The White Sox announced on Monday that they’ve signed right-handers Anthony Swarzak and Blake Smith to minor league contracts with invitations to Major League Spring Training. Smith returns to the White Sox organization, where he made his MLB debut in 2016, while Swarzak spent last season as a member of the Yankees organization.
Swarzak, 31, is no stranger to the AL Central, having spent the first five seasons of his career with the Twins and part of the 2015 season in Cleveland (before departing for a stint with the Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization). Last season’s return to the Majors didn’t go well for Swarzak, who struggled to a 5.52 ERA in 31 innings with the Yankees.
However, from 2011-15, the former second-round pick was solid in a swingman/long-relief role, posting a 4.18 ERA with 5.6 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 in 394 innings between Minnesota and (briefly) Cleveland. He led the Majors with 96 relief innings in 2013 and finished that season with a 2.91 ERA, but he’s been on a downhill trajectory since that time. Swarzak will give the ChiSox some depth in the ’pen and in the rotation, as he does have 32 Major League starts to his credit as well.
Smith, 29, is also a former second-round pick (five years later than Swarzak, though). A converted outfielder, Smith moved to the mound in 2013 and has been pitching since that time. His big league debut didn’t stand out (three runs in 4 1/3 innings), but the longtime Dodgers farmhand posted a 3.53 ERA with 9.5 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9 in 71 1/3 innings of relief work at the Triple-A level last season.
Good luck with that. I cringed every time I saw Swarzak pitch this year
Oh man he was brutal.
We’re tanking, who cares?
LOL
– Yankees fan
Doubt either of them will get to the big leagues this year, but I wouldn’t mind if they did. Sox won’t compete for a couple more years at least, so why not go for the #1 overall pick?
Lay off throwing your slider so much, Swarzak.
Insurance moves by the White Sox who are also looking to fill some spots on their AAA pitching staff. Blake Smith has the better opportunity to break camp with the parent club in their bullpen just because he throws left-handed. Dan Jennings is the only current southpaw “lock” for their pen on opening day.
Smith’s a righty, and has no shot.
Oops! I clicked on his link and saw “Left” first, not paying attention to the “Bats” part. lol
You’re right. Smith has little or no shot to make the active roster barring a slew of trades or injuries before opening day. As I said initially, these were basically insurance or depth moves for their AAA roster.
Thanks for correcting our flubssox fan Paulie. He surely needs all the help he can get with that username
At least Konerko is an iconic player worthy of a username. The one you chose is a “Little Hurt-ful”. lol
I don’t get the negative emotional responses to minor league deals. If your team throws millions of dollars at someone, or trades for them, it’s worth a bit of analysis. If they pick someone up like this, just relax. It’s depth and maybe an occasional pleasant surprise
Solid move in their quest for the #1 draft pick.
Despite the trades of Chris Sale and Adam Eaton, the current White Sox roster hardly has the look of a bottom feeder in MLB. If the front office holds off on making any more significant trades before opening day and adds a couple of veterans to one-year “pillow” contracts the club could be somewhat competitive in a weak looking A.L. Central early on.
The rumor market concerning trades is pretty quiet right now as spring training approaches. The White Sox may need to hold off until the summer trade deadline before becoming active again, particularly with pending FA’s Todd Frazier, Melky Cabrera and Brett Lawrie.
Frazier hits for a lot of power, but doesn’t get on base and had an off year with the glove. Melky gets on base, but is terrible in the field. Those players won’t help the WS avoid the cellar. Quintana and Abreu are good enough that they might. If they’re traded before spring training starts, then they’ll likely lose 100, which I’m totally fine with.
You have said nothing to dissuade my point that the current White Sox roster is not the worst team in MLB, the one that would collect the #1 pick in the 2018 Rule 4 draft.
Pen lines up like this:
LRP Cory Luebke / Dylan Covey
RP Jake Petricka
RP Zach Putnam
RP Michael Ynoa
RP Dan Jennings
SM Nate Jones
CP David Robertson
PP?
Pretty much agree with the likely opening day bullpen as we post right now. I’d give waiver claim southpaw Giovanni Soto an outside shot as the second lefty in the pen since he’s already on the 40-man roster. Gotta like the idea of having a potential battery of Giovanni and Geovany Soto in 2017. Non-roster invitee Matt Purke, who appeared in 12 games for the Sox last season, might also have an outside chance as the second southpaw in addition to recently signed veteran Cory Luebke.
Rostered right-hander Tommy Kahnle should also have a crack at a bullpen spot if he can exhibit better command than he showed last year in his 29 appearances with the parent club. He had two additional years of MLB experience with the Rockies and will be out of minor league options this season.
Of course, most White Sox fans are still hoping for additional trades before opening day, so speculating on the bullpen now is highly tentative. Still a lot of veteran free agent options who remain unsigned as well.
I don’t see any additional bullpen signings outside of AAA depth (Smith and Swarzak). Burdi, Fulmer, Lopez, etc., are all on the horizon. Keep the cash and throw a 2yr deal at Wieters already!
I don’t see the White Sox signing any of the remaining FA’s for their 2017 bullpen either with the possible exception of another veteran southpaw. My comment about trades and it affecting the likely 2017 bullpen as we post had more to do with the front office trading away veterans from that list before opening day, like David Robertson.
You have your facts wrong on Blake Smith’s debut. He pitched a scoreless 9th inning vs KC on Sept. 12th