The White Sox set their Opening Day roster Thursday, announcing that they’ve designated former top-10 pick Carson Fulmer for assignment. Chicago also signed old friend Ryan Goins to a minor league deal and assigned him to its alternate training site and selected the contracts of four players: infielder Cheslor Cuthbert, outfielder Nicky Delmonico, left-hander Ross Detwiler and right-hander Codi Heuer. Additionally, veteran utilityman Andrew Romine was released by the organization.
Sox fans will surely be glad to see Yoan Moncada activated from the injured list and placed on the Opening Day roster after previously being out with Covid-19. The White Sox also called up right-hander Jimmy Lambert and catcher Zack Collins from their alternate site.
It’s a disappointing outcome for the Sox and Fulmer alike. The former Vanderbilt star was at one point considered during his junior year to be a possible No. 1 overall pick, but he’s simply never put it together in the Majors. I explored the Fulmer conundrum at length during the league’s shutdown, looking at the right-hander’s lengthy history of struggles in the Majors and upper minors. Fulmer was touted as one of the surest big leaguers in that year’s draft, as even his critics felt he was a high-probability late-inning bullpen piece. Those with reservations about taking him at the top of the draft weren’t so much worried that he’d bust completely but that he’d thrive “only” as a reliever rather than a starter.
Fast forward a half decade, and Fulmer is an out-of-options righty with a career 6.56 ERA in the Majors and 5.39 ERA in Triple-A. As detailed in the previously linked piece on him, there are plenty of positive indicators in his arsenal, and I personally have wondered how he might fare working at the top of the zone with his four-seamer, but the win-now White Sox clearly didn’t feel he was among their 30 best options. Perhaps his struggles will be pronounced enough that he’ll clear waivers, but one can also imagine a non-contender rolling the dice on his once touted arm.
Of the players selected to the 40-man roster today, Delmonico and Detwiler have both appeared for the Sox in the past. Delmonico will give them a left-handed bench bat with sparse MLB success, while Detwiler can soak up some innings if need be — either as a spot starter or long reliever. Cuthbert was once a high-end Royals prospect but has never hit much in five MLB seasons. Heuer, meanwhile, was Chicago’s sixth-round pick in 2018 and posted dominant numbers in the minors last year. He has long-term bullpen potential for them, and the Sox are surely excited to get a glimpse of how he’ll fare against MLB opposition.
As for Goins, he’ll return to the organization for a second season after hitting .250/.333/.347 in 52 games with the Sox last year. The longtime Blue Jays infielder doesn’t have much of a track record at the plate — he’s a career .230/.279/.335 hitter — but he can play all over the infield and is generally considered a strong up-the-middle defender.
Carson Fulmer is a nice power arm for somebody out there
yeah, if you like a thrower who isnt a pitcher
Teams take chances on power arms all the time hoping to refine their talent. He will be traded for, cash or PTBNL or lottery ticket, or claimed.
@Wyoming, I’d like to see the Sox get a little international money for him. They seem to do fairly well on the international market.
He’s a good flyer for a bad team. If you can get him to throw one or two pitches consistently for strikes he could be a good high leverage reliever. That’s what the White Sox tried to do the last few years. Most of the time it didn’t really matter if he ws good because they were more into development than W/L record. The problem was, they used up at least one option hoping he would learn to do it at the major league level. Now that they expect to be a playoff contender (especially with the expanded playoffs) they can’t afford to carry him on the roster and have him cost them games, especially since each game means so much more. So they got backed into a corner and had to let him go. The Orioles, Mariners, Marlins, Giants, or Pirates could pick him up and hope he learns, since they aren’t really playing for anything, even this year.
I’m curious to see which team grabs him. There’s no way he passes through waivers, as bad as he was with the Sox.
Didn’t notice how sloppy my editing was. It would’ve been better to write:
As bad as he was with the Sox, there’s still no way he passes through waivers.
O’s should make a claim and see what happens.
How is Detwiler preferable to Fuller?
Are you serious? Detwiler has a much better body of work.
BB/9.
@MikeS2
Absolutely. If he ever would’ve figured out how to cut down on the walks, he would be on the Opening Day roster and probably would’ve pitched a good share of last year in Chicago.
Say it ain’t so!!!
No!!! Not THAT Carson Fulmer.
Good bye Mr Fulmer. Thanks for drafting him above Walker Buehler guys.
Lambert is just up for the IL placement, right?
The big news aside from the Carson Fulmer DFA and the absence of Nick Madrigal who will be subjected to the MLB service time game by the front office although they would never admit it.
Not overly surprising—if this were a regular 162 game season I think the decision (if it is service time driven–wink, wink) may be different. To lose a year of control over a season of 60 games is probably not the wise thing to do especially with some of the potential of the team long term.
yep he is. fans will be happy several years from now when he’ still on the team
@DarkSide830
I definitely will be (assuming he’s not a bust).
Kind of hard to imagine him being a complete bust. With his ability to make contact, I see a floor (after his rookie year) of a .260 hitter with .300 OBP, who plays elite defense and has plus speed. That’s no All-Star, but that is a valuable player.
@hyraxwithaflamethrower
No, I don’t expect him to be a bust. That was more of a disclaimer on my part.
And I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s 2 or 3 weeks before Madrigal’s up, so it doesn’t look so obvious. The Cubs dodged a bullet with Bryant, so I don’t think any GM is going to be stupid enough to manipulate the system that obviously this time around.
Sucks, i actually think that Carson Fulmer has a decent career. But i get it, i suppose it was time.
He has talent and elite spin rates on a couple of his pitches, so you may be right, but I can’t blame the Sox for cutting him. I’d actually like to see him catch on with a non-contender who can afford to give him a long leash…or maybe a team like the Rays or Indians who specialize in developing pitchers.
Agreed. He really seemed close for the last year, but every time he had a 1-2-3 inning with 2 strikeouts he’d follow it up by walking the bases loaded. His slider was nasty for 3 batters then he’d bounce it up there repeatedly. Frustrating, but the kind of guy who figures it out then goes on to excel.
“Carson Fulmer DFA’d”
*Derek Johnson and the Cincinnati Reds have entered the chat*
I assume he’s out of options. I assume that Mike Elias will go back to his profile from Vanderbilt, remember what he saw, and decide whether analytics can help fix his control problems. I wonder if there will be a movement away from “great arm, we can teach him how to harness it” to “great command, we can teach him how to get people out with his stuff”. Sure, 99 is really eye popping, but the O’s have had Tanner Scott up for parts of the last three seasons flashing 101 on occasion and you can’t trust him to get the next guy out because he walks so damn many people. Meanwhile, they have Alex Wells on the farm with a ridiculous career w/9 of 1.4 and career WHIP of 1.067 who may never get a legit shot because he throws in the upper 80s and rarely hits 90.
Yeah I never quite understood (and still don’t) the fascination with guys who throw 100+. Give me a guy who commands a slider or curveball and pitches with deception anyday. Sure 100 is fast but hitters can and are catching on.
Vanderbilt guys come out raw and overrated.
I get what you’re saying, but think about most of the successful pitchers. Sure, you have a few relative soft-tossers like Greg Maddux, but Maddux had pinpoint control and serious movement. Speed allows you to be less perfect in other areas and lets you play up the difference on your offspeed stuff. So what if that fastball was out of the zone by two inches? At 100mph, you have less time to react and may be more likely to make a bad decision. At 90mph, maybe you lay off.
I agree that I don’t think you should have to possess a triple-digit arm to crack the big leagues, but there’s still a lot to be said for it.
Pittsburgh add him to that bullpen
So he’s definitely signing with the Reds, right?
Considering that DJ knows Vandy pitchers I would be on the Reds.
Ol’ Al Avila should have no reason not to keep him in the division, give him a try in the ‘pen. Mayhaps he’ll have an Andrew Miller-type turnaround as a reliever.
With the injury to Zimmerman, would be nice to see the Tigers take a flyer on him. Hope the dude can figure it out and turn around his career. Hope all the best for him.
I said it awhile back he needed a change of scenery. Sox have started to slip a bit with their pitching prospects. I believe it is time to replace Cooper. He helped give ’05. But the end comes does come eventually. Time has come for his.
Does “win-now” White Sox mean that they will strive for that elusive .500 record this year? Gotta start somewhere!
@stymeedone
Which means they’re still about 5 years ahead of Detroit.
The ChiSox have the talent to do it
I’m surprised by this move. Not for Fulmer’s sake, because how many golden opportunities has he let slip through his fingers? I’m surprised that Hahn actually had the stones to DFA him before Opening Day.
I think with the right pitching coach (which obviously wasn’t Cooper), it’s still possible he could end up as a good reliever. A lot is mechanics, but a lot is also confidence. I’m sure he lacks confidence at this point (not a huge surprise if you look at his numbers and him getting bounced around like a ping pong ball between Charlotte and Chicago last year). The guy doesn’t come off as a Mensa candidate, so who knows if he’s fixable. If anyone had any doubt if he was a bust, this just eliminated any doubt.
Now watch, he’ll latch on to a team and become a Cy Young contender. No, I’m not being serious about this.
I am surely not a Cooper fan, but I question Fulmer’s work ethic. If the direction and coaching you are given is not working, try something else. Giolito sucked and on his own went and sought advice and coaching that turned his career around. Carson has the talent. With the technology available to see exactly what is what, use it to your advantage. You can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results. I hope this is a wake up call and the kid turns it around. He has the stuff physically. Go get on another team and work your ass off son. Good luck.
Would like to see the Red Sox take a chance on fulmer, see if they can use him as there opener for their bullpen game with the hopes of being able to stretch him out and tap into that potential that once had him viewed as a top overall option in 2015. Also Sox have no pitching so I think this could be a great option
“Blame it on the Goggles”
I’m very happy about this, personally. No more Covey, no more Despaigne, and now, no more Fulmer. That is some serious addition by subtraction. I do hope Fulmer figures it out eventually, but I’m glad the Sox aren’t giving him any more chances.
@hyraxwithaflamethrower
Fulmer was the most frustrating because it seemed like he was teasing us the entire time he was in the system. If he not had that success in late ’17, he would’ve been gone quite a while ago.
I wish him the best, but some guys (better yet, many guys) just can’t make the transition from college star to MiLB/MLB.
I really wish they would bring in Carson Fulmer right now for this critical part of the game, said no White Sox fan ever. Time to move on.
The Tigers have claimed Fulmer off waivers. Since he’s out of options, he will have to stay on the major league roster. Shouldn’t be a problem for Detroit.