A busy update out of Chicago outlines Rule 5 implications and major notes on Ellard, Pereira, and Murphy — and fans are buzzing. DD
While the talk of the day was about who the White Sox and other teams around the league would protect from the upcoming Rule 5 Draft, the White Sox took advantage of teams clearing out their 40-man roster and made some trades as they cleared out their own. Plus, some surprising retirement news that snuck in under the radar.
Here’s everything you might’ve missed yesterday in White Sox news!
White Sox protect McDougal, Davitt from Rule 5 Draft
In yesterday’s deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft, the White Sox chose to protect just two of the nine players that were eligible for the draft: Tanner McDougal and Duncan Davitt. Peyton Pallette, Mason Adams, Tyler Schweitzer, Juan Carela, Aldrin Batista, Samuel Zavala, and Shane Murphy were all left unprotected and can now be selected by other teams.
The decision to add McDougal was a no-brainer, as the 2021 fifth-round draft pick finally burst onto the scene during a healthy 2025 season. After missing significant time earlier in his career due to elbow issues and Tommy John Surgery, he split last season between High-A and Double-A and posted a 3.26 ERA with 136 strikeouts in 113.1 innings while contributing four innings to Game Two of the Southern League Finals – a championship the Barons would eventually win.
Davitt, when compared to the other names left unprotected, was a bit more surprising. One of two pieces in last deadline’s Adrian Houser trade, the 25-year-old logged 152 innings with a 4.38 ERA and 150 strikeouts across Double-A and Triple-A. However, given that the team just traded for him less than six months ago, perhaps there was a little extra incentive to keep him around to continue his development. He will likely begin the season at Triple-A Charlotte.
With the White Sox’ 40-man roster sitting at 37 after all of their moves yesterday, they certainly couldn’t – and shouldn’t – have protected everyone who was Rule 5-eligible. However, it is a bit surprising at least Peyton Pallette or Shane Murphy was not protected. Pallette has carved out a nice spot in the back end of the White Sox’ upper minor league bullpen, while Murphy had the second-lowest ERA in the minors last season (1.66) over 135.1 innings – albeit mostly at Birmingham, with just 14.2 innings and a 2.45 ERA in three starts at Charlotte. With these decisions, the White Sox must feel confident in their ability to either keep both in the organization after the draft or replace them should either be chosen. The rest of those eligible are rather unlikely to be chosen – as a reminder, any player that is selected must remain on the team’s active roster all season.
This year’s Rule 5 Draft will take place during the Winter Meetings on December 10. The order is the reverse of standings; the White Sox will have the second pick in this draft, a year after having the first overall pick and selecting RHP Shane Smith from the Brewers.
Fraser Ellard placed on the Voluntary Retired List
The surprise retirement news referred to above was that of LHP Fraser Ellard, who was placed on the Voluntary Retired List as announced by the White Sox.
There is no further information at this time as to the reasoning behind Ellard’s retirement. The 28-year-old was coming off a solid season with the White Sox in 2025, posting a 4.24 ERA (101 ERA+) in 17 innings at the big league level. A clear family man, Ellard finishes his career with a 3.95 ERA across 41 innings.
Should Ellard or the White Sox make any further announcements, we will continue to provide updates. As for now, we wish Ellard the best in his retirement.
White Sox acquire Everson Pereira, Tanner Murray from Rays
As teams clear out their 40-man rosters in anticipation of the offseason to come, it’s no surprise to see trades like the ones the White Sox made yesterday. The first one we will cover was with the Rays, who sent OF Everson Pereira and INF Tanner Murray to the White Sox in exchange for RHP Yoendrys Gomez and RHP Steven Wilson.
Pereira, 24, is a former top 100 prospect (as high as #67 with Baseball America) who just hasn’t been able to put it all together at the highest level. Scouting reports always touted his athleticism and loved his raw power, with some scouts even going as high as a 70 on the 20-80 scale. However, his swing-and-miss tendencies have limited the rest of his game, as did internal brace surgery a year ago. In sparse major league time, Pereira has hit just .146/.227/.215 in 176 plate appearances with a glaring 38.6 K% despite his near-top of the league bat speed numbers. He was more successful in Triple-A, hitting .256/.359/.508 with a 128 wRC+ across the Yankees’ and Rays’ affiliates.
Murray, 26, has been primarily a contact-first player throughout his minor league career. However, the 2020 fourth-round draft pick sold out for more power in 2025, posting a career-high in a season for homer (18) while seeing his strikeout rate climb to 24.1%. Overall, his .241/.299/.400 slash line (81 wRC+) in Triple-A doesn’t jump off the stat sheet, and defensively, he spent time at every position in 2025 except first base and behind the plate.
The “prize” in this deal is clearly Pereira, who will see extended playing time without much competition for the first time in his career at the major league level. Pereira is also out of options, so he very much has the upper hand on making the roster. Should he struggle mightily, the White Sox will likely have alternate options to curb his level of impact. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Pereira start as the team’s fourth outfielder and need to work his way into the lineup while still getting a chance to develop with Ryan Fuller and new hitting coach Derek Shomon. Murray, on the other hand, can provide some non-Jacob Amaya reinforcement as needed, though it would appear that Lenyn Sosa, Brooks Baldwin, and Chase Meidroth remain those with the upper hand at playing time across the diamond from Colson Montgomery in 2026.
As for Gomez and Wilson, both filled important roles for the White Sox at times throughout the 2025 season but didn’t have much of a future here. The fourth piece of the Dylan Cease trade, Wilson’s ERA hid a dropping strikeout rate and a rising FIP, ultimately resulting in a situation where it didn’t make sense to bring him back for another season. As for Gomez, he performed admirably when called upon to fill a crucial role for the White Sox late in September, but he never was able to work deep into ballgames and will likely be much better as a multi-inning bullpen piece for the Rays. This moves signifies that the White Sox feel prepared to replace the innings that both covered especially late in the season.
White Sox acquire LHP Chris Murphy from Red Sox
The final move of the day to cover is the team’s acquisiton of perhaps one of the arms that will begin to replace Steven Wilson or Yoendrys Gomez’s innings. The White Sox and Red Sox completed yet another trade involving a left-handed pitcher, acquiring Chris Murphy from Boston in exchange for minor-league catcher Ronny Hernandez.
After having Tommy John Surgery and missing the 2024 season, Murphy, 27, threw 34.2 innings with Boston’s big-league club in 2025. Just like through most of his career, he struggled with walks (13.5 BB%) but also saw his strikeout rate dip to 20.3%. However, he still posted a 3.12 ERA while covering a multi-inning low leverage relief role. He features a fastball, slider, curveball mix primarily, through it appears he’s also messed around with a sweeper, changeup, sinker, and splitter – so, new pitching coach Zach Bove might have an opportunity to use his pitch design expertise to further adjust his arsenal. He saw a near-30% whiff rate on both his fastball and curveball this season, and his fastball average 94 mph, though he noticably posted high velocities later into the season. Boston reports throughout the year highlighted both this uptick in his velocity and a more consistent release point that helped with command later in the season.
The White Sox gave up Ronny Hernandez in return, a 21-year-old catcher who’s made it as high as Single-A Kannapolis thus far in his career. Hernandez’s calling card has been his plate discipline, owning a 13.9% walk rate and 17.9% strikeout rate. In 2025, he hit .251/.344/.336 with four home runs in 82 games, ending the season injured. He has struggled behind the plate and still has plenty of questions as to whether that is his long-term home.
For the White Sox, the appeal of Murphy is clear: he’s a controllable, left-handed arm whose 2025 resurgence suggests he could become a valuable bullpen piece or even a multi-inning weapon if the command holds. He also represents a clear and immediate replacement for Fraser Ellard, while hopefully reaching a better fate than Cam Booser – the last LHP the White Sox acquired from Boston. Though, with Sale and Crochet, the Red Sox will likely continue to be the winners of the “who got the better LHPs” battle.
