The Chicago White Sox thankfully are not the worst team in baseball for the second straight season, conceding that moniker to the Colorado Rockies, who still don’t have 10 wins and it’s almost the end of May. This season for the White Sox has been up and down with most of their games ending on a sour note, but thankfully, things are slowly getting better.
The White Sox are spending most of this season identifying players who can contribute to the future and identifying others to trade away to further this rebuild. The White Sox have a few players that could be traded by the July 31st Trade Deadline, but all of their trade pieces have had down years all at once.
Even though most of their players have had down years, they will still be valuable for teams to acquire and use as depth pieces to fill in when others get hurt. The White Sox officially started their fire sale by trading away one of their offseason acquisitions.
Chicago White Sox trade away key offseason acquisition
The White Sox have officially begun their trading season by announcing that they have traded veteran catcher Matt Thaiss to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor-league outfielder Dru Baker.
“The Chicago White Sox have acquired minor-league outfielder Dru Baker from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for catcher Matt Thaiss.”
The Chicago White Sox have acquired minor-league outfielder Dru Baker from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for catcher Matt Thaiss.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 27, 2025
Thaiss (30), was traded to the White Sox from the Chicago Cubs in the offseason to give the White Sox a solid backup catcher to pair with their starter Korey Lee. Thaiss has been one of the more “successful” White Sox this season as he has filled in admirably while Lee has been on the injured list recovering from a tweaked ankle.
Overall for this season, Thaiss has hit his career numbers hitting .212/.382/.294 for an OPS of .676 in 35 games. Trading Thaiss made sense since Lee is almost ready to return from the injured list and will likely split the catching duties with Edgar Quero upon his return.
Who is Dru Baker?
Baker, 25, was drafted by the Rays in the fourth round of the 2021 MLB Draft from Texas Tech University. In his three seasons at Texas Tech, Baker was a .324 hitter with an OBP and OPS of .400 and .469 and had an OPS of .869.
Baker, in his five seasons in the Rays farm system, has been a decent hitter and has climbed the ladder as high as Triple-A. Overall, in those five minor league seasons, Baker has slashed .291/.369/.405 for an OPS of .774.
Baker gives the White Sox more outfield depth and adds another option to slide into the outfield when they trade Luis Robert Jr. away. Currently on the 40-man roster and will likely be assigned to Charlotte once the trade becomes official.
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