The White Sox announced they’ve claimed reliever Parker Markel off waivers from the Athletics and optioned him to Triple-A Charlotte. Chicago already had a 40-man roster vacancy, so no additional move was necessary.
Oakland designated Markel for assignment this week, ending his tenure in the organization after just three big league appearances. The 31-year-old walked five batters in only three innings during that time, a continuation of some longstanding control issues. He walked an elevated 12.7% of batters faced across 19 innings with Triple-A Las Vegas prior to his call-up, and he struggled to throw strikes during his only previous MLB action back in 2019.
That said, Markel has also flashed promising swing-and-miss stuff. He’s punched out an excellent 35.4% of opponents in Triple-A this season, and he fanned batters at a nearly identical rate last year in Triple-A with the Padres. Markel averaged 95 MPH with above-average raw spin on his fastball during his brief big league look in Oakland, and his low-80s slider has promising two-plane movement.
The fastball-slider pairing has flummoxed many hitters in the upper minors, and the Sox will take a low-risk shot to add some bullpen depth. Markel still has a pair of option years remaining, so the White Sox can shuttle him between Chicago and Charlotte for each of the next two seasons if he retains his spot on the 40-man roster.
Why would the A’s give up on this guy who had a 1.89 in AAA & 3 scoreless innings in the bigs this year? Seems premature. Good grab Sox.
Trouble throwing strikes and he is 31 now. Not like he is in his early 20’s to mid 20’s and there is hope for improvement with time.
Jerry’s planning a Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan night at the ballpark and claiming her brother Parker might just cinch the deal.
Lol!! Would be like a remake of Naked Gun!!
Also looking at acquiring:
Frank Farkel and Ferd Berfel
Not the A’s pitcher I hoped they’d acquire.
The Sox starting pitching is very strong, now that Lynn is back and Keuchel is gone. Not a good idea to mortgage the future (the A’s want Vaughn) in order to get Montas, when their true weakness this year in offense (and perhaps in the dugout).
You’ re welcome!
[Will Ferrell in Elf voice] Oooh! That’s fun to say!
Happy Pride month fam
Unless you’re not a Pride boy in Tampa.
Dumpster Diving Ricky showing the baseball world that he can’t dumpster dive when he needs to dive in a dumpster.
You are in for some bad baseball ahead and you deserve it.
What’s so “happy” about the pride? Pride is the worst sin, and it comes before the fall. The sin of pride is a preoccupation with self. It is thus very fitting that the middle letter in the word is “i.”. Pride is all about “me, myself, and I.”. So even as the word “pride” is centered upon an “i,” the sin itself is also centered upon “I.” rather than God.
“because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
Matthew 7:14 KJV
Take that Jumbos! That’s for claiming Matty Davidson.
wow, this guy can really strike guys out, if he gets his command, could be a sweet add on.
Peter Markel is the last player White Sox need right now. 1st most importantly is a productive 2nd baseman. Then our HOF manager needs to figure out how to get Andrew Vaughn & Jake Burger in the lineup every game. Then our HOF manager needs to put forth better freaking lineups. Leury Garcia is not the optimal lead-off man in any situation
Or Parker Markel
LaRussa is killing time and paying attn long enough to grab his check (like a bunch of the players on this club). This club lacks heart, no one player is going to change that. LaRussa was the completely wrong choice for this club. JR had a senior moment hiring him, and its costing this team dearly now.
He should be happy to leave the Athletics.
None of it matters as long as idiot of the decade Tony LaRussa is running the show. What a fool….an he’s not bright enough to realize what a fool he is anymore. Really used to respect the guy and was impressed with his talents, but he’s been reduced to a laughing stock at this point. Should have stayed retired, Tony
Tell us how u really feel…
Well, aside from the joke that is his managerial disaster currently taking place, he destroyed the Diamondbacks along with Dave Stewart with a series of head scratching moves, and was always the first guy wanting to throw at other players because his player got beat by the other guy. You can’t have that…no one hits a HR off of one of my pitchers and gets away with it! Plus he seems like such a lovely human being….not that I have any personal knowledge….just going off impressions. Don’t care for the man. That’s how I feel. Thanks for asking. Sorry you are a White Sox fan…has to be painful to watch
This club lacks heart, no one player is going to change that, and if LaRussa wants to help this club, he will retire (again) and force the Sox to put a new manager in place. While I do not think the Sox need a crazy guy running the team, they need a guy that will actually hold his players accountable for poor play and make them find their hearts, or find another team. Moncada is a glaring example of the lack of motivation on this club.. Guys more worried about the check clearing (or the number of gold chains around their neck) than their play on the field. While I love Abreu, he is no leader. If he was, he would be calling these guys out. The Sox players should be embarrassed by their play (at least Burger made mention of how his error cost the Sox in the last game) and hold themselves accountable, but instead it looks like most guys go up there, take their cuts so they can go back to the dugout and polish their gold chains or grab their checks… that is when they are not getting injured from their lack of caring about their conditioning. This team need A LOT and no one guy is going to fix this, much less a middle reliever.
nrd1138 – It sounds to me like you are saying the ChiSox need to bring back Ozzie Guillen, not in so many words…..
Never thought I’d say this, but you are correct sir….if those are the only 2 choices on the table
I dunno if Ozzie would be a good choice either, but they need someone to hold players accountable. Im starting to think all of these early contracts made a bunch of these players feel entitled and like they won something already. They need a manager to come in to remind them that a pennant on the pole means nothing, what matters is a WS trophy at the end of the season (and maybe learn out to get that across in Spanish if need be). They also need a GM and Owner who do not ‘settle’ for players when trying to ‘win it all’ One example is the Sox could have gotten Story, but settled for Harrison, and the record reflects that type of thinking as well as the poor showing by guys who need to go out and produce. Sometimes trying to win it all means you back up the dump truck to the best players available in FA. Will it always work out? No, but at least you see the attempt was made.
If you’re leader has no heart, his disciples will have a difficult time bringing one of their own. LaRussa would probably punish a player if he showed heart…..kind of like punishing that player for hitting a HR.