White Sox sign former first-round pick Nick Ciuffo to minors deal

The White Sox announced Monday afternoon they’ve signed catcher Nick Ciuffo to a minor league contract and invited him to big league spring training. The 27-year-old elected minor-league free agency after being outrighted off the Orioles’ roster at the start of the offseason.

Ciuffo’s a former first-round draftee of the Rays (21st overall in 2013) who was regarded as one of the more promising prospects in a deep Tampa Bay farm system for a while. He’s struggled offensively throughout his career, however, and his prospect pedigree diminished as he moved towards the upper levels. He did make it to the big leagues in 2018 and he’s seen some MLB time in three of the past four seasons.

The lefty-hitting backstop has tallied 56 MLB plate appearances, including six over two games with Baltimore last season. He’s a .240/.291/.370 hitter in 453 trips to the plate at the minors’ top level. The White Sox have Zack Collins and Seby Zavala as backup options behind Yasmani Grandal on the 40-man roster.