On Tuesday, the Chicago White Sox made official their deal with infielder Paul DeJong, announcing via press release that they had signed him on a one year, $1.75 million deal.

DeJong, 30, has been in the majors since 2017. He finished second in National League Rookie of the Year voting that year and was named an All Star in 2019. Last season, DeJong was traded by the Cardinals to the Blue Jays on August 1, released by Toronto on August 21, signed by the Giants on August 23, and then released by San Francisco on September 21.

DeJong will be joining a Chicago middle infield that is in flux. The makeup of the White Sox middle infield changed significantly after the team opted not to pick up shortstop Tim Anderson’s $14 million club option for 2024. On November 13, they traded reliever Aaron Bummer to the Braves for five players, including infielder Nicky Lopez.

As their roster stands now, manager Pedro Grifol will have Lopez and DeJong to man his middle infield spots. While neither is expected to supply much on offense — DeJong is a career .229/.299/.417 hitter and Lopez .249/.312/.319 — they both fit new general manager Chris Getz’s plans for improving his team’s defense.

“(We are going to) set out to really improve our defensive play, which will allow our pitchers to attack the zone and be more efficient,” Getz told reporters earlier this month at the GM meetings in Arizona. “We need to become more athletic, and that speaks to the improved defense, we hope, and obviously running the bases, taking extra bases, those types of things.

“We made too many mistakes through the years. When certain plays aren’t being made, it’s a traumatic feeling for a team, it’s a traumatic feeling for pitchers. I really want to just settle back down so pitchers are comfortable attacking the zone and outs are made where they are supposed to be made.”

In 2023, the White Sox were second to last in the league in defensive runs saved (-59) and eighth in errors (95). DeJong has always been a strong defender; in 2019 he was good for 24 defensive runs saved, and at worst he has broken even for a season. Lopez has defensive flexibility and can be relied upon to handle nearly any position in the infield. He’s been a plus defender at second base, third, and shortstop in his career.

Chicago still has need for a stronger offense; they ranked second to last in runs scored (641) in 2023. That combined with a pitching staff with a 26th-ranked ERA last season spells a team in need of more than just improved defense. Reducing the runs scored by defensive mistakes will help, but only marginally. Last year, the White Sox allowed 841 runs, so even if their defensive runs allowed rate was reduced by half from what it was in 2023, they’re still getting outscored by roughly 175 runs last season.

The White Sox have a projected payroll of only $138 million going into next year, according to Roster Resource, so it should be expected that they are going to make further additions.

Those will have to include the starting rotation that lost Lucas Giolito and Lance Lynn last season and could lose Dylan Cease this winter, but if the White Sox are going to take a substantial step forward from a 101-loss season in 2023, they need more depth at middle infield, and depth that can provide offense as well as a sturdy glove.