Chicago

White Sox

Robert has been largely ineffective the last two years and has quite the injury history, but he’s 28, he’s a legit center fielder and he has a career 111 OPS+. This is definitely worth a shot for the Mets, who will be responsible for paying $22 million for one year or $40 million for two. They’ll presumably handle him better than a White Sox organization that mostly expected position players to play through injury. Tyrone Taylor had topped the Mets’ depth chart in center, but now he’ll serve as the fourth outfielder he’s meant to be. He’ll presumably be on the short side of a platoon with Brett Baty in left initially, assuming the Carson Benge now starts off in Triple-A. With Acuña, who was out of options, departing, Ronny Mauricio seems poised for a utility role.

This doesn’t seem like a sufficient return, but the White Sox obviously didn’t want to pay Robert $20 million this year. Acuña sort of held his own as a 23-year-old in the majors last season, hitting .234/.293/.274 in 193 plate appearances. He’s intriguing defensively at several key positions, he runs very well, he has decent plate discipline and he’s not entirely absent of power. It seems like a utility profile, but given that he’s just turning 24 in March, there’s some hope for him as a regular, perhaps in center field. He’ll probably battle Derek Hill, Tristan Peters and Everson Pereira for that spot in spring training. Pauley, a 2025 12th-rounder out of Harvard, allowed one run in four innings in his pro debut last season.

The 31-year-old southpaw appeared in 39 ballgames between the Pirates and Blue Jays in 2025, registering a 4.63 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and a 32/16 K/BB ratio over 35 innings. With a strong showing in Cactus League play, he should have a nice shot at landing a spot in the White Sox’ Opening Day bullpen.

Conforto, 32, disappointed during his lone season with the Dodgers, slashing a meager .199/.305/.333 with 12 homers and 36 RBI in 486 plate appearances. Any chances of a potential return to the Dodgers were likely squashed on Thursday when they agreed to a mega deal with Kyle Tucker. He represents an affordable way for the White Sox to add some left-handed thump to the middle of their lineup.

The White Sox claimed Cowles from the Cubs back in September, but needed a spot on the 40-man roster after claiming Drew Romo, so Cowles was last-in, first-out. The 25-year-old hit .238/.304/.382 with 132 strikeouts in 462 plate appearances for Triple-A Iowa last year.

Romo remains an intriguing player because he’s a former first-round pick who is just 24 years old. He hit .264/.329/.409 over his 60 games at Triple-A Albuquerque in the Rockies’ organization last year, but this is perhaps the worst landing spot for him with Edgar Quero and Kyle Teel both in the White Sox organization.

The Mets had a similar clause in their contract with Japanese RHP Kodai Senga. It’s noteworthy in Murakami’s case because he comes to Major League Baseball with some strikeout concerns. If he were to have an extended period of struggle at the start of the season, the White Sox would not be able to have him work it out in Triple-A unless he agreed. Of course, the White Sox aren’t likely to be competitive this season, so he’d likely be given a long lease regardless. But that’s noteworthy for fantasy managers.

Canning pitched well for the Mets last season, leaning on his slider more and turning away from his fastballs. He registered a 3.77 ERA in 76 1/3 innings before suffering a ruptured Achilles in June. His free agent market will be impacted by how his recovery is progressing, but he would be a solid veteran arm for a White Sox team that needs to buy some time before pitching prospects like Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz are ready for big league innings.

The sixth overall pick in the 2018 draft, Kelenic was a consensus top-10 prospect five years ago, but he’s hit just .211/.282/.376 in 1,488 major league plate appearances with the Mariners and Braves. He spent most of last year in Triple-A and further drove down his stock by batting .213/.286/.309 with four homers in 95 games for Gwinnett. He’s still only 26, and there’s always the chance he could take a step forward. However, it’s hard to find much reason for optimism at this point.

Romero notes that the Angels, Pirates, White Sox and Blue Jays have all inquired on the veteran infielder. The former top prospect spent the 2025 season with the Halos where he slashed .234/.336/.448 with 12 long balls, 35 RBI and a 75/32 K/BB ratio across 289 plate appearances in his 84 games. Wherever he ultimately signs, it’s likely to be in a reserve role and Moncada won’t have much value from a fantasy perspective.