An older, more ‘mature’ Adam Eaton returns to White Sox’ clubhouse — and right field

Adam Eaton left the White Sox in 2016 with the reputation of a valuable max-effort performer who would be missed on the field.

In the clubhouse? Not so much.

Eaton was brought back to the Sox officially on Thursday, two days after it became known that he — not the more expensive George Springer, Joc Pederson or perhaps Michael Brantley — would be their primary right fielder in 2021, and he says he’s a different guy.

Not that Eaton was a bad guy. No one ever said that. He just rubbed some the wrong way at times. There was a skirmish with former Sox teammate Todd Frazier and some things Eaton said that rolled some eyes.

Dealt to the Nationals in a 2016 Winter Meetings rebuild trade that netted a nice catch of right-handers Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning — who was traded for Lance Lynn on Tuesday — Eaton is back in town.

“It’s four years later, I’m 32 years old, a World Series champ and I’ve got two little boys,” Eaton said Thursday. “And everyone matures differently and at different stages of their life. And I feel like I’m no different.”

“In terms of any concerns with clubhouse fit, I know that’s out there,” general manager Rick Hahn said after the Sox announced the signing, for $7 million for next season with a $8.5 million club option in 2022 that comes with a $1 million buyout. “I know that narrative is out there. It really isn’t a concern for those of us who were with Adam during his first tenure with the White Sox, much less those of us who have been around this clubhouse over the last few years.”

Teammates in Washington have spoken favorably of Eaton as a teammate. Perhaps it was the bonding at the many family gatherings the players held, which Eaton spoke so favorably of, that made a difference.

“There were a number of things that transformed me,” he said, “to realize that the team is No. 1, the players within the team are right up there with it, and you want to take care of one another, play for each other and win a championship at the end.”

The Sox are positioned to win a championship, and Hahn appears satisfied with having the left-handed-hitting Eaton in right field, perhaps in a platoon with right-handed-hitting Adam Engel at a position in which Hahn’s Nomar Mazara experiment failed in 2020.

Hahn’s explanation for not investing more at the position went like this: “If we spend the entirety of what we have to spend on one position, obviously other needs aren’t addressed. . . . We could have gone straight to the top of the free-agent market. If we had done that, we would have wound up perhaps not being able to do other things that are important to rounding out a championship roster.”

As for what might be next, Hahn would only say, “Stay tuned.”

And so it’s Eaton, whose numbers in the 60-game 2020 season — a .226/.285/.384 slash line with four home runs in 41 games — paled in comparison to his career marks. He missed the last two weeks with a broken finger.

A career .282/.360/.416 hitter, Eaton batted .320 with two home runs and six RBI to help the Nationals beat the Astros in seven games in the 2019 World Series. A finalist for the Gold Glove Award in 2016 as a right fielder and in 2014 as a center fielder, Eaton saw his defensive metrics slip last season, as well.

“In 60 games, it was kind of a mental battle for me,” Eaton said. “Usually I start slow, but in a 162-game schedule, you can pick that up and evolve, making good adjustments. But it’s been a tough year on me, and I wasn’t real thrilled with it. But I’m happy Chicago has confidence in me to bounce back and hopefully produce for the team.”