Former Brewers' starting infielder to begin 2026 season in White Sox' organization

Around this time back in 2023, the Milwaukee Brewers added an intriguing infield prospect to their roster via a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies. After earning the Breakout Player of the Year Award in the 2023 Arizona Fall League, Oliver Dunn was traded to the Brewers in exchange for prospects Hendry Mendez and Robert Moore. Mendez was later traded to the Minnesota Twins in a deal that landed Philadelphia Harrison Bader at the 2025 trade deadline, and Moore's career has stalled in the upper levels of the Phillies' farm system.

As for Dunn, despite him not yet appearing in a Triple-A game at the time of his trade to Milwaukee, there was speculation that he would compete for the Opening Day third base job when the 2024 season came along. The combination of a strong, versatile glove, excellent base-stealing ability, and impressive bat speed made Dunn an intriguing acquisition, and ultimately landed him the starting job at the onset of the 2024 season.

What followed was a performance that led many to wonder if Dunn would have been better off honing his craft in Triple-A before making the jump to the majors. Dunn played 41 games for the Crew at the beginning of the 2024 campaign and posted a slash line of .221/.282/.316 with a brutal 38.5% strikeout rate. To make matters worse, shortly after Dunn was optioned to Triple-A, he sustained a season-ending back injury that further derailed his development.

However, another strong showing in Spring Training in 2025 once again earned Dunn a spot on the Brewers’ Opening Day roster when the regular season arrived. This time around, Dunn didn't last quite as long on the Brewers' major league roster. Despite a memorable squeeze bunt with the then-noteworthy torpedo bat and a slight, but not significant enough, improvement in his strikeout rate, Dunn posted a .167/.205/.222 slash line in his first 17 games of the 2025 season, making it difficult to justify keeping him, with his two minor league option years remaining, on the MLB roster.

Oliver Dunn signs minor league deal with Chicago White Sox ahead of 2026 season

Dunn ended up playing most of the 2025 season in Triple-A, the level that he skipped to make his MLB debut the year prior. After a very slow start to the season with the Nashville Sounds, Dunn put together some more encouraging months as the summer went on. However, he still finished with an uninspiring Triple-A slash line of .208/.315/.338, leading the Brewers not to prioritize bringing him back for another season, made easier after the breakout rookie season that Caleb Durbin enjoyed at the hot corner last year.

The now-28-year-old Dunn thus began a search for a new opportunity, which he has reportedly found on the South Side of Chicago. As initially reported by Elijah Evans of justbaseball.com on the social media platform X, the Chicago White Sox have agreed to a minor league contract with Dunn for the 2026 season.

While it may seem like the White Sox are the perfect opportunity for any struggling big leaguer to re-establish themselves, given the lack of success that Chicago has enjoyed in recent seasons, Dunn faces a tough path to playing time. The White Sox have several intriguing, up-and-coming infielders who will no doubt get the first chance at everyday starting roles in 2026. Players like Lenyn Sosa, Chase Meidroth, Colson Montgomery, and Miguel Vargas all figure to dominate the playing time splits in Chicago, meaning Dunn will have to really turn heads either with his performance in Spring Training or in Triple-A to earn another shot at the big leagues.

Meanwhile, Dunn's two-year tenure in Milwaukee comes to an end with fans wondering "what could have been?" If the Brewers chose to send Dunn to Triple-A to start the 2024 season rather than having him make the jump straight to the big leagues or he didn't sustain a devastating back injury in 2024, his time in Milwaukee could have been much different.