The White Sox have claimed left-hander Eric Surkamp off waivers from the Giants, according to Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). Surkamp was designated for assignment by the Giants last week.
Surkamp split the season between Double-A and Triple-A as he recovered from 2012 Tommy John surgery, spending the bulk of his time in Triple-A Fresno. His work in the minor league was excellent, as he pitched to a 2.80 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 86 1/3 innings.
In his minor league career, Surkamp has a 2.84 ERA with 10.0 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 484 2/3 innings. The former sixth-round pick made his big league debut for the Giants in 2011 and ranked among Baseball America's Top 30 Giants prospects from 2010-13.
Surkamp will provide the White Sox with more pitching depth that is essentially big-league ready. Chicago currently has Chris Sale, Jose Quintana and John Danks as locks for the rotation, with right-handers Erik Johnson, Andre Rienzo and the recently signed Felipe Paulino all as options for the back of the rotation. Surkamp figures to compete with those three for the fourth and fifth slots in the rotation following Hector Santiago's trade to the Angels.
Good claim by the Sox. Was really hoping the Cubs would get him.
What a offseason the whitesox are having .Hahn the man with a plan.
Now lets dfa Morel, Heath, or Molina
Morel gone!
Looks like Hahn heard you. The Jays just claimed Morel. LOL
Fantastic waiver claim! Man, I’m excited for the future of the White Sox, and I’m not even a White Sox fan. Good moves they’ve been making.
he got some good numbers in the minors. He’s gonna be a good pitcher if those numbers translate to the bigs.
I definitely think he is a shoe – in for one of the rotation spots come opening day.
Maybe Cooper converts him to a reliever if he can’t cut it as a starter? The Sox could stand to add another LH bullpen arm.
Why did the Giants let him go…did they run out of options and room on their 40 man roster? None the less, pitching depth is a good thing to have.
After Tommy John surgery, his fastball tops out at 87 MPH. Before TJ, it was 89.
Fresh memories of Barry Zito was enough to let him go.
I think Johnson and Paulino will win the 4th and 5th spots but the White Sox need another lefty in the pen with Scott Downs, unless they somehow want Donnie Veal or Charles Leesman on the team
I feel Johnson is a lock for a spot leaving one spot open for Rienzo, Paulino, and Surkamp. If that is the case I’d agree with you that Paulino is the favorite considering he has the most experience, best stuff, and he’s a righty and the Sox would have 3 lefties so a righty to balance out the rotation makes the most sense rather than Surkamp.
Yeah, all those lefties. I’d take Rienzo in an instant for the Giants’ rotation depth. He’s got a shot at being a very solid starter IMO. A righty like him, gotta figure he gets a favorable chance at making the rotation.
It appears that Giants prospects that are falling out of favor have zero trade value. Rosario (can’t confirm a report he’s re-signed w/ Giants, but I sure HOPE so), Peguero, Monell, Pill… Maybe one could understand Mijares and Moscoso. Signed Caleb Clay, he’s already gone. Now Surkamp. Dang. I wish Surkamp well, hope he’s all healed up from TJS.
For Sox fans that would like a primer on Surkamp, there is a fairly detailed write-up on a Giants fansite, though it is from 2012. But not much has changed in his prospect status. Can’t link it here. optionedtofresno blogspot
There’s a menu bar on the right column, you’ll see his name listed (pretty far down the page). It’s a fairly extensive prospect report from 2/2012 if you care to view it. It’s not my site, I’m not advertising. SUrkamp should offer MLB-ready depth, how well he can fare is the real question. I hope he does well. Sox have made solid moves to improve this winter. I’m especially interested to learn how Pito Abreu does in 2014.
Although I really did hate to see Reed go , I think Hahn has made some great additions, especially with Abreu,Eaton, Davison and now Surkamp… The one move I hate is picking up Paulino… he just plain sucks… can’t pitch…no idea why we would get him…