The White Sox parted ways with some of their defensive depth at Friday¡¯s non-tender deadline, declining to offer 2023 contracts to infielder Danny Mendick and outfielders Adam Engel and Mark Payton.

Chicago tendered contracts to all of its other arbitration-eligible players: right-handers Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, Reynaldo L¨®pez, Michael Kopech and Jos¨¦ Ruiz. The 40-man roster now sits at 35 players.

¡°We appreciate all that Adam and Danny did for our organization in 2022, and during prior seasons,¡± White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said in a statement. ¡°As we have said at other times, a lot of consideration and analysis goes into the club deciding to forgo the arbitration process and instead engage with players and their representatives as free agents.

¡°Our plan is to stay in contact with all three players and evaluate their ongoing fit with our club as we move forward through this offseason.¡±

Mendick was a solid contributor when healthy in 2022, hitting .289/.343/.443 while filling in around the infield, particularly at shortstop in Tim Anderson¡¯s absence. Mendick¡¯s season was cut short in June when he underwent surgery for a torn right ACL. Cot¡¯s Baseball Contracts estimated that the 29-year-old¡¯s salary could rise to $1.1 million in his first year of arbitration eligibility, but the Sox could look to bring him back on a lesser deal.

Engel appeared in 119 games this past season and ranked in MLB¡¯s 82nd percentile in outs above average, per Statcast. But his bat regressed, as he posted a .579 OPS, making it difficult to justify the raise to $2.15 million (estimated by Cot¡¯s) in the 30-year-old¡¯s third season of arbitration eligibility. He appeared in 523 games across six seasons for the White Sox, collecting 30 homers, 65 doubles and 47 stolen bases.