White Sox sign veteran OF Brian Goodwin to minors deal

The White Sox agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent outfielder Brian Goodwin, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (via Twitter). It’s a natural fit for a White Sox club that just learned it’ll be without center fielder Luis Robert for the next three to four months.

The 30-year-old Goodwin had an opt-out clause in a minor league deal with the Pirates and hit the market Monday. He’s certainly not a star, but with the exception of a disastrous 20-game stint with the Reds in 2020, which consisted of a mere 55 plate appearances, he’s been a solid hitter in the majors. Goodwin slashed .258/.327/.469 in 166 games with the Angels from 2019-20, and he’s a career .250/.317/.455 hitter in 1,124 major league plate appearances. His sudden return to the market made this a fairly straightforward fit for a White Sox club that has lost both Robert and Eloy Jimenez for the bulk of the season — if not the entirety of it — due to injury.

The White Sox have also been without another outfielder, Adam Engel, who has yet to play this year because of a strained right hamstring. General manager Rick Hahn announced Monday that Engel suffered a setback that will prevent him from starting a minor league rehab assignment for three weeks (Twitter link via Scott Merkin of MLB.com). Hahn later suggested the White Sox would look to the trade route for outfielders, and while that still may be the case, they turned to the open market in this instance. For now, their primary outfielders are Andrew Vaughn, Leury Garcia and Adam Eaton.

Notably, there’s already familiarity between Hahn and Goodwin, whom the White Sox chose in the 17th round of the 2009 draft. Goodwin decided not to sign with the White Sox, though, instead electing to attend the University of North Carolina. It was a wise move by Goodwin, who boosted his stock enough for the Nationals to draft him 34th overall in 2011. Ten years later, he’s headed to the Chicago organization.