GLENDALE, Ariz. — The White Sox clubhouse on the major league side of their complex at spring training is full.
There were 71 players at the start, with the first cuts looming that will send some to the minor league side.
There are veterans like first baseman Andrew Vaughn, center fielder Luis Robert Jr. and left-hander Martin Perez fully confident that, barring injury, they will wear a major league uniform on Opening Day May 27, and others like 2024 first-round draft choice Hagen Smith, who knows he’ll likely have to wait for his turn.
In between are those competing hard for spots, like 22-year-old shortstop Colson Montgomery, a first-round draft choice trying get back to 100% health after being slowed by back soreness, pushing to show his has arrived. And 30-year-old right-handed reliever Penn Murfee, a Sox waiver claim with major league success on his resume but coming back from Tommy John surgery.
Competition is the over-arching element in the room and on the field, where it’s every man for himself in the quest to win a job doing what they love and being paid handsomely for it. It stops short of cutthroat, though, in a sport where being a good teammate is held in high regard. Players are supportive and encouraging with each other along the way.
“The competition in here is a good thing,” Murfee said. “It drives people to perform better. We’re all in a good place in the locker room, looking around like, ‘You did well, let me try to do better.’ I’ve been enjoying that. A lot of the guys are like, ‘Let’s see how much we can push each other.’ ’’
Everyone wants the same thing, “but there are only so many jerseys on any given night,” Murfee said.
“That’s never going to change,” he said. “That’s in every locker room and it’s always been a thing. In a way, that’s what binds us close together. People throw around the word ‘fraternity.’ We understand what everyone goes through. Being traded. We all know what each other goes through and what this job entails. It’s a group effort, pushing each other and having a good time doing it.”
Infielder Josh Rojas said baseball’s “fraternity feel” sets it apart because of the minor league grind players know. Very few, even out of college, get drafted and go straight to the big leagues.
“With the NBA and NFL, they make rookies pay for dinner, and there is a lot of rookie hazing,” Rojas said. “In baseball, you make it to a big league clubhouse and you want to show those guys who know the grind and help them stick around. It’s nice to help the other guy next to you live their dream out.”
In Sox camp, Vaughn and Rojas, who have $5.85 million and $3.5 million one-year contracts, can count on jobs in the infield but Mongtomery, Chase Meidroth, Lenyn Sosa, Miguel Vargas, Brooks Baldwin, Bryan Ramos and Jacob Amaya are assured of nothing.
Andrew Benintendi’s injury opens a door in an outfield mix that includes Robert, Mike Tauchman, Michael A. Taylor, Austin Slater, Dominic Fletcher, Oscar Colas and perhaps Joey Gallo, who was signed primarily to play first base. Taylor is nursing a sore right elbow and Slater was scratched from the lineup Monday with a left oblique strain.
With Perez, Davis Martin and Jonathan Cannon set in the starting rotation, the remaining spots are open for Bryse Wilson, Jairo Ariarte, Shane Smith, Tyler Gilbert, Mason Adams and Nick Nastrini to tussle over.
The bullpen, which was problematic last season, has even more openings. Korey Lee and Matt Thaiss have catching jobs to lose, but they can see prospects Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero pushing hard.
“Competition brings out the best in everybody,” Teel said. “Competition is why we play the game. It’s fun.”
“Outfielders, infielders, pitchers, catchers, no one walks in feeling solidified,” Amaya said. “There’s opportunity for everyone, and competition. But there is respect for everyone, and if I look to my left or to my right and he’s having trouble, I’m going to help him.”