White Sox Sign Former First-Round Pick

On Wednesday, North Star Sports Management Group announced on Twitter that the White Sox had signed former San Fransico Giants first-round pick Chris Shaw. The news has yet to be confirmed by the team.

Shaw is a left-handed bat who can play outfield and first base. The 29-year-old is 6-4 and 220 pounds. He is a career minor leaguer who spent the 2022 season with the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. It is an independent league that fields just ten teams. Shaw posted a .264/.401/.459 slash line with 17 home runs and 72 RBIs.

His numbers were actually middle of the pack for Atlantic League standards. He ranked outside the top ten in home runs, RBIs, batting average, and slugging percentage. However, his 93 walks were good enough for second in the league. He was listed as a first baseman on the Kentucky roster. The previous year he played for the Long Island Ducks.

The New York Mets initially selected Shaw in the 26th round of the 2012 amateur draft out of Lexington High School in Massacusshets. However, Shaw opted to play college ball at Boston College instead. It was a wise decision.

In 145 games, he slashed .278/.358/.470 with 23 home runs and 107 RBIs. His collegiate career was enough to grab the attention of the San Fransisco Giants, who selected him with the 31st overall pick in 2015.

He made his MLB debut in 2018. Unfortunately, his time in the show was short-lived. He only appeared in 38 games in two seasons, hitting .153/.244/.222 with just one home run, seven RBIs, nine walks, and 31 strikeouts in just 82 plate appearances.

His career minor league numbers don't jump off the page either, but they are respectable. In six minor league seasons, Shaw has amassed a .273 average, 110 home runs, 359 RBIs, and a .847 OPS. He did lead the Giants farm system in home runs during the 2017 and 2018 seasons which lead to his promotion to the big leagues.

On the defensive end, he played four games at first base and 15 in the outfield while in the MLB. He did not make an error during that time. In the minor leagues, he posted a .986 fielding percentage at first base and a .957 mark in 257 games in left field. The last time he played any other outfield position besides left field was in college, where he logged 93 games in right.

The move is very strange. At 29 years old, it seems like his days of developing into a productive major-league hitter are behind him. He doesn't have an elite defensive glove, and the White Sox are the first MLB team to take a flier on him in two years. There are plenty of other MLB-free agents that could produce at the same level as Shaw.

He figures to fill a hole in the minor leagues, but the White Sox have a wide-open competition in right field. The front office has already brought in Victor Reyes, Billy Hamilton, and Jake Marisnick to compete for the job. Why not throw Shaw's name in the mix and see what happens?