White Sox acquire OF Haseley from Phillies

GLENDALE, Ariz. – The White Sox added depth to their outfield mix by acquiring Adam Haseley from the Phillies in exchange for Minor League right-handed pitcher McKinley Moore. To make room for Haseley on the 40-man roster, the White Sox designated outfielder Blake Rutherford for assignment.

Andrew Vaughn had the clear edge as the team’s primary right fielder, although the White Sox have other possibilities to move through that spot in Adam Engel, Gavin Sheets, Leury García and Micker Adolfo, who is out of options. But Vaughn suffered a right hip pointer (bruised pelvis on the right side) when diving to make a catch in right-center during a Cactus League game on Sunday and is now projected to return to game action in the next one to two weeks.

Losing Vaughn temporarily weakened that overall depth, an idea the White Sox were familiar with from the 2021 season after dealing with a plethora of injuries, including a left pectoral tendon rupture suffered by left fielder Eloy Jiménez at the end of Spring Training and a right hip flexor tear suffered by center fielder Luis Robert at the start of May. In Haseley, the White Sox have a left-handed bat who can play all three outfield spots and has two options remaining.

Haseley, 25, was selected eighth overall in the 2017 Draft, taken two spots ahead of Jake Burger of the White Sox. He was the Opening Day center fielder for Philadelphia in 2021, but he left the team in mid-April for personal reasons, according to a recent MLB.com story from Todd Zolecki. Haseley returned one month later and was in the Minor Leagues for the rest of the season.

“It’s more just learning from things that personally went on,” said Haseley in his only comments from the story concerning his time away. “I don’t know if it necessarily feels like a second chance as much as it is just learning. It’s a process. It’s a road, and we’re all walking through stuff. So, yeah, my outlook is just being thankful for being here.”

Haseley has a career slash line of .264/.322/.373 with 20 doubles, five home runs, 39 RBIs and 39 runs scored in 116 games over parts of three seasons in the Majors with the Phillies. He has appeared in 72 games in center field, 35 in left and 19 in right. As a rookie in 2019, Haseley led all Phillies outfielders with 13 defensive runs saved despite making just 59 starts.

Moore, 23, was the No. 27 White Sox prospect in the most recent rankings by MLB Pipeline. The 14th-round pick in the 2019 Draft had a 4.43 ERA over 63 innings with 91 strikeouts against 38 walks in 59 games. Rutherford, 24, was acquired from the Yankees on July 17, 2017, as part of a seven-player deal sending Todd Frazier, David Robertson, and Tommy Kahnle to New York.

With the moves, the White Sox 40-man roster remains at 40.