The Chicago White Sox bolstered their outfield depth by acquiring a multi-time Gold Glove winner, but they needed to part ways with one of the organization’s top-ten prospects to do it.
On Monday, the White Sox added outfielder Brenton Doyle in a trade with the Colorado Rockies in exchange for right-hander Mason Adams and infielder Carlos Vielma. To make room for Doyle on the depth chart, the White Sox designated Everson Pereira for assignment.
Adams, the organization’s No. 8 prospect per MLB Pipeline, spent the past four seasons in the White Sox minor league system after being selected in the 13th round of the 2022 MLB Draft. The 26-year-old just reached Triple-A this season and owned a 3.86 ERA across three minor league stops this season.
Adams was projected to be a potential back-end-of-the-rotation starter, but the White Sox’s surplus of young pitching within the organization made him a logical trade chip as the deadline approached.
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Vielma, meanwhile, is a relatively unproven 16-year-old prospect who has spent the bulk of his season in the Dominican Summer League. Overall, it’s a reasonable return for a player with Doyle’s track record, but questions remain about whether the White Sox needed another outfielder and how he fits into the current lineup.
As things currently stand, Chris Getz is betting on upside.
Defensively, Doyle should give the White Sox a boost in the outfield. He won back-to-back Gold Glove Awards in 2023 and 2024 after posting elite defensive metrics, including +11 and +14 Outs Above Average. He has accumulated a 4.5 career WAR over four MLB seasons in large part due to his defensive prowess.
For an outfield currently featuring an infielder in left field in Sam Antonacci, Doyle could provide valuable defensive versatility. He projects as a late-inning defensive replacement and could also see increased playing time in center field when the White Sox face a left-handed starter.
Doyle also provides some speed on the basepaths. The 28-year-old swiped 30 bags in 2024 and averaged 23 stolen bases across his first three seasons.
However, Doyle has been limited to just 45 games this season after suffering a left oblique contusion in late May. That injury sidelined him for nearly two months before he was activated from the injured list Friday.
Offensively, he also has some pop. Doyle launched 23 home runs in 2024 and posted a .764 OPS, then followed that up with 15 homers last season. However, some of that production has been aided by playing his home games at Coors Field. Despite a respectable 2024 campaign, Doyle finished the season with a 97 wRC+, which was 3% below league average after adjusting for the hitter-friendly conditions of his home ballpark.
The good news is Doyle will be entering another hitter-friendly park at Rate Field. The bad news is that the offensive potential he showed in 2024 appears to be an outlier.
Doyle strikes out at a high clip, as evident by his career 28% strikeout rate. But in 129 plate appearances this season, that problem has gotten worse. He is striking out at a 32% clip and has struggled putting the ball in the air. Over half of his at-bats this season have resulted in ground balls (54.8%), and his average exit velocity would rank near the bottom of the MLB if he had enough at-bats to qualify.
The one positive development for Doyle this season has been his improved plate discipline. He is currently posting a 9.3% walk rate, a significant jump from his career average of 6.5%.
Before Pereira was DFA’d, there were questions about where Doyle would fit on the White Sox depth chart.
Antonacci has solidified himself as a potential Rookie of the Year candidate in left field, while Braden Montgomery remains entrenched in right field. Center field was also occupied by a platoon featuring Tristan Peters, who was just named to his first All-Star team, and Pereira, leaving Doyle without a clear path to consistent playing time.
That does not even account for Austin Hays, who is nearing a return from his IL stint, or veterans Andrew Benintendi and Randal Grichuk. While Benintendi and Grichuk have primarily split time at designated hitter, both have also seen opportunities in the outfield this season.
The apparent outfield logjam was one of the reasons the White Sox traded Derek Hill to the Philadelphia Phillies earlier this season, and Doyle has a very similar skill set as a speedy outfielder with inconsistent production at the plate.
However, that logjam appears to have cleared up. With Pereira no longer in the picture, Doyle gives the White Sox a much-needed right-handed option in center field. Pereira battled multiple injuries this season and was hitting just .225/.284/.438 with four home runs before falling out of the picture.
While Peters has been excellent in center field this season, the White Sox may believe his offensive breakout is due for some regression. They certainly don’t trust him against left-handed pitching, as his OPS drops from .787 against right-handed pitchers to just .358 against southpaws.
Regardless, the White Sox are still going to be forced to shuffle some deck chairs once Hays returns from the IL. For a team looking to add talent wherever possible, Doyle represents an intriguing addition. But until the White Sox sort out their outfield logjam, the biggest question surrounding this trade may not be what Doyle adds but who loses playing time because of him.
