Gavin Sheets sounds off on the White Sox after finding a role in San Diego, but his performance in Chicago contradicts his feelings.
Sometimes a struggling player in Major League Baseball just needs a fresh start. Going to a new organization with new expectations, a new front office, and a new coaching staff that can help you make tweaks to your game can be all it takes to unlock underlying potential.
In the past, the Chicago White Sox have seen a number of their players go elsewhere and thrive once they leave the South Side.
Andrew Vaughn did it in 2025, hitting .189 with five home runs in a White Sox uniform before being traded to Milwaukee, then posting a .308 batting average, .869 OPS, and nine home runs with the Brewers after the deal.
Romy Gonzalez is another example. The White Sox raved about him internally for years, but he never put it together at the MLB level and had a career OPS of .600 over three seasons off the White Sox bench. Last year, Gonzalez hit .305 with a .826 OPS, 23 doubles, and nine home runs for the Boston Red Sox. He was a critical contributor as they made the playoffs with an 89-73 record.
This isn’t new. For years, the White Sox have been behind the 8 ball when it comes to analytics and player development. But as the team takes on the San Diego Padres at Petco Park this weekend, former White Sox first baseman Gavin Sheets decided it was the perfect opportunity to take a shot at his former club.
Sheets was a second-round pick by the White Sox in the 2017 MLB Draft. He made his MLB debut in 2021 and had a very solid rookie season, hitting 11 home runs with a .830 OPS in 54 games while helping the White Sox win the AL Central and make the playoffs. Unfortunately, it was mostly downhill from there.
Sheets hit 46 home runs over his four seasons in Chicago but struggled to get on base or hit consistently enough to make up for his lack of defensive value. In 435 games in a White Sox uniform, Gavin Sheets had an OPS of .680. That’s just not good enough when you’re talking about a lumbering left-handed first baseman and designated hitter.
As much as White Sox fans came to like Sheets, it was pretty obvious the organization needed to move on when he was non-tendered following the 2024 season. Sheets ended up signing a minor league deal with the Padres and played his way onto the Opening Day roster in 2025. And for a while, it looked like he was going to be another player who reached his full potential after cutting ties with the White Sox.
At the start of June 2025, Gavin Sheets had 11 home runs, 34 RBIs, and a .822 OPS with the Padres. But from July 1 through the end of the regular season, Sheets fell back to his old way and had just six home runs with a .695 OPS.
In 2026, he’s been good, not great, posting a .751 OPS with four (4) home runs.
Now, I personally have found myself rooting for Sheets to have success ever since he left Chicago. It’s been nice to see him continuing his big league career and getting playing time with a contending team. But I’m certainly starting to feel a little more sour after hearing what Sheets said this weekend, and I think a lot of White Sox fans feel the same.
“It’s one of the best things to happen to my career… as far as I’m concerned, they did me a big favor,” Sheets said with a laugh when asked about the chip on his shoulder when he plays the White Sox.
Now, of course, Sheets is happier in San Diego than he was in Chicago. He’s getting regular playing time, he’s playing decent baseball, and his team is a contender to win the World Series every year.
But a chip on his shoulder and doing him a favor? Let’s not pretend like Sheets didn’t play his way off the White Sox roster.
Between 2023 and 2024, Gavin Sheets had a -2.3 fWAR. He then turned it around with a 1.3 fWAR season in San Diego in 2025 but is back to being a negative-impact player in 2026.
Had he played up to his full potential and performed like he did with the Padres last season, I’m sure the White Sox not only would have kept him around but also would have given him regular playing time. He had ample opportunity, 435 games played over four seasons, to prove he belonged in the big leagues. But when you have a .659 cumulative OPS over your final three seasons with a team, of course they’re going to non-tender you in the offseason.
At the end of the day, athletes will tell themselves what they need to stay motivated, and they often like to pass things off as somebody else’s fault. But while Gavin Sheets took a shot at his former team on Friday night, he wasn’t in the lineup, and the White Sox pounded the Padres 8-2 to continue their winning streak.
He may not miss playing in Chicago, but with how things look right now on the South Side, I think the White Sox feel okay about their decision to move on when they did.