With the White Sox coming off one of the worst major league seasons in the history of baseball, the expectations are low. While this makes for a tough product to watch, it allows the White Sox to get creative with some of their moves, as they aren’t expected to compete for anything meaningful in 2025.
This creates an opportunity for the White Sox to take fliers on former top-100 prospects and allow them to potentially get some significant playing time with no pressure, something that could unlock the potential of prospects who haven’t seemed to figure it out to this point.
The White Sox missed out on the perfect signing earlier in the week, but there are still others out there that could fit that criteria and get some playing time with the White Sox this year. One of those players is Dylan Carlson, the former St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays outfielder.
Carlson, just 26 years old, is a free agent, but has had some success in his short major league career. In 2021, Carlson finished third in the rookie of the year voting with the St. Louis Cardinals. That year, Carlson had 3.1 WAR, as he hit .266, with 18 homeruns and 65 RBIs. Those are some very solid numbers for a 22 year old rookie.
He followed the 2021 season up with another solid showing, as he had 1.9 WAR, but his hitting stats decreased slightly. Since 2022 Carlson has only played in 160 games combined, as he has struggled with injures. Last season the Cardinals sent him in a trade to the Tampa Bay Rays where he would struggle, but played better than he did with the Cardinals earlier in the year.
Ah yes Rays legend Dylan Carlson pic.twitter.com/7INGyf7ccr
— Brian Kim (@bk_goat_05) December 25, 2024
The White Sox should take a flier on Carlson, as just a few years ago he was a consensus top-20 prospect in all of baseball. On top of that, he had a season in the major leagues where he was very good. If he can get some consistent playing time with the White Sox in a low-stress environment, he may be able to recreate his 2021 season. The White Sox desperately need offense, and Carlson has the potential to hit 15-20 homeruns, so it’s worth it to see if he can figure something out in Chicago.
This is the type of player the White Sox need to take a chance on, as Carlson is clearly a talented player but has dealt with injuries and being traded midseason. The White Sox have nothing to lose by signing Carlson, but if he turns out to be anywhere near where he was in 2021, this would be a huge signing.
