{"id":579876,"date":"2026-02-18T21:03:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T21:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/579876\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T21:03:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T21:03:23","slug":"why-chicago-white-sox-should-target-discarded-padres-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/579876\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Chicago White Sox Should Target Discarded Padres Players"},"content":{"rendered":"

As spring training gets rolling across Major League Baseball, the San Diego Padres<\/a> have been making a late push to improve their team before the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

The Padres haven\u2019t made many notable additions this offseason. Their most significant move might be re-signing right-handed pitcher Michael King to a $75 million contract \u2014 but even that is simply retaining a player who was already with the club last year.<\/p>\n

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Over the last week or so, we\u2019ve seen San Diego add an infusion of depth, buying low on some veteran free agents.<\/p>\n

They signed Nick Castellanos to a one-year contract, agreed to terms with free-agent starting pitcher Griffin Canning, added Germ\u00e1n M\u00e1rquez on a one-year deal<\/a>, and even dished out minor league contracts to Walker Buehler, Ty France, and others.<\/p>\n

You get the point.<\/p>\n

But with these additions come corresponding moves. And when Canning was officially signed to the 40-man roster on Tuesday, the Padres designated outfielder Tirso Ornelas<\/a> for assignment to clear a roster spot.<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s a player the Chicago White Sox<\/a> should be all over.<\/p>\n

Ornelas was most recently ranked the No. 11 prospect in the Padres organization<\/a>. He\u2019s 25 years old and ready for an extended look at the big-league level.<\/p>\n

The Padres can\u2019t give that to him. They already have Ram\u00f3n Laureano, Jackson Merrill, Fernando Tatis Jr., Miguel And\u00fajar, and Nick Castellanos in the outfield.<\/p>\n

But maybe the White Sox can.<\/p>\n

Because he doesn\u2019t run particularly well and doesn\u2019t have the strongest arm, left field is the most natural position for Ornelas. But he\u2019s also logged meaningful innings at first base in the upper levels of the minor leagues. He\u2019s played all three outfield spots \u2014 even if left field fits best \u2014 so there\u2019s some flexibility here.<\/p>\n

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But it\u2019s the bat that\u2019s the real prize.<\/p>\n

Ornelas made his Triple-A debut with El Paso in 2022 and has been trying to break through ever since. A contending Padres team has made it difficult for him to find a regular role on a roster that is constantly being retooled.<\/p>\n

Yet in 268 career Triple-A games<\/a>, Ornelas has posted 60 doubles, 37 home runs, 172 RBIs, and an .834 OPS.<\/p>\n

Historically, it\u2019s been more doubles power than home run power. But in 2024, his last full minor league season, Ornelas started to come into his own with 23 homers and 89 RBIs.<\/p>\n

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Combine that rising power trait with his 12.4% walk rate in 2025 \u2014 and the fact that he bats from the left side \u2014 and you\u2019ve got a really intriguing outfield option with club control through the rest of his prime.<\/p>\n

At this stage of the rebuild, this is exactly the kind of player the White Sox should be taking a chance on. It\u2019s the same model they\u2019ve used when trading for Everson Pereira, claiming players like Tristan Peters and Tanner Murray, and handing out minor league deals to the Jarred Kelenics of the world.<\/p>\n

But you could argue Ornelas\u2019 offensive upside is greater than any of those names.<\/p>\n

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The White Sox love a profile<\/a> with some pop and a real understanding of the strike zone. It\u2019s hard to teach plate discipline. And with Ornelas, they wouldn\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not even necessarily advocating for Ornelas to make the big-league club out of spring training. But this is an opportunity to get him for free \u2014 or next to nothing \u2014 should they negotiate a trade with San Diego now that he\u2019s been DFA\u2019d.<\/p>\n

It would be a wise move to add Ornelas to the 40-man roster. I\u2019d certainly prefer rostering him over someone like Murray or Peters \u2014 who probably clears waivers if he’s DFA’d anyways. Give Ornelas a real chance to make your team in spring training. If he doesn’t you’re right back where you started.<\/p>\n

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All early indications from camp say Andrew Benintendi<\/a> is healthier this year and preparing to play left field<\/a> regularly. But I\u2019ll believe that when I see it.<\/p>\n

Between these reclamation projects and Benintendi\u2019s role still being somewhat up in the air \u2014 especially if he sees a healthy dose of time at designated hitter<\/a> \u2014 adding another viable corner outfield option who fits the competitive timeline should be something Chris Getz is all over.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll see if the White Sox are as enthused about this idea as I am.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As spring training gets rolling across Major League Baseball, the San Diego Padres have been making a late…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":579877,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2379],"tags":[1000,5,138,49,2561,10857,920,140,98,871,19,111,87,4808,6522,3967,4,8639,177,1495,137,18,151,14321,30019,3197,115,396,2562],"class_list":{"0":"post-579876","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-white-sox","8":"tag-andrew-benintendi","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-white-sox","12":"tag-chicagowhitesox","13":"tag-everson-pereira","14":"tag-fernando-tatis-jr","15":"tag-german-marquez","16":"tag-griffin-canning","17":"tag-jackson-merrill","18":"tag-major-league-baseball","19":"tag-michael-conforto","20":"tag-michael-king","21":"tag-miguel-andujar","22":"tag-minor-league","23":"tag-minor-leagues","24":"tag-mlb","25":"tag-nick-castellanos","26":"tag-outfield","27":"tag-ramon-laureano","28":"tag-san-diego","29":"tag-san-diego-padres","30":"tag-spring-training","31":"tag-tirso-ornelas","32":"tag-tristan-peters","33":"tag-ty-france","34":"tag-walker-buehler","35":"tag-white-sox","36":"tag-whitesox"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116093663930528025","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}