White Sox add former SF Giants infielder after brief stint with the club in 2023

Paul DeJong was not one of the first dominos I expected to fall this winter, but that came to fruition on Tuesday. The former SF Giants shortstop agreed to a major league deal with the Chicago White Sox, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.Com.

White Sox add former SF Giants infielder after brief stint with the club in 2023

The White Sox recently declined Tim Anderson's $14 million team option for 2024. The veteran infielder had been with Chicago for the past eight years, and it seems like the DeJong signing confirms that he will be playing for a different team in next season.

The Giants badly tried to get more offensive production out of the shortstop position late in the year. Brandon Crawford had missed time with a lingering hamstring injury that resulted in three, separate stints on the injured list.

When he was healthy, the left-handed bat struggled to the tune of a .587 OPS with seven home runs in 93 games. In the field, his defense had taken a noticeable step back as well. The Giants tried a number of different options, including Casey Schmitt, Johan Camargo, and DeJong.

However, no one was able to stick. The Giants added DeJong to a major league deal in August and he had a memorable debut. Prior to joining San Francisco, the 30-year-old had just been released by the Toronto Blue Jays after recording three hits in 44 at-bats, so the expectations were tepid at best.

After his first game in a Giants uniform, the right-handed bat struggled during his brief stint with the club. He tallied just nine hits, including a home run, in 49 at-bats before being released in the final month of the year.

DeJong flashed some offensive upside earlier in his career, but he has struggled to the tune of a .673 OPS over the past five seasons. The strikeout rate has spiked during that time and he is not hitting the ball particularly well.

Nevertheless, he is still a reliable glove at shortstop, so he will continue to find playing time either as a backup or a stopgap. It feels like it could be more of the latter with the White Sox as they are expected to undergo a lengthy rebuild after winning just 61 games in 2023.