Jake Burger missed the 2018 and 2019 seasons because of injuries.
The third baseman’s 2020 included time with a local league in Missouri before joining the Chicago White Sox training facility in Schaumburg in mid-August.
The Sox on Friday announced they had purchased the contracts Burger, first baseman Gavin Sheets and pitcher Tyler Johnson and claimed pitcher Emilio Vargas off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Sox selected Burger with the No. 11 pick in the 2017 draft. He missed all of 2018 because of a ruptured left Achilles tendon suffered in spring training, then missed all of 2019 because of a bruised left heel.
Burger, 24, addressed his road to recovery during an Aug. 24 conference call.
“You just have the mindset of ‘never give up,’ ” he said. “And I feel like I learned that. There was definitely some time over the last two years where you’re like, ‘Why am I even doing this?’ My parents always tell me, ‘Whatever you do, never give up and just keep pushing forward,’ and I feel like I have that mentality now.
“From a competitive standpoint, that’s super important. ‘OK, I’m 0-for-2 with two Ks, but never give up, you never know if this guy’s going to make a mistake,’ and having that mindset of ‘I’m going to do everything I can to beat this guy.’ And I did everything I could to beat my Achilles injury. So that translates really well to competitive sports.”
Burger is the No. 14 prospect in the organization, according to MLB.com.
Sheets, 24, was a second-round pick in 2017. He had a .267 average with 16 home runs and 83 RBIs with Double-A Birmingham in 2019. Sheets is the No. 10 prospect in the organization.
The Sox selected Johnson in the fifth round in 2017. The right-hander went a combined 2-1 with a 2.59 ERA in 22 starts between the Arizona League, Class A Winston-Salem and Birmingham in 2019. Johnson, 25, is the No. 24 prospect in the organization.
Vargas, 24, went 5-5 with a 3.84 ERA in 20 starts between Double-A Jackson and the Arizona Rookie League in 2019. The right-hander had 82 strikeouts.
Friday marked the deadline for teams to add players to their 40-man rosters and protect eligible players from the upcoming Rule 5 draft. With the moves, the Sox 40-man roster is at 40.