White Sox Sign Danny Farquhar
The White Sox have signed veteran righty Danny Farquhar, Scott Merkin of MLB.com tweets. Triple-A Charlotte has confirmed the move, while also announcing the releases of catcher Carson Blair and righty Bobby Parnell.
Chicago has been looking to add veteran arms to the ranks at Charlotte as it continues to oversee a rummage sale with its MLB roster. Several relievers have already been dealt and a few more appear to be on the block as well.
The 30-year-old Farquhar continues to generate tons of swings and misses (better than 14% this year), but has had trouble translating that into consistent results. He was able to punch out only 8.5 batters per nine via strikeout despite the outstanding whiff rate, and also permitted a 5.7 BB/9 walk rate in his 35 innings this year with the Rays.
Those struggles led to the loss of Farquhar’s MLB roster spot and, not long after, his release. But he obviously still has some intriguing skills and has at times been quite effective over long stretches. Farquhar will hope for another shot at the majors down the stretch, with designs on setting himself up for a solid opportunity entering the 2018 season.
As for the other two players, the 27-year-old Blair has seen eleven games of MLB action, but has mostly played in the upper minors in recent years. He’s slashing .211/.297/.390 on the season at Triple-A. Parnell, the former Mets’ closer, has struggled to a 7.34 ERA in his 34 1/3 innings at the highest level of the minors this year (split between the Royals and White Sox organizations).
White Sox, Cory Luebke Agree To Minor League Deal
The White Sox have agreed to a minor league contract with left-hander Cory Luebke, reports Matt Eddy of Baseball America (on Twitter). Eddy also notes that the Sox have a minors deal with catcher Carson Blair and have re-signed fleet-footed outfielder Jason Bourgeois.
The 31-year-old Luebke has undergone two Tommy John surgeries in the past half-decade but made his first big league appearance since 2012 this past season. Luebke broke camp with the Pirates after signing a minor league deal with Pittsburgh last winter, though he didn’t fare well in his return to a Major League mound. Luebke tossed just 8 2/3 innings with Pittsburgh and yielded nine runs on 15 hits and 11 walks with nine strikeouts. He did fare better in 24 1/3 minor league innings, tallying a 1.85 ERA and a 35-to-3 K/BB ratio between the Pirates and Marlins organizations.
Luebke once looked like a potential long-term cog in the Padres’ rotation, debuting with the team in 2010 and seemingly blossoming a year later. The southpaw turned in 139 2/3 innings of 3.29 ERA ball with 9.9 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 in 2011, which earned him a four-year, $12MM extension. While many such deals are panned when they’re signed, Luebke’s decision to accept that then-modest sum now appears wise in light of his arm troubles.
A return to a starting role doesn’t appear likely for Luebke following a pair of Tommy John operations, but he could get an opportunity to compete for a bullpen gig with the rebuilding ChiSox in 2017. Dan Jennings currently stands as the top lefty option in new manager Rick Renteria’s bullpen, with less-proven southpaw Giovanni Soto (not to be confused with the catcher of the same, albeit differently spelled name) also in line to get a look this spring.
As for Blair, the 27-year-old is a longtime Red Sox farmhand that made his big league debut with the A’s in 2015 after signing a minor league deal there. Blair received just 35 plate appearances and didn’t hit well, but he’s coming off a more productive .250/.339/.372 batting line split between the A’s and Rangers organizations in 2016 (all in the minor leagues). He’s not likely to factor into the Sox’ plans out of Spring Training but could head the minors and serve as a depth piece in either Double-A or Triple-A.
Bourgeois, 35, made his Major League debut with the 2008 White Sox (though he played in just six games) and would go on to appear for five teams over the next seven seasons. He’s a career .253/.300/.326 hitter in the Majors and delivered a solid .292/.333/.385 batting line in 122 Triple-A contests with the Sox and D-backs last year.