The White Sox have re-signed right-hander Dylan Axelrod to a minor league contract, according to the team's official transactions page. Axelrod is represented by Prodigal Sports Group.
The 28-year-old Axelrod appeared in a career-high 30 games for the White Sox in 2013 (20 starts), posting a 5.68 ERA with 5.1 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and a 40.3 percent ground-ball rate in a career-high 128 1/3 innings. Axelrod found himself very prone to the home run, averaging 1.7 homers per nine innings pitched. Part of his struggles could be velocity-related, as Axelrod averaged 88.1 mph on his fastball last season.
The White Sox non-tendered Axelrod on Dec. 2 despite the fact that he's not yet arbitration eligible. Though they apparently wanted to free up a 40-man roster spot, the White Sox clearly see potential in Axelrod. Chicago signed him out of independent ball after he was released by the Padres, and he's posted a sub-3.00 ERA across multiple minor league levels for the Sox since that signing. In 188 1/3 innings at Triple-A, Axelrod has a 2.58 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9.
Axelrod will serve as a nice depth piece for the White Sox and could compete with Andre Rienzo, Erik Johnson and Eric Surkamp for a rotation spot in 2014. Chris Sale, Jose Quintana and John Danks are all locks for Chicago's rotation, and Felipe Paulino figures to get a crack at the rotation as well after sigining a one-year deal worth $1.75MM.
