The White Sox announced that they won’t tender contracts to outfielder Nomar Mazara and left-hander Carlos Rodon. This isn’t surprising news in either case, though it does continue a fall from grace for two players who were regarded as standout prospects during their younger days.
Mazara, formerly with Texas, joined the White Sox in a trade last December. While Mazara didn’t live up to the hype as a Ranger, the White Sox were surely hoping a change of scenery would help him reach his potential. Instead, the 25-year-old hit a miserable .228/.295/.294 with one home run in 149 plate appearances during his lone year in Chicago. The White Sox decided to cut Mazara in lieu of paying him $5MM-plus in arbitration.
Rodon was the No. 3 overall pick of the White Sox in 2014, though he never turned into the ace the team thought it was drafting. He was a pretty successful starter earlier in his career, but serious arm injuries (including issues that required shoulder surgery and a Tommy John procedure) slowed him over the previous couple of years. Rodon threw just 34 2/3 innings in 2019 and 7 2/3 this past season, combining for 5.74 ERA (and a much better 3.85 FIP) alongside 11.06 K/9 against 4.25 BB/9 in the process. The White Sox would have owed the 27-year-old more than $4MM in arbitration had they tendered him.
What are the chances Mazara goes back to Texas? I think he has some untapped potential
Lo!
I don’t see much upside with Mazara. His overall body of work has been pretty mediocre,
Go away fan boy. That dude is a major bust
I agree with you about Mazara’s potential mlbnyyfan
I don’t think Rodon is particularly great and his ceiling is probably back end starter, but he would be an interesting pickup for a rebuilding or pitching needy team.
I see a team like the Nationals or Phillies cheap out and say ‘look we signed a solid starter for the back end of the rotation with high upside!’
Theo will probably hire him to do some work around the house.
I could see that. Washington has had success with guys recovered from TJ.
Not sure if you’d been paying attention, but the Nots really don’t have any history of “cheaping out”.
Considering that Avila keeps picking up veteran starters who spend the majority of their time on the injured list anyway, I wouldn’t mind him picking up someone that was injured BEFORE their time in Detroit.
Don’t worry, Rodon will continue being injured after he’s signed wherever he is signed … I loved the draft pick for the Sox, but unfortunately all of the bad things people kept saying would happen to Sale, did happen to Rodon. Really hoping Crochet doesn’t go that way too.
agreed. i think if he can get his health on track there is some value there.
Tyler Kolek didn’t turn in to anything and now Rodon is non tendered. Aiken didn’t sign and disappeared. That makes Schwarber next in line and he hasn’t been so great. What a crazy draft 2014 was.
That said Rodon finds a new team very fast. At worst I imagine he could convert to a useful two pitch reliever.
Although the Cubs haven’t confirmed it offically, Nightengale said that Schwarber is probably out the door.
That’s insane. The first four picks busts. I’m a Marlins fan and wanted Rodon originally since he’s from Miami and Cuban so figured he would pair well with Jose from the left side. Then they said Kolek would be the next Beckett for us.
Now the Phillies look like the winners of the first round with Nola with A’s and Chapman right there (and a steal in the 20s) with Conforto and Treat Turner as honorable mentions
Rodon NOT Cuban!
American!
He’s from Miami and Cuban. Nothing of what I said is false. He is a cuban american.
Rodon is from North Carolina, he doesn’t speak Spanish, and his grandparents were from Cuba. He’s a third generation American.
technically the Aiken pick became Bregman, so that’s a win.
@DarkSide830
Very good point. It’s funny how some failures turn into the best thing that could’ve happened.
If the Pirates trade Musgrove and/or Brault, I’d like to see them to take a flyer on Rondon.
Big shock, this news. On the bright side, it seems to mean the White Sox FO realizes what a big problem RF was last year. This is addition by subtraction.
@hyraxwithaflamethrower
Amen to that!
I haven’t seen anything about Lopez, so hopefully he’s safe. Stick him in the pen and see if that’s the medicine he needs to thrive. If not, then show him the door. But right now he would be a low risk at around $1.5MM.
What could have been with Rodon. But it goes to show there are no guarantees with blue chip prospects. What a disappointment he turned out to be.
Sarcasm? I would have been floored to see either one get a contract.
Yes, I thought that was apparent. I thought Nomar had a 0.1% chance of being tendered and Rodon about 5%.
Sucks – would have liked to have seen one more season of Rodon… I get it, but would have liked it.
What’s there to see? Hurt, hurt, hurt, sucks, flashes of former self, hurt, hurt, sucks, hurt…
At this point, he’s not a victim of freak injuries, he’s just made of glass.
Yeah, i get it, but he was throwing 97 at the end of the year and wouldn’t mind seeing where that goes. But he is made of glass and gets injured all the time, correct.
Not much room for him in the rotation. Giolito, Keuchel and Kopech make up three spots and they probably want to give the last two spots to Cease, Dunning, Heuer, or a potential free agent the last two over Rondon.
Kopech, Cease and Dunning are all huge question marks.
@Dogbone
Thank you, detective, for pointing out the obvious. The only way to answer those questions is to let them take the mound and prove it. Look, I can also play the obvious card.
At least they are question marks, unlike Rodon who we can confirm is bad.
Heuer move from pen to starter? Did I miss some news somewhere?
Their hasn’t been any news about that. Heuer was drafted as a starter, but was moved to the bullpen the next season. He’s better suited for the bullpen.
Come home to Miami Rodon. Try playing up your stuff up as a reliever.
I’m not saying he was given a particularly fair shot, but they tried it last year. He sucked.
Rangers should sign both
If Schwarber is out the Door the Yankees need to get him
Why?
That short porch in left? He may not hit the Mendoza Line, but he would hit forty home runs easy.
That said, is there any place to play him? Return to catcher? (Sarcasm button, folks)
Where does he play? He would just sit at AAA. There is no spot for Maz in that lineup.
Exactly on where to play him. And a player like Schwarber doesn’t need to rely on the short porch. He can hit the juiced ball out of any park. The short porch only really matters for players like Didi and DJLM. Guys without a lot of power.
Mazara doesn’t surprise me.
Springer a done deal not announced yet!
did they sign his cousin or his brother in law yet??? can’t be a done deal until at least one of them is signed!
Yeah, hoping for Springer, but not counting on it. Adding Rosario to the list of options helps, though. He’s no Springer, but he’s much better than Mazara.
Ditto for Rodon.
Blake Snell on his way to Sox.
They get Snell and Springer, as soon as the white Sox finalize the Barry Bonds contract.
@Dogbone
And the Machado contract.
Your trolling is getting sloppy. I have to finish your troll comments.
I remember the hype for Rodon, seeing him his rookie year and thinking the White Sox had a good one on their hands.
@HalosHeavenJJ
He showed flashes early on, then once the eternal injury bug hit, he just never had it the rare times he was healthy.
He strikes me as the kind of guy who once he finally puts a full healthy season together, will have an All Star kind of season. Then, thinking he’s turned a corner, some team will give him a big long term deal only for him to fall back apart for the duration of it.
That said, hope the Red Sox plan to roll the dice on him. I think he’s a worthy gamble.
Chris Sale says hi
That was like the only year he was good so you weren’t nuts to think that.
a rebuilding team like SEA, BAL, or DET should take a look. still fairly young and has a solid floor at least as a DH.
I agree. The stuff is there and he had potential.
Rebuilding team might want to take a shot at Mazara and make sure he sits against lefty pitching. Can’t believe dude is still only 25 turning 26.
Glad to see Mazara go. Huge disappointment and have to believe the Sox will fill RF via FA with hopefully Springer or at least Bradley or Peterson.
Would be great if Sox could trade for Snell and maybe sign OF like Brantley or even Rosario. Sign Colome or Liam Hendriks to a 2/3 yr deal too.
I heard Rodon’s velocity had been down quite a bit, and his overall stuff had diminished. Perhaps he can reinvent his career as a reliever, but his arrow has been trending downward the past couple of years.
The long awaited season where Mazara finally puts it all together seems to be becoming less and less likely. He’ll be lucky to get much more than a minor league contract with the 2020 season he had.
Ethan Katz will be a big upgrade to help Cease/Dunning….. and maybe even Lopez for a useful bullpen piece. Kopech who knows between the ears. Good riddance to Rodon and Mazara. Those were good non-tenders.
They both suck. After tonight, that 10 m will go a long way.
Lopez’ raw talent is definitely there. It’s his inconsistency that drives Sox fans nuts. If Katz can help him with pitch selection and mental preparation like he did with Giolito. Lopez could become a solid starter.
Teams with thin SP will give Rodon a shot. Thinking PIT, MIL, etc. Wouldn’t mind him on the Mets instead of Matz.
Feel bad for Rodon. White Sox should have seen writing on wall years ago and moved him to bullpen. He may have a future there, but needed to be non tendered. Mazara was another bad Hahn acquisition. Wasted a prospect for nothing.
Steele Walker. Call Rangers. Had be had for nothing
Good move by the Sox. It was painful watching both this year. Can’t wait to see who the replacements are.
So, this is the part where Jerry Reinsdorf sticks his head in the dirt and undermines his club via negligence.
Finish the job, Hahn. Strike while the anvil is hot and sign Springer. Bauer may not be an option for us, but the Sox have zero depth on the big league roster. Do not trade Kopech, Vaughn or Madrigal for a pitcher. Let these guys show us what they can do, then revisit next season.
What a waste Mazara was. I didn’t mind the trade initially because Walker was pretty well blocked (even with a cool name), but constantly throwing Mazara in the lineup was awful.
Good luck to Rodon. I can see him being a 7th inning lefty reliever at some point.
Walker was blocked by who? I’m not saying he would have been an answer to anything, but you can easily argue he had the best chance of sticking on the roster as compared to the half dozen or so outfielders who stalled in AA. Basabe was cut for nothing and they thought so little of Gonzalez they traded for Jarrod Dyson to do pretty much nothing.
Kind of funny game 3 vs Oakland i wanted maraza up he actually started hitting going other way
He had 2 brutal ( the one vs cubs was a joke) strike 3s called on him in key spots
But last 6-7 games he was actually hitting
Right, fishy?
I watched him all year long and in the last few weeks of the year, he was really looking like a better, more comfortable hitter. I am in the extreme minority here of wanting them to sign him back for less and use the money to get Trevor Bauer.
Hopefully he takes the approach into 2021 with his new club.
I wonder what they’ll do now. I like Springer, but I’d also like to see them get a frontline starting pitcher.
No realistic shot at Bauer. La Russa is too old school. Katz may be great, but I don’t see the personality fit with La Russa or him getting to pitch every four days. More realistic is signing Springer and a second-tier guy, like Tanaka.
Yes, he was. He was one of their better hitters against the A’s.
Perhaps you or another poster will confirm for me, but if a team non-tenders a player, can the team still sign the player during the same offseason he was non-tendered presumably for a lower contract amount than he would have been eligible for had he been tendered?
What I saw from Mazara in the playoffs interested me. I wasn’t at all interested in most of his regular body of work, but I still have him ahead of several other possibilities in RF for the Sox. I would prefer the team upgrade at RF, but they could do much worse than a Mazara/ Engle platoon.
Yes, a team can sign their non-tendered players to a new deal
Observation and not trying to take a hack at Texas but Mazara joins the ranks of Jurickson Profar, along with others, as yet another example of a Rangers overrated prospect.
Thank God. I was rooting for both, but they’ve been busts for the Sox.
As much as Mazara is a disappointment, he has been an average hitter outside of 2020. Nomar Mazara would be a massive upgrade for a team like the Indians and wouldn’t cost much. Sometimes we undervalue guys like Mazara and Renfore, etc. just because we thought they would be better and they turn to be just so-so. Still, a lot of team have black holes in their outfield where average is a big improvement and these types of guys will come really cheap this year.
As for Rodon, I don’t see it. Stuff has gotten worse, injuries galore. Maybe the bullpen w/ the 5% chance he becomes Pomeranz?
Doing the happy dance because Rodon is finally gone!
Id love Houston to take a flyer on him! He has prospect pedigree and Houston has been able to fix guys in the past (Cole,Morton) and also gave Verlander the boost he needed to most likely make the HOF.
It is finally nice to see the the White Sox making more prudent moves. Carlos is a walking ER department, and neither Mazara or Encarnacion could hit. I also think that Engel can step up and play RF. Please don’t pick up D+ – C- players on the cheap, either. Go get a solid starting pitcher. I would like to see Rodon and Lopez move to the pen. Lopez could be a solid closer because of his attention span issue. He has the stuff, but I see some hot head like Kopech possibly closing out if he cannot keep his wits for 100 pitches. Either he will be a Sale or a Jenks. LOL. What do you guys think? Who should we go get?
Rodon is out of there, but I agree with most of your comments. I think the Sox should prioritize signing George Springer to solidify that outfield. Then look for a quality starter or two via free agency, or trade (not involving Kopech).
The thought that Engel > Mazara is inaccurate. I agree w/ not paying $5M+ for .228 and 1 HR. Sox need to move Eloy to full-time DH now. He is an awful fielder and has spent far too much time injured as a result of his poor defense. Springer is not coming to the White Sox (neither is Bauer, so give up that thought). Sox should try Vaughn in the OF this spring, and look to add Brantley in OF (if short enough deal) or someone else w/ decent OBP skills. Sox should trade SP (including Kopech, sorry) for someone like Wheeler or Lynn because after Bauer there is nothing left in free agency. I have spoken.