WHITE SOX HEADLINES OF APRIL 20, 2018 “Thompson's career circles back to South Side”… Scott Merkin and David Adler, MLB.com “AL Central: Checking in on the new guys: Rondon”… Jeffrey Flanagan, MLB.com “Daily White Sox prospects update: Three- day for ”… Vinnie Duber, NBC Sports Chicago “In two separate trades, White Sox send Tyler Saladino to Milwaukee and bring back ”…. Vinnie Duber, NBC Sports Chicago “Daily White Sox prospects update: Eloy Jimenez debuts at Birmingham”… Vinnie Duber, NBC Sports Chicago “White Sox end their circus trip, while Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts juggles”… Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune “White Sox trade Tyler Saladino to Brewers, pick up Trayce Thompson from Athletics”… Vinnie Duber, Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune “White Sox doing away with plastic straws at Guaranteed Rate Field”… Satchel Price, Chicago Sun Times “ debut Beyond the Diamond fundraiser with Hall of Famers”…Candace Jordan, Chicago Tribune “Chicago White Sox to no longer offer plastic straws”… Jacqueline Thomsen, The Hill “White Sox reel in Trayce Thompson, cast out Tyler Saladino”… James Fegan, The Athletic Thompson's career circles back to South Side By Scott Merkin and David Adler/ MLB.com/ April 19, 2018

CHICAGO -- Trayce Thompson began his career with the White Sox as a second-round selection in the 2009 Draft, and the right-handed hitter produced 16 extra-base hits and a .295 average over 135 plate appearances during his '15 White Sox debut.

Now, the 's recent journeys have returned him to the South Side, as the White Sox acquired Thompson from the A's for cash considerations on Thursday evening. Thompson, the brother of the NBA's ' , has bounced around a little this season.

He started with the Dodgers but was designated for assignment, then was claimed off waivers by the Yankees and then by the A's. The 27-year-old played in three games for Oakland, going 1- for-7 at the plate, before being designated for assignment on Tuesday while the White Sox were in Oakland.

In his Major League career, Thompson has .232/.307/.440 with 19 home runs and 50 RBIs in 154 games. He should have a chance to compete for playing time with , a Gold Glove-caliber center fielder presently hitting .179 with a .488 OPS.

Thompson takes the place of infielder Tyler Saladino on the active roster, with Saladino being traded to the Brewers for cash considerations Thursday. Saladino, 28, had spent his four-year career with the White Sox and played in six games this season, including three starts. He was 2-for-8 with a double, and in his career, Saladino has hit .231/.281/.330 with 12 home runs and 68 RBIs in 246 games.

"I had the fans in mind every day and worked my hardest to make them proud one way or another," Saladino told MLB.com of his time in Chicago.

Saladino hit .282 with eight home runs and 38 RBIs in 2016, but battled back problems he feared at times were career-ending in '17. He came back healthy and earned an '18 Opening Day roster spot with the White Sox.

The White Sox still have a three-person bench made up of catcher Omar Narvaez, Thompson and Leury Garcia, who figures to be the time's primary utility infielder.

AL Central: Checking in on the new guys By Jeffrey Flanagan /MLB.com / April 19, 2018

ANSAS CITY -- New faces abound in the American League Central in 2018, some young and some old. And we're not talking about Frosty the Snowman, who has made an appearance in every AL Central park from Detroit to Kansas City here in April.

Let's go around the horn in the AL Central and check out the new guys.

Indians Who's the new guy? First baseman

How's it going so far? Through 16 games, Alonso has a .196/.274/.375 slash line to go with three home runs and nine RBIs. Like most of the Indians' lineup, Alonso's slow start was impacted by an extremely cold stretch of games in Cleveland.

What's on deck? Alonso's .195 batting average on balls in play is the ninth-lowest mark in the AL. That, combined with other peripheral statistics, indicate a positive regression is coming.

Number to know: 8. Alonso is one of 16 players in MLB with at least eight barrels, per Statcast™..

Royals Who's the new guy? Rookie left-hander Tim Hill

How's it going so far? Incredibly well. Hill perhaps was a long shot to make the 25-man roster entering Spring Training, but his funky sidearm delivery caught the coaching staff's eyes immediately. Hill's fastball sits around 91-92 mph, and extensive work on his slider ("It's still improving," manager Ned Yost said.) this spring is paying off, as AL hitters are still somewhat baffled by his repertoire.

What's on deck? More high-leverage situations. As the rest of the Royals' bullpen wobbles, Hill and closer Kelvin Herrera have been Yost's most reliable go-to guys. Yost and his staff had been hoping to bring Hill along slowly, but now Kansas City may have no choice but to use Hill from the eighth inning on.

Number to know: 0. That's the number of hits Hill has given up in his first seven appearances.

Tigers Who's the new guy? Leonys Martin

How's it going so far? Martin has filled the leadoff and center-field roles surprisingly well, covering more range in the gaps at Comerica Park than probably anybody since Austin Jackson's rookie year. Offensively, Martin scored nine runs in his first 14 games, including the go-ahead tally Tuesday after reaching base on a bunt single.

What's on deck? Martin is in line to get close to everyday playing time in center now that JaCoby Jones is getting the bulk of the starts in left. With Dixon Machado having cooled off from his start, Martin is safe in the leadoff spot for the near future.

Number to know 5. Those are the Outs Above Average Martin earned in about a half-season of playing time last year between the Mariners and Cubs. He's on track to top that in Detroit.

Twins Who's the new guy? Designated hitter/first baseman Logan Morrison

How's it going so far? Morrison has struggled offensively so far since signing a one-year deal in Spring Training. He was brought in to be a power bat from the left side after a breakout year with the Rays last year, when he clubbed 38 home runs. Morrison has yet to break out of his slump this season, and he has produced only one extra-base hit (a double) in 44 at-bats this season.

What's on deck? The Twins believe Morrison will get it going offensively based on his track record, so he'll continue to be the everyday designated hitter and backup to Joe Mauer at first base. Morrison has also had to adjust to playing in cold weather early this season, so the hope is his bat will heat up with the weather.

Number to know: 3. The number of hits for Morrison in his first 12 games with Minnesota.

White Sox Who's the new guy? Right-hander Bruce Rondon

How's it going so far? The hard-throwing right-hander came up from -A Charlotte to replace an ineffective Juan Minaya in Chicago's bullpen and has been unhittable in a small sample size. Rondon's 100 mph velocity and a sharp slider to go with it gives the White Sox a potential closer, or at least another late-inning option.

What's on deck? Look for Rondon to continue getting late-inning, high-leverage opportunities, although the White Sox have Nate Jones and Joakim Soria in place in the closer's role. At 27, Rondon could be a newfound part of the rebuild, or he could end up being a great trade chip if he continues pitching well.

Number to know: 5. Rondon struck out the first five batters he faced this season, including his old friend and Detroit teammate Miguel Cabrera, who gave Rondon a knowing wink after a slider got him

Daily White Sox prospects update: Three-double day for Blake Rutherford By Vinnie Duber /NBC Sports Chicago/ April 19, 2018

Blake Rutherford banged out three doubles in Winston-Salem's 14-4 win, another offensive outburst for the mashin' Dash. Micker Adolfo also had three hits, including a double, and two RBIs. had a hit, Alex Call had two hits and two RBIs, and Joel Booker had a double. pitched, allowing four runs in his five innings, but he also struck out seven batters. He's got a 3.45 ERA in three starts.

Triple-A Charlotte

Charlie Tilson had two hits, a double, an RBI and a run scored in a 9-2 win. Daniel Palka had a hit and a walk. Thyago Vieira gave up another run in his one inning of work, with his ERA at 11.37 in 6.1 innings.

Double-A Birmingham

In the final game before the arrival of Eloy Jimenez, had two hits, a double and a walk in an 8-1 loss. was 0-for-4 and is hitting just .071 on the season.

Class A Kannapolis

Luis Gonzalez had two hits, including a double, in a 5-1 loss

In two separate trades, White Sox send Tyler Saladino to Milwaukee and bring back Trayce Thompson By Vinnie Duber /NBC Sports Chicago/ April 19, 2018

The White Sox made a pair of surprising moves Thursday, sending one player out of town and bringing a familiar face back to the organization.

Infielder Tyler Saladino was traded to the for cash considerations, and outfielder Trayce Thompson was acquired in a trade with the , the White Sox sending cash considerations to the A’s in that deal.

Saladino spent the last four seasons on the South Side, putting up a .231/.281/.330 career slash line in his 246 games in a White Sox uniform. Despite his versatility on the infield, he didn’t have much room to play this season, with , and Yolmer Sanchez firmly in place at second base, shortstop and third base, respectively. Saladino made just nine plate appearances in the team’s first 15 games this season.

The 27-year-old Thompson, meanwhile, was just designated for assignment by the A’s, who the White Sox just concluded a three-game set with Wednesday. Thompson made his major league debut with the White Sox in 2015 and played 44 games that season, slashing .295/.363/.533. He was then traded to the in the three-team deal that brought to the South Side.

He started spring training this year with the Dodgers before getting designated for assignment, claimed by the and then claimed by the A’s. He had seven plate appearances with Oakland.

The White Sox did not announce whether or not Thompson will take Saladino’s vacated spot on the 25- man roster. The White Sox have been using Leury Garcia as their fourth outfielder in addition to Nicky Delmonico, Adam Engel and Avisail Garcia. Without Saladino, the White Sox would initially seem to have no reserve infielder, though Leury Garcia has the versatility to play on the infield, as well, meaning Thompson could be the team’s new fourth outfielder and Leury Garcia its new backup infielder.

For the rebuilding White Sox, Thompson becomes another young player who could perform well enough to impress the front office and work himself into consideration for its long-term plans. While the minor leagues is bursting at the seams with talent outfield prospects — Eloy Jimenez, , Micker Adolfo, Luis Alexander Basabe, Blake Rutherford, Luis Gonzalez, Ryan Cordell, Charlie Tilson and Daniel Palka — perhaps Thompson can take advantage of a new opportunity and add his name to that list.

Daily White Sox prospects update: Eloy Jimenez debuts at Birmingham By Vinnie Duber /MLB.com/ April 20, 2018

Double-A Birmingham

Eloy Jimenez made his much-anticipated debut after working his way back from an injury to his pectoral muscle. The White Sox top-rated prospect didn't get a hit, going 0-for-3 in Birmingham's 8-3 loss, but he did have a walk, an RBI and a run scored. Zack Collins had two walks in the game. Jordan Guerrero gave up six runs on nine hits in three innings of work.

Class A Winston-Salem

Blake Rutherford followed up a three-double day Wednesday with four hits Thursday. He also drove in four runs and scored a run. Micker Adolfo homered, with the quartet of Adolfo, Rutherford, Luis Alexander Basabe (who walked three times) and Gavin Sheets combining for eight RBIs in a 9-5 win.

Class A Kannapolis

Luis Gonzalez and Evan Skoug each had a hit and a run scored and Gonzalez added a walk in Kannapolis' 8-3 win. White Sox end their circus trip, while Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts juggles By Paul Sullivan/ Chicago Tribune / April 19, 2018

The White Sox’s misery continued with a 12-11 loss to the A’s on Wednesday, leaving them 0-4 with three postponements on the circus trip.

It wasn’t an actual circus trip like the Bulls and Blackhawks used to take every fall when the Big Top came to the United Center. But it unraveled like one with snow-outs in Minnesota, a free-ticket night on Tuesday in Oakland and Wednesday’s 14-inning marathon that lasted 5 hours, 48 minutes (or approximately three naps).

It was a game the Sox could’ve won and probably should’ve won. But coming back with two outs in the ninth to tie it at 11-11 and battling the next five innings showed something.

What exactly did it show?

We can’t say it in a family newspaper, but according to the Athletic, manager Rick Renteria said: “You can bleep it, but my (bleeping) guys showed a lot of (guts) today in the loss.”

That’s about as emphatic a vote of confidence as you’re going to get from Renteria, who always looks at the bright side and doesn’t utter profanities, at least in public.

“My (bleeping) guys showed a lot of (guts)” could be the next big T-shirt on the South Side.

There are plenty of things for Renteria to be concerned about. The .193 average with runners in scoring position, the highest walks-per-nine innings (5.44) and worst ERA (5.71) in the majors, starters Carson Fulmer and Miguel Gonzalez, and Avisail Garcia’s slump to name a few.

The World Series champion Astros are coming to town this weekend, and the Sox are looking more and more like a 100-loss team.

No one expected them to contend, but few expected them to start out this bad, especially with an early season schedule that featured games against the Royals, Tigers, Rays and A’s.

It should be interesting to see how they perform this weekend against the Astros, who lead the majors with a 2.48 ERA and show no signs of a World Series hangover.

Look who’s back Former Cubs manager Jim Riggleman returns to the hot seat, at least on an interim basis, after the firing of Reds manager Bryan Price.

Riggleman’s last managerial job was in Washington, where he abruptly quit in the middle of the 2011 season. Riggleman wanted a multiyear deal, but the Nationals refused to extend him.

The move was shocking at the time, as the Nats had won 11 of 12 and were turning the corner in a rebuild that has since made them annual contenders.

“I tell ya, I've been in this 10 years,” Riggleman said after quitting. “Maybe I'll never get another opportunity, but I promise you I'll never do it on a one-year deal again. ... You don't bring people in on a one-year deal. I'm sure they will never do it here. When they get the guy they want, it won't be on a one- year deal.”

Riggleman eventually resurfaced as a Triple-A manager in Louisville and became the Reds third-base coach in 2015.

This is Riggleman’s fifth managerial stint.

His only real success was with the 1998 Cubs, who won a wild-card berth on one of the more memorable nights in team history, Game 163 against the Giants.

But general manager Ed Lynch failed to fix the holes that winter, and when the Cubs fell apart in 1999, Riggleman became the fall guy for Lynch and President Andy MacPhail.

Whether he can win with this Reds team and shed the interim tag again is debatable. Their 5.42 team ERA is second worst in the majors to the White Sox and the rebuild seems to be going backward.

But it’s good to see Riggleman back, if only because he gave up a sweet gig on principle, knowing he may never get another shot.

Seven years later, he got one, at least for now.

Sho Time Shohei Ohtani is expected to be available to DH today for the Angels despite the blister on the inside edge of his middle right finger that forced an early removal from his shaky, two-inning start Tuesday.

Manager Mike Scioscia said Ohtani had “no problems swinging the bat,” but wouldn’t say if he’d be in the lineup against the Red Sox.

The Angels also haven’t announced his next start, but since he has been pitching once a week, it could be Tuesday against the Astros, blister-permitting.

Milestone watch Albert Pujols is only 10 hits away from joining and Adrian Beltre as the only active members of the 3,000-hit club. It’s a particularly quiet pursuit of the milestone, with Ohtani’s presence taking up all the media attention in Anaheim — and around baseball for that matter.

Looking ahead, not too many other active players will reach 3,000 hits in the near future. Only Miguel Cabrera (2,650) and Robinson Cano (2,393) seem like locks to get there, and only 10 active players have as many as 2,000 hits.

Someone to watch down the line? Former Cub Starlin Castro, who already has 1,300 career hits in nine years and is only 28. It’s a long way to 3,000, but he’s on the right path. White Sox trade Tyler Saladino to Brewers, pick up Trayce Thompson from Athletics By Paul Sullivan/ Chicago Tribune / April 19, 2018 he White Sox made two moves on their day off Thursday, trading infielder Tyler Saladino to the Brewers for cash considerations and sending cash to the Athletics for outfielder Trayce Thompson.

The Sox basically added much-needed outfield depth at the expense of a little-used infielder. Neither player has seen much playing time, with Saladino getting eight at-bats so far with the Sox and Thompson — who is headed to his fourth organization in three weeks — has seven with the A’s.

Thompson returns to the White Sox after an impressive late-season performance in 2015. He seemingly was going to be a starting outfielder in 2016 until the Sox sent him to the Dodgers at the 2015 winter meetings in the three-way deal that brought Todd Frazier to the South Side.

Thompson may have a chance to get more playing time with the Sox. While Adam Engel won the starting job in center field this year, he has yet to prove he can hit at the major-league level.

An injury to Triple-A Charlotte outfielder Ryan Cordell, who is expected to miss two months with a broken clavicle, left the Sox with few options if they send Engel down.

The Sox drafted Thompson in the second round out of high school in 2009, and he made it to the majors with the Sox for 44 games in 2015. He batted .295 with five home runs, a .363 on-base percentage and a .533 slugging percentage, then was traded with second baseman and pitcher to the Dodgers in a deal that netted the Sox third baseman Frazier from the Reds.

Thompson, 27, played sparingly in two seasons with the Dodgers, batting .207 in 107 games in 2016-17. The brother of NBA All-Star Klay Thompson and son of former top overall NBA draft pick was designated for assignment by the Dodgers on March 27, claimed by the Yankees on April 3 and then by the A’s two days later. The A’s designated him for assignment Tuesday after he went 1-for- 7 in three games.

Saladino, 28, slashed .231/.281/.330 while playing slick defense in parts of four seasons with the Sox. His best season came in 2016, when he hit .282 with eight home runs and 38 RBIs in 319 at-bats before a herniated disk in his back ended his season in September and required surgery.

He has struggled since, batting .178 in 281 at-bats in 2017 and finding playing time scarce in 2018, appearing in six of 15 games. The Sox drafted Saladino in the seventh round out of Oral Roberts in 2010. White Sox doing away with plastic straws at Guaranteed Rate Field By Satchel Price / Chicago Sun Times / April 19, 2018

Buying a beverage at Guaranteed Rate Field will no longer come with a plastic straw starting on Earth Day, April 22, the White Sox announced Thursday. The move is part of an initiative with the Shedd Aquarium to help eliminate single-use straws from stadiums because of their negative impact on the environment.

“We are thrilled to team up with Shedd Aquarium and help lead by example in the way of sustainability within our game day operations,” said Brooks Boyer, White Sox senior vice president of sales and marketing, in a statement.

The #WhiteSox are teaming with @shedd_aquarium to become the first @MLB team and first Chicago sports team to reduce single-use plastic straws for the season! #SheddTheStraw

Starting with the April 22 game against the Astros, drinks at all locations in Guaranteed Rate Field will not automatically come with a straw anymore. Fans can still request a biodegradable straw if they’d like, but not giving straws to every person who buys a soda should significantly reduce the number of them used during games.

The initiative is “designed to help protect water systems and the animals that live in them by highlighting the dangers single-use plastic straws pose to aquatic life.” According to the Shedd Aquarium, Americans use more than 500 million straws every day, and many of them end up polluting aquatic environments because they cannot be easily recycled and don’t naturally break down.

“Earth Day is a moment each year for the world to stop and consider how we impact our planet and the ways we can protect it,” said Shedd Aquarium CEO Dr. Bridget Coughlin. “We commend the White Sox for helping us highlight small changes like ‘Shedding the Straw’ that can make a huge impact for the health of our oceans, lakes and rivers. We are proud to stand as a partner for organizations and individuals looking for ways they can help aquatic animals.” Chicago White Sox debut Beyond the Diamond fundraiser with Hall of Famers By Candace Jordan / Chicago Tribune / April 18, 2018

The Chicago White Sox presented Beyond the Diamond, an inaugural season-opening celebration to benefit Chicago White Sox Charities (CWSC), on April 10.

Presented by Peoples Gas and Wintrust, the event was the first of its kind to be held in the Atrium at the United Center and attracted a sellout crowd of more than 500. The festive evening featured a sit-down dinner and a lively program that included an onstage introduction of past and present team members, a season preview presented by White Sox manager Rick Renteria, a “Family Feud”-style game among team players, and much more.

During the VIP Big League reception, guests enjoyed arcade games and rubbed shoulders with Hall of Famers Frank Thomas and Tim Raines, as well as two-sport great Bo Jackson. During the First Pitch reception, attendees listened to live music from New Groove.

A silent auction offered autographed , a game base from Jose Abreu's first cycle (hitting a single, double, triple and in the same game) on Sept. 9, 2017, and a broken, autographed game bat from Jim Thome's 500th career home-run game.

Guests had the opportunity to create their own baseball cards by posing against a green screen backdrop of Guaranteed Rate Field with Southpaw, the team's mascot.

To kick off the program, popular public address announcer Gene Honda introduced the White Sox's entire team roster, starting lineup, coaching staff and former Sox stars Ron Kittle, Harold Baines and Bill Melton, as well as Jackson, Thomas and Raines.

Christine O'Reilly, CWSC executive director, presented an overview of the charity and its efforts in the community.

"We started CWSC in 1990 with the intention to extend the organization's commitment to be champions for the community,” she said. “It began with an initial grant of $1 million to refurbish baseball diamonds across the city, and here we are tonight, 28 years later, with nearly $30 million donated in total.”

Charles Matthews, president of Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas, discussed the team's 2018 season, saying, "The Sox are playing the game like men but enjoying it like little boys."

He then introduced Sox manager Renteria, who spoke about the team's commitment to the game and the community. "After a tough loss, they're still all here tonight because they know there's something more important than even the game," he said.

Honda shared the importance of the Amateur City Elite (ACE) inner-city youth baseball program, calling it "one of the charity’s most successful endeavors." Troy Williams, an ACE-alumnus-turned-coach, discussed how the program, now in its 11th year, changed his life.

"It's truly made a difference in many kids' lives who don't have the opportunity and resources to play travel baseball at the league level," he said. "The program has enabled me to pay it forward to the kids I coach now. … My life is incomplete if I've failed to leave a place better than I found it."

To date, nearly 170 college scholarships have been awarded to ACE participants, and since 2007, there have been 21 ACE draft picks by teams.

White Sox play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti conducted a live auction with assistance from baseball great Frank Thomas. A custom White Sox guitar — signed by all the players and celebrities in attendance — sold to Bo Jackson, a great in both baseball and football, for $5,000. A National Baseball Hall of Fame road trip sold twice at $6,100 each.

White Sox then players faced off in an entertaining rendition of “Family Feud,” with Benetti hosting two teams, one led by outfielder Nicky Delmonico and the other by infielder Yolmer Sanchez. The night ended on a sweet note with dessert, live music and arcade games.

The new fundraiser raised nearly $300,000 to support the charity's initiatives on youth education, programs for children and families at risk, pediatric cancer treatment and research, and youth baseball.

"Powered by our fans, we are committed to making Chicagoland a better place to live, work and play beyond the diamond," O'Reilly said. Chicago White Sox to no longer offer plastic straws By Jacqueline Thomsen/ The Hill / April 19, 2018

The Chicago White Sox announced Thursday that the organization would become the first MLB team to no longer provide plastic straws with drinks sold at their stadium in an effort to reduce plastic waste.

The team said that it was partnering with Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium to “reduce single-use plastic straws for the season.”

The new policy will go into effect on Earth Day. Those who want a straw for their drink will be given a biodegradable straw instead.

The team is the first MLB organization and first Chicago sports team to implement such a policy.

The Shedd Aquarium has been leading a #SheddtheStraw campaign ahead of Earth Day on Sunday, encouraging Chicago residents to stop using single-use plastic straws.

“As an advocate for wildlife, Shedd Aquarium has declared that Earth Day is the last straw for single-use plastics that threaten water health and environmental quality,” the aquarium said in a statement.

The aquarium quickly congratulated the White Sox on the new policy.

Banning plastic straws has recently grown in popularity. The United Kingdom announced this week that it would become the first country to ban plastic straws, and U.S. cities like Seattle have also implemented similar bans. White Sox reel in Trayce Thompson, cast out Tyler Saladino By James Fegan/ The Athletic / April 19, 2018

Three years later, the most tantalizing part of Trayce Thompson's career remains those 44 games (just 32 starts) when he was a surprise call-up at the end of 2015 for a White Sox team going nowhere.

In that brief snippet of a season, Thompson shook off his six up-and-down years in the minors and was suddenly every bit the power-hitting, fleet-footed toolshed center fielder the Sox envisioned when they drafted him in the second round in 2009. Realizing the promise of Jared Mitchell, Keenyn Walker, or even Courtney Hawkins, Thompson was the raw athlete the Sox had managed to mold into a baseball player.

The bristling .295/.363/.533 line he put up in those 135 plate appearances still is mostly responsible for dragging his career line (.232/.307/.440) to league average. And as he returns to the White Sox in a cash deal with the A's after being designated for assignment for the third time by three teams in the last three weeks, it still represents a big chunk of a major league tenure that includes just 154 games played at the age of 27.

There was another big flourish of potential in Thompson's career too. After the Sox sold high on his 2015 finish to bring in Todd Frazier, Thompson took about a month to settle in with the Dodgers before another molten hot stretch started. Starting on May 1, 2016, he hit .275/.371/.626 with nine home runs over a 30- game period and earned himself starter reps in a crowded Dodgers outfield. Over his final 30 games of that season, he hit .165/.232/.282, and his year ended in July when the increasing pain and irritation he was playing through were revealed to be multiple fractures in his back.

Initially hoped to be something he could return from that season, between setbacks and complications, and just never looking like the same player, Thompson has played just 30 major league games since that early end to his 2016 season. His health already put him outside the Dodgers' outfield mix, and a dreadful .212/.269/.363 season in Triple-A in 2017 locked him outside. Entering spring training this year, he was out of options and an inevitable DFA hung over his head during a mediocre Cactus League run. The Dodgers announced he was DFA'd on March 27, which set off a dispiriting stretch of the Yankees and A's both claiming him with no other intention beyond DFA'ing him and trying to pass him through waivers themselves.

In contrast to those two landings spots, the White Sox are an organization both with room for his talents and fully aware of what Thompson can do. They drafted him, they developed him, and they saw him scratch the surface of what he can be. Nicky Delmonico doesn't scream for a platoon partner, but as a lefty bat who doesn't match up perfectly with every slider-slinging southpaw, he could step back to provide some opportunities to Thompson. If nothing else, as a defensive replacement in the later innings.

But most intriguing will be whether Thompson gets a real chance to earn regular time in center field. He was known more for his tools and athleticism than his fielding acumen coming up as a prospect, and those are likely diminished after the injuries he's been through, but he still boasts real offensive potential that Adam Engel, a Rick Renteria favorite, can't offer. The question is after a whole offseason of backing Engel, tweaking his swing, and preparing for a 2018 season centered around a chance to prove himself, how much the Sox can and will pivot to making room for Thompson? And if they do, are they making room in Guaranteed Rate Field for Trayce Thompson a couple years too late?

“What was going through your head?” doesn't produce a lot of A-plus quotes as a postgame question, because for the most part, it's impossible for players to recreate the rush of adrenaline and focus they felt in a key moment of a game.

But on May 13 last season, after barreling into home plate to seal a walk-off victory against the Padres, Tyler Saladino was happy to tell us what was going through his head.

His eyes widened, a smile broke out under his Fu Manchu mustache, and you could see his mind get back to where it was as he was rounding third base in the bottom of the ninth.

“Avoid a tag at all costs,” Saladino said. “I just set myself up to get completely out of his way, no matter how I had to do it. I wasn’t going to get touched and make sure I reached the base at the same time.”

It was a victory for one blatantly rebuilding team over another blatantly rebuilding team, but in a season that was touted as a campaign to build a hard-nosed, high-effort culture of play, Saladino looked like Ricky's No. 1 Boy. So now that he's making room for Thompson, and getting traded to Milwaukee for cash considerations after an injury-ravaged and disappointing 2017 season and a scant nine plate appearances in 2018, it's fair to wonder if his commitment to Ricky Ball, by way of misfortune, wound up quickening his removal from it.

Former White Sox infielder Tyler Saladino celebrates after scoring on a walk-off RBI single by Yolmer Sanchez in a 5-4 win over the Padres on May 13. (Jon Durr/Getty Images) See, Saladino's back was taped up the day after his tumble into home plate. Four days later he was out of action with back pain, and two weeks after that he would hit the disabled list for a month and a half. Up until that point in the season, Saladino was taking his walks, showing a good approach at the plate, but waiting for his power to show up.

Upon his return, the positive caveats to his performance at the plate disappeared, and he hit .161/.216/.191 over 49 games, and saw his role as a super-utility man/spot starter mostly filled by a breakout season from Yolmer Sánchez, the man who knocked him in from second and hugged him deliriously on the infield grass that night in May.

It's not like that was the beginning of injury troubles for Saladino. He underwent Tommy John surgery while still in the minors, and a herniated disk ended his season early in 2016 — albeit only by a few weeks. That injury didn’t hamper Saladino’s place on the depth chart, and the Brewers are hoping he can live up to the rosy projections their analytics had for him going into the 2017 season. But he's going to have to prove he can stay in the lineup.

With Sánchez soaking up everyday opportunities at third base, and Tim Anderson entrenched up the middle for the next half-decade or more, and Leury García a slightly more productive hitter of late, the 2018 Sox didn't show many signs of having the opportunities to go around to try to rebuild Saladino's value. Ever so slightly, the pool of guys getting shots to prove themselves in the rebuild has already begun to constrict.

If there's a lesson to be learned from Saladino's dispiriting tumble from a plucky utility infielder who flirted with league average offense in 2016 — other than that there are pitfalls to trying hard — it's how firmly the fate of role players are tied to their health. As much as Sánchez currently looks like the glue guy you'd love to have coming off the bench or more on a playoff team, Saladino looked the same a year ago, only to find that the 10th man rarely gets to have a down year.