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| The Moncada bobblehead is a candidate for the dustbin of history. |
Declined the $25 million contract option on Yoan Moncada. The oft-injured third baseman played in only 12 games for the Sox in 2024, during which he totaled zero home runs and zero RBIs. Moncada played eight seasons on the South Side, and only two of them were good (2019 and 2021). He never made an All-Star appearance. He never won a Gold Glove. The Sox never won a playoff series during his tenure. So, no, he didn't live up to the hype that comes with being the No. 1 prospect in baseball. Moncada's departure means there is nobody left on the team from the Chris Sale trade. Call it vindication for those of us who hated that trade from the start.
Declined the $7.5 million contract option on Max Stassi. Did you even know this 33-year-old catcher was even on the team this season? No? Me neither. Stassi missed the whole season with a hip injury. He had surgery in June. Chances are he's played his last game in the majors.
Relievers Jimmy Lambert and Matt Foster decline outright assignments, elect free agency. More ties were cut with the walking wounded here. Lambert, 29, didn't pitch in 2024 with a rotator cuff injury. He had season-ending surgery in August. Foster, 29, started the year on the injured list after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2023. He returned in August and made six appearances, but a back injury shut him down. He underwent back surgery Sept. 25. These are two more guys you might not see in the majors again.
Claimed pitcher Penn Murfee off waivers from Houston. It's the first dumpster dive of the offseason! Murfee, 30, had Tommy John surgery in July 2023 and missed the entire 2024 season. He pitched in a combined 80 games over two years with the Seattle Mariners -- 64 appearances in 2022 and 16 games before the elbow injury in 2023. He's 5-2 with a 2.70 ERA in his career, so if he can regain his health, well, I guess he becomes a leverage option on what figures to be a subpar 2025 Sox team.
Nicky Lopez and Sammy Peralta decline outright assignments, elect free agency. Lopez, who will turn 30 before the start of the 2025 season, was a Gold Glove finalist at second base. However, he ultimately doesn't have the bat to hold down a starting position, as evidenced by his .241/.312/.294 slash line with the 2024 Sox. If you can't *slug* .300, then you shouldn't be an everyday player. Given that Lopez would be due more than $5 million in arbitration, it doesn't make sense to retain him as a bench option, either. You can find utility players for a lot less money. Heck, if Lopez can't find work elsewhere, he might come back to the Sox for far less money. Peralta, 26, posted a 4.80 ERA over nine relief appearances in 2024. He is a forgettable left-handed reliever. The Sox have other internal options who were ahead of him.
