White Sox Release Austin Hays After Disappointing, Injury-Riddled Stint
In this story:
Amid the madness of the trade deadline, the Chicago White Sox had a new outfield against right-handers. Outfielder Everson Pereira was DFA'd, and Brenton Doyle was acquired from the Colorado Rockies.
An afterthought for White Sox fans for much of the season, outfielder Austin Hays' future in Chicago was thought to be in serious jeopardy. We now know the answer.
According to the New York Post's Jon Heyman, the White Sox have placed Hays on release waivers.
Why Did the White Sox Release Austin Hays?
Austin Hays was a third-round pick by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2016 MLB Draft out of Jacksonville University. He would spend seven years in Baltimore, making the All-Star team in 2023 after a great first half.
The White Sox signed Hays to a one-year, $6 million deal amid the need for an outfielder. Sam Antonacci and Braden Montgomery were not up with the team, and Tristan Peters had not yet broken out, so the need was immediate.
Fans thought that Hays would improve a White Sox team that wasn't expected to do much in a rebuild year and would be a placeholder for when the prospects came up.
However, it didn't go that way at all.
The former All-Star played just 12 games in a Chicago uniform. In 44 plate appearances, Hays slashed .233/.250/.326 with one home run. He would also play a horrible outfield, having a -1 Outs Above Average, according to Baseball Savant.
On an easy fly ball to left field on April 6, Hays would pull up suddenly and be diagnosed with a hamstring strain. Not even a month later, he would re-injure himself on May 1 and be put on the 60-day injured list.
With the breakouts of Antonacci, Peters, and Montgomery, as well as the solid play of the supporting cast in the outfield, Hays was expendable. He would have a long rehab stint with Triple-A Charlotte, slashing .250/.266/.513 with six home runs.
However, that wasn't enough to justify bringing him up before or after the trade deadline, despite the release of Pereira. Hays had become a waste of a 40-man spot if they were never going to bring him up, and thus his White Sox tenure was over.
While he will go through release waivers, no team could justify claiming him with his remaining salary. However, once he passes through waivers unclaimed, he could be a solid right-handed bat for a contending team if he can stay healthy.
One thing is clear, though: Hays' White Sox tenure was a disappointing one, but Chicago has been doing just fine without the $6 million outfielder.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Matthew Singer is a contributor for White Sox on SI. Before joining SI in 2026, he worked for Heavy as an MLB contributor and Cubs on SI. Singer has a master's degree in sports journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. He loves sports more than anything in the world.