White Sox setup man Nate Jones underwent Tommy John surgery yesterday, tweets MLB.com’s Scott Merkin. Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago tweets that Jones, who was on the disabled list recovering from a back injury, tore his ulnar collateral ligament while ramping up his rehab from his previous injury.
The 28-year-old was thought to be the favorite to take over the closer’s role in Chicago following Addison Reed’s trade to Arizona, but manager Robin Ventura instead went with Matt Lindstrom to open the season in that role. Jones made just two appearances this season and didn’t record an out, allowing four runs on a pair of hits and three walks.
The operation will likely sideline him through next summer, which is a tough break, considering that he is arbitration eligible for the first time this offseason. Jones had a 3.31 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 through his first two seasons with the South Siders, so a strong 2014 would have positioned him for a nice payday.
It figures… How much longer are we to endure “Blownsavio” in the bullpen?
Belisario is not even the closer anymore. As a set up guy he is OK. The problem stems from Hahn deciding to trade a 30 save guy for a guy not helping the club now (and with the way Gillespie is playing I dunno if he will), all because he unwisely thought that ANYONE could be closer.
I would say Hahn wisely recognized the team was rebuilding and it made no sense to keep a closer (who is also on the verge of becoming expensive) when he could be traded for a position prospect.
How will this affect his salary for next season if he will be unable to pitch?? Would he be cheaper to control??
He will be arb-eligible but should be cheaper because he didn’t pitch this year.
Of course, this assumes he isn’t non-tendered