The White Sox have formally announced their previously reported one-year contract with slugger Edwin Encarnacion, designating left-hander Kodi Medeiros for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Encarnacion will be guaranteed $12MM for the upcoming season, the team announced, and there’s a $12MM option for the 2021 season as well. That option comes with a $2MM buyout, meaning Encarnacion’s base salary for 2020 will land at $10MM. If the ChiSox pick up the option, he’d earn a total of $22MM over two seasons. Chicago agreed to terms with Encarnacion back on Dec. 24, but it seems that the holiday season delayed the finalization of the pact.
The 37-year-old Encarnacion becomes the latest official addition in an action-packed offseason that has seen the South Siders spend more than $200MM in free agency. Yasmani Grandal, Dallas Keuchel, Gio Gonzalez and Steve Cishek all join Encarnacion as open-market acquisitions. The organization has also extended Jose Abreu (three years, $50MM) and acquired Nomar Mazara in a trade with the Rangers, emphatically announcing their intent to emerge from a multi-year rebuilding effort.
Medeiros, 23, was a first-round pick by the Brewers back in 2014 (No. 12 overall) but made his way to the ChiSox in the 2018 trade that sent Joakim Soria from Chicago to Milwaukee. The Hawaiian-born southpaw repeated the Double-A level in 2019 but struggled through an ugly season in what was a very pitcher-friendly league. Through 83 innings of work, Medeiros logged a 5.10 ERA with 8.1 K/9, 5.5 BB/9 and a 36.1 percent grounder rate that marked a 14 percent drop from the previous season. Not only did Medeiros walk 51 hitters in his 83 innings (only one being intentional), he also plunked 11 batters and uncorked eight wild pitches.
All in all, it was a largely miserable season for the left-handed Medeiros, whom the White Sox now have a week to trade, release or place on outright waivers. He does have a pair of minor league options remaining, so perhaps another club will take a speculative flier in hopes of sorting out the former first-rounder’s control issues. But Medeiros’ 2019 struggles in his second trip through what should be a pitcher-friendly setting should give the Sox at least a chance of passing him through waivers and keeping him in the organization.
Think you might have the details wrong. White Sox website has it as a $12MM guarantee with a $12MM option, no buyout:
https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/news/edwin-encarnacion-signs-with-white-sox
Earnings potential would be $24MM, not $22MM.
It was a safe bet Medeiros was going to be the one booted from the 40-man roster. I’m curious who will get the boot when Chisek gets officially put on the 40-man roster. I’m assuming the 60-day DL doesn’t start until around ST, so I can’t see them waiting that long to officially announce it. Correct me if I’m wrong on that.
Maybe Covey or Ruiz? I can’t imagine it’s one of the C’s. And I can’t imagine it’s any of their top 30 prospects, unless it’s Flores. That would only leave Matt Foster, but they seem high on him, so I can’t really see that either. I can’t see it being Engel either, or anyone else with MLB experience.
If it were me, it would be Covey, assuming the 60-day DL doesn’t start much sooner than sometime in the middle of Feb. No huge loss there.
I think you are right. Covey and Ruiz are probably the two pitchers likely to get the least use next year and don’t have very high ceilings. Many people suspect it will be one of the 5 catchers on the 40 man roster, but I think that only happens if they trade one. Catchers are just too valuable. Everybody really needs 2. Only three guys caught 1000 innings last year, and that is just 2/3 of a season. There aren’t enough to go around so you don;t go releasing those guys if you can help it no matter how flawed they are.
Don’t be surprised if Fulmer gets released either now or in the Spring. He is out of options so has to clear waivers to be sent to the minors. The last few years they could afford to carry a guy like that and hope he learned to throw strikes. If they keep him, he has to remain on the 26 man roster all year long (barring “injury”) and if they expect to be good, they can’t afford to be patient with him and let him throw 40 – 60 innings. That will cost them games. He just doesn’t fit on this team anymore. He won’t clear waivers either. There are still a bunch of teams that do not expect to be good who would pick him up if exposed to waivers and I think he gets three new option years with his new team (rules are confusing) so even a good team could claim him and send him down to learn to throw the ball where it should go.
As things stand now, Dylan Covey and Carson Fulmer will compete for the long man role in the 2020 White Sox bullpen this spring. Each are former 1st round draft picks, Covey as a high school senior by the Brewers in 2010 and Fulmer as a college junior in 2015. Covey passed on the Brewers and was later selected by the A’s out of college in the 4th round of the 2013 June Draft. Fulmer is 2-1/2 youngers than Covey and each are out of MLB options.
@Aaron
In theory, yes, Covey and Fulmer will compete for that role, but they have to get someone off the 40-man roster. Unless you’re thinking it’s Ruiz or one of the minor leaguers.
I would have to think Fulmer has the advantage going into ST, though if he pitches like he has been, that advantage will disappear quickly. And if the Sox get one more reliever, I think both will be gone. The only exceptions would be ST injuries to other relievers or in the very remote chance that one of them suddenly pitches like a Cy Young winner in ST.
@Aaron cont’d
And I forgot to say, the last paragraph assumes they both would stay on the 40-man through ST. Personally, I think Covey goes, but I suppose it could just as easily be Ruiz.
Not sure what happened to my other post before I responded to your post. Oh well.
I’m thinking that Rick Hahn is pro-actively trying to work out a trade involving any of the remaining candidates on the 40-man roster before he actually elects to DFA them.
The White Sox have 5 catchers currently on their reserve list including 3 in Zack Collins, Seby Zavala and Yermin Mercedes who will be starting the season at AAA with the likelihood the team only keeps Yasmani Grandal and James McCann on their 26-man active roster for opening day. That’s one too many.
Additionally, the White Sox have a few pitchers with MLB experience that will not make their active roster this spring due to a numbers crunch. Rather than DFA any of these catchers or pitchers now it would behoove Hahn to try and find a trade partner for some of them who might have an opening on their own rosters heading into spring camp. Theoretically, the White Sox could still add another relief arm, a utility player or even a right-handed bat to compliment RF Nomar Mazara in RF through a trade rather than free agency. They could also trade some of those surplus players for lower level prospects who don’t need a spot on their 40-man roster.
@Aaron
I’m sure he is shopping certain guys for trades, so that may be the answer. If he can’t come up with a trade, I think Covey goes.
But very good point.
Of course he WANTS to trade someone rather than DFA or outright them, but every other GM can also count to 40 and knows the situation they are in. The return won’t be much, but even something small is better than the nothing he is probably going to end up with. I think the only way they get anything is if he finds another team that really likes one guy in particular off a list of DFA candidates. I can’t see Covey or Ruiz being that guy, but I could see teams being interested in Fulmer because they think they can fix him or a specific catcher, especially Collins since he is a lefty with power.
I suspect Collins goes to AAA to catch almost every day and prove once and for all whether he can or not. I also suspect McCann will be allowed to walk as a Free Agent in 2021 unless he continues to hit well or all three of the other guys flop badly this year at whatever level they play at, so someone will be needed on the big league roster in 2021.
But it will be tough to get playing time for 3 catchers at AAA and none of them has much to prove in AA..
I hope they trade Collins. There’s no room and they have better (and actual) catchers in the minors. Get what they can for a 1B/DH type who projects to have a good bat and move on.
I don’t think anyone is getting traded. I think the person on the outside looking in is Zavala.
They don’t need five catchers on the 40-man roster, and Zavala has pretty much shown himself to be a AAAA player. They could probably get him through waivers at this point and outright him.
But if they are going to trade someone, I too would unload Collins. I don’t think he is ever going to be anything more than an Evan Gattis-type player who is a really weak catcher who slugs RHP. I was hoping they would package him with Walker or a pitcher to get Marte, since the Pirates are in a rebuild and in need of a catching prospect.
Otherwise, they should send him to AAA to continue working on his catching.
@Aaron
Fulmer is out of options for sure. Fangraphs says Covey has one left.
That could be. The White Sox selected Dylan Covey from the A’s in the December 2016 Rule 5 Draft. They would have had to keep him on their 2017 roster or offered him back to Oakland. Covey did appear in minot league games for the White Sox in 2017 but they were probably for rehab assignments after an injury.
The White Sox did DFA Covey off of their 40-man roster in February of 2018 but he cleared waivers and they outrighted him to AAA. He was on the White Sox active roster for parts of 2018 and 2019 and optioned back to AAA numerous times but that would have only counted for 2 option years.
All this would give Carson Fulmer a leg up on Covey if the decision came down to options years in regards to a final spot on the White Sox 2020 pitching staff. Fulmer had been optioned out in each of the past 3 seasons and unlike Covey, was never DFA’d off of their 40-man roster. Fulmer stood a better chance of being claimed than Covey as a healthier and more recent former 1st round draft pick.
Flores should be safe, especially with 3 batter rule and being a lefty with solid control. Could be a nice conversion from starter to future BP/long man role.
I really hope it’s covey! I don’t want to see him in a sox uniform again!
If it’s Covey that would make 2 Milw Brewers 1st rd SP selections who flopped. Oh add to that Jed Bradley or Taylor Jungmann 1 of the 2 pitchers they used in 1st rd when they didn’t sign Covey after learning he had some new health issues. If it’s one thing Milw can do, it’s botch 9 of 10 1st round picks. It’ll be another 8 or 9 before Milw hits on their 1st rd pick next since Hiura is a stud. Braun was the last 1st rd pick before him.
Are you saying Trent Clark instead of Walker Buehler was a mistake?
Medeiros would make a great addition for the Royals
As a White Sox fan, I agree.
I had some hope he could become a solid LOOGY, but now that those are basically going away, I don’t see a MLB future for him. Best of luck though.
Royals should get Medeiros
What about the Royals though?
Who gains more wins in 2020: White Sox or Blue Jays?
White Sox. Weaker teams in the division.
White Sox. Better team.
White Sox.
White Sox, similar amount of young talent up (or arriving), but White Sox won’t have to face the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays as often and added more this offseason. Ryu may have been the best player added, but I’d be willing to be the Sox added a fair bit more WAR.
White Sox were also replacing more negative WAR players than the jays.
Twins could always use another lefty like Medeiros, perhaps he could break into the majors as a bullpen arm.
I doubt the twins have room on their 40 man roster if the White Sox don’t.
Championship.
In addition to the holiday season, the official signing of Edwin Encarnacion was delayed due to the passing off his father during that period. He finally had his physical on Wednesday with the official announcement of his signing coming today.
The reported free agent deal with Steve Cishek figures to become official much quicker. The one delay that might arise would be the need for the White Sox to move yet another player off of their 40-man roster. They’ve had to make quite a few of these subtraction over their busy offseason including with the recent MLB contract extension given to top prospect Luis Robert who was not on the reserve list prior to his signing.
The White Sox could potentially offer a similar contract extension to another prospect who figures to be their starting 2B sooner rather than later in 2020, Nick Madrigal. who is also not currently on their 40-man roster. A Madrigal extension would pretty much guarantee him to be the White Sox opening day 2B, just like Robert will be in CF and Eloy Jimenez was in LF last season.
Weren’t there quite a few people on here saying how Reinsdorf was cheap and the White Sox were not going to spend money this off-season?
They’re a league average payroll in one of the biggest cities in the continent.after not spending for years. Yeah, Reinsdorf is a cheapskate. Running a C payroll after years of scoring an F doesn’t change that fact. Just like Hahn making some decent signings doesn’t undo overpaying Abreu 100% or settling for Mazara. The fact that they have a solid core coming out of trading away 2 of the top 10 pitchers in baseball and a top flight OF, all of whom were on cost-controlled contracts, is seriously the least we could expect.
Not that I’m complaining, but I haven’t watched a meaningful baseball game since the Detroit race back in, what, 2012?
Why complain about overpaying a productive veteran player? It’s chump change for the organization, get over it.
They still aren’t spending near as much as teams like the Astros, Dodgers, Red Sox, Yankees, or cross-town Cubbies. There should be plenty of room to add. My hope is that the EE contract is a bridge to hopefully go hard after JDM next year or, when I allow myself to dream, that they make a realistic offer to Betts.
That said, I think they can only afford one superstar. The Cubs and Astros are insulting their fans by claiming they have no money, but nevertheless, this is the ugly back-end of a complete rebuild. All the young players come up at more or less the same time, meaning they get to the expensive years of arbitration at nearly the same time and then to FA. The ones who get there first often stay as the club wants to keep the window open, then the others are given a QO and let go. Part of the reason it happens this way is the signing of (or trading for) veteran stars like Lester, Darvish, Verlander, and Greinke. Maybe the key to sustaining it is doing what Cleveland did with Kluber and letting guys get 1-2 years from FA, then trading them to restock the farm and shorten a rebuild. If they do that on a rolling basis, they could potentially remain competitive unless one of the other teams in that division hits on an inordinate number of its top prospects and becomes dominant.
The difference between the White Sox and teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Phillies and eventually the Cubs that the White Sox don’t have a network like those teams who get a ton of money through advertising while charging their fans to watch their games. Don’t get me started on the prices for these channels and the prices for tickets to their home games. Watch a Yankees or Phillies home game during the week and you will see a lot of empty seats. It’s the same with the Cubs sometimes.
Medeiros, Gillespie, Viera, Burr, Polo, Clarkin, A.J. Puckett, Ryan Cordell, Charlie Tilson.
The entire strategy of signing players the purpose of flipping them, and trading international bonus money, has crashed and burned.
They have also gotten nothing out of the other small deals outside the big three.
For all of Hahn’s success in those three deals, he has struggled with almost every other aspect of this rebuild in terms of prospects.
@maximumvelocity
True for the most part (though prospects Robert, Madrigal, and Vaughn come to mind), but the 3 trades alone may more than compensate for the struggles Hahn’s had with the rebuild. Those 3 trades may very well be what gets the Sox a ring or two. We’ll have to wait a good 3 to 5 years to find that one out.
Collins, Burdi, Burger, Gonzales, Sheets, Thompson, Dalquist, Stiever were all within the rebuild time frame.
Collins, Sheets, Thompson, and Dalquist may yet all be considered good choices.
Stiever is looking very good.
7 months out from the draft and Thompson/Dalquist are both still considered good choices by outside draft evaluators (although that could be said of most of our recent drafts).
I think Hahn’s ability to get reasonable extensions onto Moncada, Giolito, Kopech, Cease, Lopez, Vaughn, Madrigal, Bummer, Stiever will determine a lot of how we judge this rebuild in retrospect.