Josh Rojas can fill just about any spot on the ball field.
He has 237 career starts at third base, 122 at second, 46 in left field, 35 at shortstop and 32 in right field. He also has made appearances at first base and on the mound.
While Rojas spent a majority of 2024 at third base for the Seattle Mariners — making 106 starts — he’s ready to do anything to aid the Chicago White Sox after finalizing a one-year, $3.5 million deal Wednesday.
“(The versatility is) what got me to the big leagues,” Rojas said during a videoconference call Thursday. “And if it’s what’s going to keep me in the big leagues, I’m more than happy to play a new position every day. It’s honestly kind of exciting for me. Obviously I had a lot of success at third base being there every day last year. The more I get to do something, the more I’m going to get better at it.
“But now I look at it as it’s a position where I can go and be comfortable that I’ve had a lot of reps at, but I’m willing to play second, short, first, left, right. They need a guy for a couple games in center, I’m willing to do it. Something I love to do, something that got me here and I’m not going to ever come out and say, ‘Hey, I just want to play one position.’ ”
The opportunity with the Sox comes for Rojas after the Mariners nontendered him in November.
“Obviously I have a history with (Sox assistant general manager Josh) Barfield, we were in (Arizona) together,” Rojas said. Barfield was the director of player development in Arizona before joining the Sox in September 2023.
“He was actually one of the first guys to reach out to me as soon as I got let go,” Rojas said. “We had a real good conversation. I just feel like it’s a really good fit for me. I’m still trying to show that I can be an everyday guy.”
Rojas, 30, has a .247/.323/.362 career slash line with 100 doubles, six triples, 34 home runs, 189 RBIs, 256 runs and 59 steals in 569 games during parts of six major-league seasons with the Diamondbacks (2019-23) and Mariners (2023-24).
The left-handed hitter slashed .225/.304/.336 with 19 doubles, two triples, eight home runs, 31 RBIs, 48 runs and 10 stolen bases in 142 games in 2024.
“The big thing I took from last year was, at the beginning of the year I was just trying to get base hits, hit the ball low on a line,” Rojas said. “(Then) I hit a couple homers and was trying to launch. My goal this year is to hit as many doubles as I can, shoot gaps, line to line, keep the ball out of the air, no easy outs.”
He had a .343/.405/.505 slash line with four doubles, two triples, three homers and eight RBIs in his first 32 games of the 2024 season but slashed .188/.275/.285 the rest of the way.
“It’s something to focus on through the year, not force homers but hit line drives and when I connect good, they leave the yard,” Rojas said. “Last year, thinking back to some homers I hit, some were just two-strike homers where I was trying to put the ball in play or early in the count trying to drive something in the gap and they leave the yard. Try to stay right there.
“I’ll have some guys that are keeping me honest on what my goals are, what my approach is, and hopefully we can keep my first-half success going throughout the whole year.”
And Rojas wants to be someone the younger players can go to for guidance following the record-breaking 121-loss season.
“I’ve been a part of one of those seasons where it just feels like nothing goes your way and it doesn’t matter how well you play, you just can’t put a win on the board,” Rojas said, referring to 2021 when the Diamondbacks lost 110 games. “Sometimes you have years like that.
“I think there’s a lot of talent on the roster and … a lot of good prospects coming up. I just think it was a season of bad luck (for the Sox) and I feel like it’s a good fit for me with a lot of young guys to kind of show them how to go about their business and be a professional and have success at the big-league level.”
The Sox avoiding arbitration with 4 players
The Sox agreed to one-year contracts with first baseman Andrew Vaughn ($5.85 million) and pitchers Steven Wilson ($950,000), Justin Anderson ($900,000) and Penn Murfee ($780,000) on Thursday to avoid arbitration.
With the signings, the Sox have agreed to terms with all their arbitration-eligible players for the 2025 season.
