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February 4th: The Sox officially announced their signing of Hays today. The mutual option is worth $8MM, per James Fegan of Sox Machine.
January 31st: The White Sox have agreed to a deal with outfielder Austin Hays, ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reports. The one-year deal will pay Hays $6MM, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, and the contract will be official following a physical. Hays will earn $5MM in salary in 2026, and there is a $1MM buyout on a mutual option for 2027, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal writes. Another $375K is available for Hays in incentive bonuses based around plate appearances. Chicago’s 40-man roster is full, so the team will also have to make a corresponding transaction before the signing is finalized. Hays is represented by the MAS+ Agency.
Earlier today, Heyman reported that Hays was “said to be deciding this weekend” about his next landing spot. Heyman listed the White Sox, Cubs, Padres, Tigers, and Rangers as teams who had showed some level of interest in Hays at some point during the offseason. These five clubs were new to Hays’ market, as previous reports this winter linked the Royals, Reds, Mets, Yankees, and Cardinals to the 30-year-old outfielder. The Athletic’s Zack Meisel also wrote that the Guardians “put out feelers on” Hays’ services.
Playing time was an apparent priority for Hays, as Meisel wrote that the outfielder was looking for “a situation in which he could play every day.” That didn’t come in Cleveland since the Guardians didn’t want to block any of its up-and-coming younger outfielders, but Hays will now land with another AL Central team that has plenty of at-bats on offer. Hays figures to step right into at least semi-regular duty in right field, and he might also get time in his regular left field position depending on how the White Sox approach Andrew Benintendi’s playing time. Brooks Baldwin, Derek Hill, Tristan Peters, Everson Pereira, and Jarred Kelenic are among the names in Chicago’s outfield mix, plus Luisangel Acuna is likely to get a lot of time in center field.
Hays has held his own defensively over 483 career MLB innings as a center fielder, though he hasn’t played the position since 2023. With both glovework and health in mind, Hays is probably better suited for a corner outfield slot, and some DH at-bats are probably also a consideration for a player who has taken six separate trips to the injured list over the last two seasons. Four of those six IL stints were due to left calf and hamstring strains, and Hays also missed a few weeks last season due to a left foot contusion.
It was almost exactly one year ago that the Reds signed Hays to a one-year, $5MM guarantee, which broke down as $4MM in salary and a $1MM buyout of a $12MM mutual option for the 2026 season. As with virtually all mutual options, Hays was cut loose following the 2025 campaign, though he had a respectable .266/.315/.453 slash line and 15 homers over 416 plate appearances for Cincinnati.
On a team that struggled to generate consistent offense, Hays’ 105 wRC+ was the third-highest of any Reds player who had at least 111 trips to the plate. Though Hays was again hampered by injuries, it was least a step upwards from the uncertainty of the kidney infection that plagued him for much of the 2024 campaign, and cratered his numbers altogether after a deadline trade to the Phillies.
Since Opening Day 2021, Hays has a 106 wRC+ over 2348 PA, and he played in basically an everyday role with the Orioles from 2021-23. Despite the decent production, Hays has never walked much or made a lot of hard contact, and his strikeout rates have shot upwards over the last three seasons. Hays’ viability for an everyday role will probably hinge on how much he can hit right-handed pitching, as his splits have made him look like most of a lefty-masher in recent years.
The Reds hung onto Hays last summer both because they needed him for their own playoff push and probably in part because his injuries hurt his trade market, but it certainly seems possible the Sox could shop Hays at the upcoming deadline. The focus remains on the future for the rebuilding White Sox, and plenty of teams would figure to have trade interest in a veteran bat who has a 160 wRC+ against left-handed pitching over the last two seasons.
The Hays signing is the latest intriguing move for a White Sox team that is planning to be more competitive in 2026, even if a full-fledged run at a playoff berth remains at least a year away. Trading Luis Robert Jr. to the Mets freed up $20MM in payroll space, and the Sox reinvested that money into a two-year, $20MM deal for Seranthony Dominguez to become Chicago’s next closer.
Since Dominguez is only getting $8MM of that money in 2026, the White Sox have now been able to sign Hays and ostensibly still have $6MM more to spend from the $20MM hole Robert left in the team’s budget. A pitching addition may be more likely than another position-player add given Chicago’s needs in the rotation and bullpen.
Inset photograph courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas — Imagn Images
