White Sox re-sign veteran outfielder to major league deal

The White Sox have reunited with outfielder Kevin Pillar just days after the veteran was released by the club, as first reported by Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. 

The club has since announced the deal, which is a major league contract. Right-hander Touki Toussaint was designated for assignment to make room for Pillar on the 40-man roster. 

Van Schouwen also reports that right-hander Jordan Leasure is set to make the club’s Opening Day roster as a member of the bullpen. Leasure is not yet on the 40-man roster, meaning the club will need to select his contract before Opening Day.

Pillar, 35, is a veteran of 11 MLB seasons who spent the 2023 campaign as a member of the Braves. He appeared in 81 games as a reserve outfielder and pinch hitter for the club, though he struggled at the plate en route to a .228/.248/.416 slash line across 206 trips to the plate. 

Once one of the game’s best defenders in center field, the shine has worn off of Pillar’s glovework in recent years, relegating him to corner outfield work in more recent seasons. 

That being said, the veteran is a career .278/.308/.461 hitter against left-handed pitching and makes plenty of sense as a righty complement to the lefty-hitting corner outfield duo of Andrew Benintendi and Dominic Fletcher in Chicago.

Pillar’s return to the organization comes at the expense of Toussaint, who the club acquired off waivers from the Guardians back in June. He made 19 appearances down the stretch with Chicago, 15 of them starts, and posted a 4.97 ERA with a 4.95 FIP in 83 1/3 innings of work. 

Toussaint struck out a decent 22.7 percent of batters faced during his time with the club but walked opponents at a concerning 14.2 percent clip. 

The mediocre results and concerning peripherals didn’t stop the White Sox from retaining the righty this winter, but the club now appears ready to move on from Toussaint after a disastrous spring training that saw him post a 17.47 ERA in 5 2/3 innings of work that saw him walk a whopping 11 batters while striking out just two. 

The White Sox will have one week to either trade, release or pass Toussaint through waivers.

Set to make the club’s Opening Day roster alongside Pillar is Leasure, a 25-year-old right-hander who came to the White Sox as part of the return in the deal that sent Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly to the Dodgers back in July. 

A 14th-round pick by the Dodgers in the 2021 draft, Leasure enjoyed a strong 2022 season with L.A. as he pitched to a 3.38 ERA in 58 2/3 innings of work between the High-A and Double-A levels, striking out an impressive 34.9 percent of batters faced during that time. 

Leasure returned to Double-A to begin the 2023 season and continued to dominate with a 3.09 ERA and a 39.7 percent strikeout rate in 35 innings, but began to struggle upon being traded to Chicago, with whom he was promoted to Triple-A.

Leasure struggled to a 6.08 ERA in his 15 appearances at Triple-A Charlotte last year, though his strikeout rate remained above 35 percent even as he struggled. 

Despite those difficulties, Leasure went on to dominate in the Arizona Fall League back in October as he punched out 44.8 percent of batters faced and posted a sparkling 1.08 ERA. 

The right-hander’s bounceback continued this spring as he’s posted 8 1/3 scoreless innings across nine appearances with the White Sox during camp. 

Those strong results since the end of last season appear to have earned Leasure his first taste of big-league action, where he’ll factor into the club’s bullpen mix as another right-handed option alongside Steven Wilson, John Brebbia, Deivi Garcia and Michael Kopech.