LaMonte Wade Jr. Looks For Bounce-Back Season With White Sox

LaMonte Wade Jr. put together multiple strong seasons with the San Francisco Giants, but his production dipped significantly in 2025.

Now he'll get an opportunity to bounce back with the White Sox in 2026 after signing a minor-league deal with a spring training invite, as first reported by Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

What are the White Sox getting with LaMonte Wade Jr.?

Wade, 31, is a 5-foot-11, 215-pound left-handed hitter with seven seasons of MLB experience. A ninth-round pick out of the University of Maryland, he debuted with the Minnesota Twins in 2019 but established himself with the San Francisco Giants.

Wade hit 18 home runs and posted a career-high .808 OPS with the Giants in 2021, leading to a 21st-place finish in NL MVP voting. From a wins above replacement standpoint, he was even more valuable in 2023 (2.8 bWAR) and 2024 (2.1bWAR).

Wade posted on-base percentages over .370 both seasons and struck out fewer than 100 times both years. Across five seasons with San Francisco, he slashed .240/.345/.401/.746.

So perhaps surprisingly, Wade's 2025 season was an anomaly compared to the rest of his career. After batting .167 in his first 50 games, the Giants designated Wade for assignment and then traded him and cash to the Los Angeles Angels for a player to be named later.

Several aspects of Wade's batted ball profile led to significant regression in 2025. His hard hit rate stood above 40% in 2023 and 2024, but it dipped to 31.8% last season. That came with an increase in fly ball rate and a decrease in ground ball rate, both by over 5.5%.

Wade's career-low .254 slugging percentage in 2025 was a steep drop off from .381 in 2024 and .417 in 2023. When he was released by the Angels on Aug. 2, Wade had mustered just two home runs in 80 games after combining for 25 home runs 252 games across the previous two seasons.

First base and corner outfield were positions of need for the White Sox going into the offseason, and Wade could potentially help fill both roles if he earns a spot on the roster after spring training.

He has played 317 games at first base, which is less of a need after the White Sox signed Munetaka Murakami. But Wade also has 213 appearances in the outfield –– and 132 in right field –– which has become a greater need after trading Luis Robert Jr.

As it currently stands, the White Sox 40-man roster includes outfielders Andrew Benintendi, Everson Pereira, Brooks Baldwin, Tristan Peters and Derek Hill. General manager Chris Getz mentioned that recent trade acquisition Luisangel Acuña could also help replace Robert in center field.

What are the White Sox getting with LaMonte Wade Jr.?

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