really should be more of a fourth outfielder the rest of the way.

Eaton inked a major-league deal with the Halos during the All-Star break after being released by the White Sox. There’s a strong possibility that he’s squeezed out of the everyday rotation once Mike Trout and Justin Upton are ready to return later this month, but he was apparently considered a superior stopgap solution over the organization’s top outfield prospects Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh.

The financial details are not known at this time, but it will likely be for the prorated minimum. Eaton was released by the White Sox on July 12 after passing through waivers unclaimed. The veteran outfielder has posted a .201/.298/.344 slash line this season over 219 plate appearances with five home runs and two stolen bases.

Eaton was granted his unconditional release after being designated for assignment over the weekend. Clearly, there wasn’t any interest on the trade market. The 32-year-old outfielder recorded an underwhelming .201/.298/.344 triple-slash line with five homers and two steals across 219 plate appearances with the White Sox this season. There should be an opportunity for him to latch on with a new organization for the second half of the year.

Well, that didn’t work out. Eaton was signed to a one-year, $7 million contract with an $8.5 million club option for 2022, but he hit just just .201 with a .642 OPS in 58 games before the designation. The White Sox could possibly find a trade market for Eaton, but if not he’ll likely be released before the end of next week. Adam Engel comes off the injured list to take his place on the roster.

Eaton missed the last couple weeks with a right hamstring strain. He’ll return to an ugly .195/.296/.345 batting line.

This helps to explain why he was out of the lineup the last two days. Eaton leaves behind an ugly .195/.296/.345 slash line with five home runs and two stolen bases through 54 games (203 plate appearances) this season for Chicago. Zack Burdi has been called up from Triple-A Charlotte in a corresponding 26-man roster move.