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Will Venable looks on against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning at Rate Field.

The Chicago White Sox have needed a consistent right fielder for the better part of the last decade.

The team is now reportedly interested in one that can potentially start on opening day.

According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the White Sox have some interest in free agent outfielder Michael Conforto.

It has been a fall from grace for Conforto. Once one of the more promising outfielders in all of baseball with the New York Mets, he has since dealt with injuries and inconsistency. An All-Star in 2017, Conforto hit 97 home runs from 2017 to 2020, but has taken a step back since.

Now entering his age-33 season, Conforto must prove to the league that he can bounce back.

What Does Conforto Bring to the Chicago White Sox?

While possessing strong power at the height of his career, he has hit just 47 home runs in three seasons since leaving the Mets. While he enjoyed two average to above-average seasons with the San Francisco Giants, his bat plateaued with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

During the 2025 season in 138 games, Conforto hit for a career-low .199 average with a paltry .637 OPS. His advanced metrics showed that this wasn’t a fluke. While his bat speed and walk/chase rate were above-average, the rest of his hitting metrics were below-average, per Baseball Savant.

His fielding numbers were even worse, sporting a -8 Outs Above Average, good for the fifth percentile. While his speed was never elite, he is now 18th percentile in sprint speed, a poor number for an outfielder.

As of now, Conforto doesn’t bring much to a young and promising team, especially after having one of the worst seasons of a position player in 2025.

But with the current roster construction, is Conforto still a fit and maybe even worth a flier?

Conforto’s Fit With Chicago

As of now, Andrew Benintendi and Luis Robert Jr. are slated to play left and center field, respectively. Those two are also trade candidates. But right field is a bit of a conundrum.

Brooks Baldwin, Tristan Peters, Derek Hill, Everson Pereira and other young players could be in the mix in right. While Baldwin and Pereira have an inside track on the job due to their major league experience and potential, the others cannot be ruled out.

Baldwin struggled during the 2025 season with a .697 OPS. While he showed flashes, he has not given the organization confidence that he can be a long-term option. Pereira was a former top-75 prospect, per Baseball America, but has 65 major league at-bats to his name.

For him to start, General Manager Chris Getz would have to be banking on potential, rather than experience.

However, all of this is meaningless when MLB Pipeline’s No. 35 prospect, Braden Montgomery, could debut as soon as after the All-Star Break.

Montgomery is Chicago’s No. 1 prospect and is slated to be an outfielder of the future. Either way, Conforto doesn’t belong on a roster that is young and ready to exit its rebuild soon.

Conforto, if anything, would be a stopgap player, which is not what Chicago needs at this point in the rebuild.