The White Sox shake the foundation of their roster with three moves that could change the team’s trajectory overnight. DD
The team added right-handed pitching prospects Tanner McDougal and Duncan Davitt to the 40-man roster, and placed left-hander Fraser Ellard on the voluntary retired list.
The White Sox on Tuesday announced three roster moves related to the upcoming Rule 5 Draft.
The team placed left-handed pitcher Fraser Ellard on the voluntary retired list, and selected the contracts of right-handed pitching prospects Tanner McDougal and Duncan Davitt. As a result, the White Sox 40-man roster increased to 36.
MLB established a deadline of Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET to set 40-man rosters before the Rule 5 Draft, which is scheduled for Dec. 10. Teams can pay $100,000 to select a player who is not on a 40-man roster during the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft. The player must be kept on his new team’s 26-man roster for the entire season, or be offered back to his old team for $50,000.
While the Rule 5 Draft is not always immediately impactful for Major League teams, the White Sox had major success with it last offseason. They selected All-Star Shane Smith No. 1 overall, and later picked right-hander Mike Vasil, who led the pitching staff in bWAR.
The White Sox must think highly of McDougal and Davitt, too, as Tuesday’s roster moves protect them from being selected by opposing teams in the Rule 5 Draft.
At 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, McDougal is ranked No. 7 among White Sox prospects, per MLB Pipeline, after a successful season with Double-A Birmingham and High-A Winston Salem. Across both levels, he recorded a 3.26 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP with 136 strikeouts and 49 walks in 113.1 innings. He could have a chance to compete at the major-league level in 2026. He was a fifth-round pick in 2021.
The White Sox acquired Davitt –– along with pitching prospect Ben Peoples –– at the 2025 trade deadline line from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for starting pitcher Adrian Houser. Davitt, listed at 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, is not ranked among the White Sox top-30 prospects by MLB Pipeline.
Playing at the Double-A and Triple-A level in 2025, Davitt posted a 4.38 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP in 152 innings while striking out 150 batters and walking 45 in 28 starts. He was an 18th-round pick in 2022 out of Iowa.
Ellard, 28, moved between the White Sox and Triple-A Charlotte Knights in 2025. In 18 big-league appearances, he allowed eight earned runs across 17 innings while striking out 22 batters and walking 19. The White Sox took him in the eighth round in 2021.
