Jim Thome wanted to keep playing at age 42, but no major-league offers came in and now the future Hall of Famer has joined the White Sox’s front office as a special assistant to general manager Rick Hahn.
Thome, who played for the White Sox from 2006-2009, will have a role working with both major leaguers and minor leaguers. “I don’t think I could ask for a better situation than being in Chicago and with the White Sox,” Thome said, via Chuck Garfien of CSNChicago.com.
Thome has always been incredibly popular everywhere he played, so it’s no surprise that the White Sox wanted to bring him aboard, but it’s sort of a shame that he couldn’t find a part-time designated hitter gig for one last run. He hit .252 with a .752 OPS last season, which, just for instance, is a higher OPS than everyone on the White Sox this year except for Alex Rios and Adam Dunn.
One of the greatest power-and-patience sluggers in MLB history, Thome ranks seventh all time in both homers (612) and walks (1,747) while being 20th in OPS (.956).