White Sox Acquire Jake Cave

The Rays have traded outfielder Jake Cave to the White Sox for cash, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He was with Tampa on a minor league deal. He is eligible to be traded after the deadline because that deal has not been selected to the major league roster at any point this year. Since he is being acquired by the September 1 cutoff, he would be eligible for the postseason with the Sox, even if he stays in a non-roster role for the time being.

It’s the second veteran outfielder addition of the day for the White Sox after they acquired Tommy Pham from the Phillies earlier this afternoon. Pham provides competition for Randal Grichuk and Brenton Doyle as a platoon option against left-handed opponents. Cave could factor into the right field/DH mix currently occupied by switch-hitter Braden Montgomery and lefty Andrew Benintendi. Pham will reportedly be added to the roster when it expands tomorrow. Cave will probably be biding his time in the minors.

Cave opened the year with El Águila de Veracruz of the Mexican League. He latched on with the Rays near the end of June. The veteran posted a .712 OPS with three home runs and eight steals across 36 games at Triple-A Durham. Cave split his time between the corner outfield spots with the Bulls.

The 33-year-old Cave hasn’t been in the big leagues since 2024. He slashed .251/.290/.396 in 123 games with the Rockies that season. After not receiving much interest that offseason, he took his talents to Korea. Cave delivered a bounce-back campaign in his lone season in the KBO. He was 25% better than league average in 136 games with the Doosan Bears. Cave hit 16 home runs and stole 17 bases.

Cave was a subpar fielder by Defensive Runs Saved at all three outfield spots with Colorado. He’s best suited for DH at this stage of his career. Benintendi has a decent 106 wRC+ with 15 homers as the primary DH. The White Sox rank eighth in OPS at the position. They’re 25th in OPS in right field, but the switch-hitting Montgomery has been better against left-handed pitching. Cave wouldn’t make for the ideal platoon partner, even if Chicago were willing to accept his defensive shortcomings.