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Yermin Mercedes Returns To White Sox’ Triple-A Club

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July 22: In a sudden turnabout, the White Sox announced to reporters that Mercedes is in uniform and on their Triple-A club’s active roster for tonight’s road game in Durham (Twitter link via Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times).

In a new Instagram post of a phoenix rising, Mercedes writes that his dream is to be an established Major Leaguer and that he owes it to his family, the White Sox organization and his fans to continue working toward that goal. “I love everybody, I’m back,” he wrote at the end of his post.

July 21, 11:05pm: White Sox manager Tony La Russa only learned of Mercedes’ post after tonight’s game against the Twins but tells reporters he plans to reach out to Mercedes (Twitter links via MLB.com’s Scott Merkin).

La Russa drew plenty of criticism earlier this year for not supporting Mercedes after he missed a take sign and hit a 3-0 home run in a blowout win over Minnesota. Many have immediately jumped to the conclusion that La Russa’s handling of the situation contributed to Mercedes’ decision today, although there’s nothing to support that line of speculation. La Russa suggested that he and Mercedes are still on good terms:

“As you probably know, if you are paying attention, several times he said how close we are. He knows I’m a supporter of his. So I’ll reach out to him and see what’s going on. It could be he’s just feeling frustrated. … I’ll try to explain to him he’s got a big league future.”

9:15pm: White Sox designated hitter/catcher Yermin Mercedes announced on Instagram tonight that he’s stepping away from baseball “indefinitely.” The 28-year-old thanked his family, agent Daniel Szew, and his former teammates before concluding his post with the words: “it’s over.”

It’s a stunning development for a player whose breakout performance was one of the biggest storylines of the early 2021 season. Mercedes started the season as the White Sox’ designated hitter and went 8-for-8 to begin the year. Mercedes batted .368/.417/.571 through the season’s first 38 games, but he followed that up with a .150/.220/.196 across his next 118 plate appearances.

The White Sox optioned Mercedes to Triple-A Charlotte back on July 2, and he’s been ripping through minor league pitching since that time. In 14 games and 61 plate appearances, he’s batting .309/.377/.655 with four home runs, five doubles and a triple.

Despite Mercedes’ post tonight, the White Sox say they have not received any formal indication from the player himself. The team released the following statement:

“The White Sox are aware of tonight’s Instagram post by Yermín Mercedes, who is currently on the active roster of our Class AAA team in Charlotte. At this point in time, the White Sox have not received any official notification from Yermín concerning his future plans.”

White Sox Sign First Round Pick Colson Montgomery

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The White Sox announced they’ve come to terms on a $3.027MM deal with first rounder Colson Montgomery. That matches the slot value associated with the 22nd overall selection.

Montgomery’s spot on pre-draft prospect rankings was variable. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN slotted the left-handed hitting infielder 13th, while Baseball America had him 34th and Keith Law of the Athletic placed him 56th. There’s some question marks about Montgomery’s age — at 19, he’s a bit old for a prep draftee — but he has plenty of power projection and a good chance to stick on the infield, likely at third base.

An Indiana product, Mongtomery had been committed to Indiana University. The White Sox will sway him from that commitment and add a high-upside young player to a farm system that has been thinned out a bit as Chicago’s top talents have graduated to the major leagues.

Luis Robert To Begin Rehab Assignment

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White Sox star center fielder Luis Robert has been cleared to begin a minor league rehab assignment, the team announced. He’ll be assigned to High-A Winston-Salem and begin play on Wednesday. Robert has been out since early May after suffering a Grade 3 strain of his right hip flexor tendon.

Rehabbing position players can spend up to twenty days in the minors, so Robert’s in line to return to the major league club by the second week of August barring any sort of setback. He’ll follow shortly after left fielder Eloy Jiménez, who began a rehab assignment of his own a little more than a week ago.

At the time of his injury, it wasn’t clear whether Robert would be able to return at all this season. Not only is he line to do so, he’s returning to game action after about two and a half months. That’s a surprisingly welcome development after the initial prognosis suggested he’d need three to four months before even beginning baseball activities.

One of the game’s best defensive outfielders, Robert got off to a hot start at the plate before going down. Across 103 plate appearances, he’s hitting .316/.359/.463, a step up from the average offensive production he posted last year.

When Robert and Jiménez went down, outfield looked like a natural potential area for an upgrade. Chicago has coasted to a 7.5 game lead in the AL Central largely without that duo, though, and their impending returns lessen the need for GM Rick Hahn and the front office to explore that market before the July 30 trade deadline.

Setbacks from Robert and/or Jiménez could obviously change that, but the outfield no longer looks like a problem area for the South Siders. Indeed, the front office is expected to prioritize finding bullpen help over the next couple weeks, writes Bruce Levine of 670 the Score. On the position player side, Levine notes that the organization’s bigger concerns are now second base and catcher, where Nick Madrigal and Yasmani Grandal have gone down with respective injuries of their own.

White Sox, Lance Lynn Agree To Two-Year, $38MM Extension

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The White Sox and Lance Lynn have agreed to a two-year, $38MM extension with a third-year club option that could keep Lynn in Chicago through the 2024 season, the team announced.

The White Sox’ acquisition of Lynn this past winter has thus far proved worthwhile. As you may recall, last December 8th, Chicago sent right-hander Dane Dunning and lefty Avery Weems to the Rangers in exchange for Lynn, who was scheduled to hit free agency after 2021. Dunning has proved himself a capable rotation arm, and on a strict measure of value, it’s possible to give the “trade win” to Texas. Dunning, after all, has produced 1.1 rWAR, and the Rangers maintain control for another five seasons, not to mention six years of control for Weems, should he reach his potential.

In actuality, the deal speaks to the changing needs of franchises moving in different directions. The White Sox are no doubt thrilled with their return, not only because Lynn has produced 3.4 rWAR while making the second All-Star game of his career, but because of the peripheral benefits that came with upgrading from Dunning to Lynn. Lynn’s track record brought a slimmer margin for error, he brings a veteran presence to the clubhouse, familiarity with manager Tony La Russa, and the fiery, chip-on-the-shoulder quality that’s long been a staple of South Side baseball.

Sure enough, the 34-year-old has found a home in Chicago, where he’ll now stay through at least the 2023 season. After making $9.33MM this year in the final season of the three-year, $30MM deal he signed with Texas prior to 2019, Lynn will make $18.5MM in each of the next two seasons.

The White Sox hold an $18MM option for 2024 that includes a $1MM buyout, per MLB.com’s Scott Merkin (via Twitter). There are bonuses, as well, should Lynn finish in the top-3 for Cy Young voting, adds MLB Networks Jon Heyman (via Twitter). Though Lynn has never been a top-3 finisher for the award, he has finished in the top-6 in each of the past two seasons.

Lynn’s 94 mph heater is where its been the past couple of seasons, though he’s dropped its usage from around 50 percent to 43.1 percent. The cutter has picked up the slack, going from 22.2 percent usage last year to 32.2 percent this season. Interestingly, Lynn sticks almost entirely to the fastball, cutter, sinker mix, only rarely turning to a change-up or more traditional curve/slider like he threw in his youth.

The cutter has taken over as a go-to put away pitch for Lynn. Opponents are hitting just .183 with a .295 xSLG against his 88.5 mph cutter. In terms of the bottom line results, however, Lynn has been just about the same guy in Chicago that he was in Texas: he pounds the zone (44.1 Zone%), plays to contact with a below-average 26.5 CSW%, all while coaxing batters to swing the bat (72.7 Z-Swing%, 49.4 Swing% — both marks being above-average), despite just an average ability to get batters to chase outside the zone (30.9 O-Swing%). All in all, he’s posted a 1.99 ERA/3.20 FIP in 16 starts covering 90 2/3 innings.

Securing Lynn keeps another member of Chicago’s impressive core in place. Carlos Rodon is the only member of the rotation not currently signed through next season. The White Sox control Dallas Keuchel and Lucas Giolito through 2023 and Dylan Cease through 2025. No matter what happens with Rodon now, the White Sox should feel secure about their rotation moving into next season.

The White Sox have been wisely proactive about signing their young core to extensions. Yoan Moncada is under contract through 2024, Eloy Jimenez and Aaron Bummer through 2026, and Luis Robert through 2027. Free agent signings Liam Hendriks and Yasmani Grandal also have contracts that run through 2024 and 2023, respectively. Other young talents like Nick Madrigal, Andrew Vaughn, Michael Kopech and Codi Heuer have yet to even begin the arbitration process.

Securing Lynn, however, was arguably the most important item on GM Rick Hahn’s agenda. Even still, the White Sox should have financial flexibility moving forward. Their luxury tax payroll for 2022 projects to be around $145MM, still well below this season’s $170MM mark. They have just $106MM against the tax on the books for 2023. Those numbers will go up with arbitration raises for Giolito, Evan Marshall and Adam Engel, but not so much as to seriously hinder Chicago’s flexibility, should they want to expand their payroll further while still avoiding the tax.

Those raises, however, will be enough to bring their cash payroll in 2022 already beyond the $133MM they have on the books this season. With Lynn’s extension now in place, the White Sox cash payroll for 2022 sits around $127MM before those arbitration raises. Still, given Chicago’s market and the aggressiveness they’ve shown to build this contender, they should still have room to grow.

White Sox Acquire Deivy Grullon

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The White Sox have acquired catcher Deivy Grullon from the Rays in exchange for cash considerations, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports (Twitter link).

With Yasmani Grandal still recovering from knee surgery, it isn’t surprising that the White Sox are looking to add to their catching depth.  Zack Collins has been starting while Grandal is sidelined, with Seby Zavala as the backup and Yermin Mercedes (who has caught in a couple of games but is primarily a DH) is at Triple-A trying to get his swing on track.  Grullon adds another backstop with at least some MLB experience to the mix.

It represents an opportunity for Grullon to perhaps finally get another crack at the big leagues after a number of different uniform changes over the last 10 months.  Originally with the Phillies last September, Grullon has been claimed off waivers five times by four different teams — the Red Sox, Reds, Rays, Mets, and then the Rays again back in May.

Grullon appeared in one game with Boston in 2020, after debuting with four appearances for Philadelphia during the 2019 season.  A veteran of eight minor league seasons, the 25-year-old Grullon didn’t show much at the plate until 2018, when he hit 21 homers over 353 plate appearances for the Phillies’ Double-A affiliate.  He has had a lot of success at the Triple-A level, hitting .265/.340/.488 with 29 homers in 574 Triple-A plate appearances.

A Breakout Starter In His Platform Season

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Carlos Rodón was selected third overall in the 2014 draft and was an immediate top prospect upon entering pro ball. He flew to the big leagues, making his MLB debut ten months after his draft date. Rodón was immediately a productive starter, pitching to a 3.75 ERA/4.20 SIERA across 139 1/3 innings as a 22-year-old. It would’ve been easy for the White Sox to envision him as another top-of-the-rotation arm in an organization that had already produced Chris Sale and José Quintana.

Rodón didn’t make the jump to that level over the next few seasons though. He was fine from 2016-18, working to a 4.11 ERA/4.46 FIP, but it seemed he’d plateaued as a league average arm. That’s useful but probably not what many fans had in mind. Then Rodón dealt with a series of injuries that called his future into question. He landed on the 60-day injured list each season from 2018-20, missing time with shoulder and elbow issues. When healthy enough to pitch over the last two seasons, he was unproductive, tossing 42 1/3 innings of 5.74 ERA ball.

Those struggles even led the White Sox to cut ties with Rodón temporarily. Chicago non-tendered him last winter rather than offer him an arbitration salary that would’ve cost a bit more than $4MM. He spent a good portion of the offseason unsigned before returning to the South Side on a $3MM guarantee in late January. Even at such a low price point, the Rodón reunion looked like a questionable decision given his health woes and recent underperformance. In retrospect, it has proven to be a masterstroke by general manager Rick Hahn and the front office.

Rodón earned a spot in the starting rotation to open the year. He’s stayed healthy to this point and been nothing short of incredible. Rodón has worked to a minuscule 2.31 ERA across 89 2/3 innings. He has struck out a career-high 36.1% of batters faced, a mark that trails only Jacob deGrom, Corbin Burnes and Tyler Glasnow among the 146 pitchers with 50+ innings pitched. Rodón’s also fourth among that group (behind deGrom, Burnes and Max Scherzer) in strikeout/walk rate differential (28.9 percentage points) and SIERA (2.82). The big lefty earned a well-deserved trip to the All-Star Game for the first time in his career in recognition of that strong work.

Unsurprisingly, Rodón’s featuring the best raw stuff of his career. His fastball is averaging 95.9 MPH this season, a marked increase over his 92-94 MPH range in recent years. Rodón actually first experienced a velocity spike during a couple of relief appearances at the end of last season, but it wasn’t clear whether he’d be able to maintain that with a starter’s workload. He has so far, with no indication of slowing down.

He’s also added a bit more life on the heater at the top of the strike zone, and he’s throwing his slider with increased velocity. Both offerings have been plus, but it’s his fastball that has become almost unhittable. Rodón has generated a league-leading 147 whiffs on four-seamers this season, per Statcast. (His 17.1% swinging strike rate on the offering is tied for third among the 68 pitchers who have thrown at least 500 fastbals). In 2018 — his most recent season of more than seven starts — batters hit .257 and slugged .422 off Rodón in at-bats ending with a four-seamer. This year, they’re hitting .180 and slugging .275 against the pitch.

It’s only been three months, but Rodón has performed at an ace-caliber level to this point. He famously threw a no-hitter against the Indians in April, and he’s had an additional seven starts in which he’s allowed three or fewer hits. Rodón has struck out eight or more batters in thirteen of his fifteen appearances, and he’s shown no obvious ill effects from the league’s foreign substance crackdown. In all likelihood, 2021 will mark his heaviest workload in five years, so he’ll need to continue to prove he’s capable of performing at a high level as his innings total piles up.

The White Sox are highly likely to win the AL Central, and Rodón has put himself in what appears to be a very strong future playoff rotation also including Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn and one of Dylan Cease or Dallas Keuchel. He’s in line to again reach free agency this winter, where he’ll be one of the youngest and most productive starting pitchers on the market. There’s no question he’ll fare quite a bit better this time around.

White Sox Release Adam Eaton

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The White Sox announced Monday morning that outfielder Adam Eaton has been granted his unconditional release. He’s now a free agent available to any other team for the prorated league minimum.

Eaton, 32, returned to Chicago on a one-year, $7MM contract this past winter after spending four years with the Nationals and winning a World Series there. He’d struggled through a tough showing during last summer’s shortened 60-game schedule, but Eaton was productive in his other three years with the Nats, hitting .288/.377/.425 in 1133 plate appearances from 2017-19. The Eaton reunion wasn’t the big outfield splash for which ChiSox fans were pining early in the offseason, but it was a reasonable enough roll of the dice at an affordable price considering Eaton’s generally strong track record.

Things (obviously) didn’t go according to plan for either Eaton or the White Sox, however. While he got out to a great start in the season’s first 15 games (.268/.379/.482 in 66 plate appearances), Eaton’s production cratered not long after. From April 20 through the time he was designated for assignment on July 7, he mustered only a .173/.262/.286 batting line with a sky-high (by his standards) 27.4 percent strikeout rate; entering the season, Eaton carried a career 16.8 percent punchout rate and had never fanned in more than 19 percent of his plate appearances during a single season.

While Eaton’s contract contained an $8.5MM club option for the 2022 campaign (which carries a $1MM buyout), that option buyout is now the responsibility of the White Sox, along with the remaining $3.1MM on Eaton’s contract. He’ll again be a free agent at season’s end. A new team that signs him will owe him the prorated league minimum — about $252K from now to season’s end. That sum would be subtracted from the roughly $4.1MM the Sox still owe him.

As for the White Sox, they’ll continue leaning on an outfield mix that currently features Brian Goodwin, Billy Hamilton, Adam Engel, Gavin Sheets, Andrew Vaughn and Leury Garcia. Slugger Eloy Jimenez, however, will have his minor league rehab assignment transferred to Triple-A Charlotte tomorrow, according to the team, further signaling that his return isn’t too far off.

Jimenez began his rehab assignment with Class-A Advanced on Friday and can be on rehab for up to 30 days — or until the Sox deem him ready for a big league return. He’s been out for the entire season so far after rupturing a pectoral tendon during Spring Training and undergoing subsequent surgery. Center fielder Luis Robert, meanwhile, is still expected back later this summer after suffering a Grade 3 strain of his hip flexor at the end of April. The Sox could still pursue outfield upgrades in the 18 days leading up to the trade deadline, but the positive progress of Jimenez can only make them feel a bit better about their internal outlook.

Eloy Jimenez To Begin Rehab Assignment

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The White Sox announced this morning that slugger Eloy Jimenez has been cleared to begin a minor league rehab assignment this weekend. Jimenez, who suffered a ruptured pectoral tendon during Spring Training and has yet to play in 2021, will start out with Class-A Advanced Winston-Salem.

Minor league rehab assignments can last up to 30 days, so this doesn’t necessarily mean that Jimenez will be back with the Sox in the very near future, but it effectively places a clock on his return to the roster (barring any kind of setback). Assuming all goes well with the rehab, it seems he’s on track to return on the more optimistic end of the four- to five-month recovery period the White Sox placed on him after he underwent surgery back on March 30.

It’s a welcome development for a White Sox club whose roster has been hammered by injuries to key players. Center fielder Luis Robert suffered a Grade 3 hip flexor strain in early May that came with a 12- to 16-week recovery period. Nick Madrigal’s season is over due to a torn hamstring that required surgery. Yasmani Grandal underwent surgery to repair a tendon in his knee this week.

Despite losing some of their best players for half the season or more, the Sox have run away with the feeble American League Central. The rival Twins have been perhaps baseball’s most disappointing team in 2021, while the Indians have lost their top three starters to injury and have plummeted in the standings while their replacements have posted a combined 6.87 ERA over the past month. Kansas City’s offseason spending hasn’t produced a winner on the field, and the Tigers are in what they hope to be the final stages of what has felt like an interminable rebuild.

That’s not to detract from what the ChiSox have accomplished. Few would have been surprised to see the team wilt with so many major injuries. The front office deserves credit both for bringing in veteran Brian Goodwin, who has helped to stabilize the outfield with a .253/.349/.493 batting line in his first 22 games, and for generally cultivating a deep farm system over the past several years. Prospects Gavin Sheets and Jake Burger have both hit the ground running in their big league debuts, for instance.

The Chicago pitching staff, meanwhile, has been the backbone of the club’s success. Spearheaded by offseason acquisition Lance Lynn and a remarkable breakout by Carlos Rodon, Sox starting pitchers rank seventh in the Majors with a collective 3.62 earned run average.

The general thought has been that the White Sox will be looking for help in the outfield and/or at second base in the three weeks leading up to the July 30 trade deadline. That Jimenez is already on the mend and perhaps on track to be back in the lineup by early August could directly impact the team’s strategy. The Sox recently designated Adam Eaton for assignment, but they’ve been more prominently linked to infield acquisitions thus far — namely Eduardo Escobar and Adam Frazier. An apparently looming Jimenez return can only make GM Rick Hahn and his staff feel better about the outlook in the outfield, whereas second base is still a fairly obvious area to upgrade.

Yasmani Grandal Undergoes Knee Tendon Surgery

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JULY 7: Grandal underwent knee surgery to fix his torn tendon, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports (Twitter link).  In an official statement from the White Sox, the team stated that surgery was required for Grandal after further examination by doctors.  Grandal is still expected to play again in 2021, though the club’s statement mentioned that an “updated timeline” would come soon, so there could be some adjustment to the initial four-to-six week projection.

JULY 6: The White Sox announced they’ve placed catcher Yasmani Grandal on the 10-day injured list with a tendon tear in his left knee. He’s expected to miss four-to-six weeks. Fellow catcher Seby Zavala has been recalled from Triple-A Charlotte in a corresponding move.

Grandal has been nagged by left calf tightness in recent days, keeping him out of action over the weekend. He returned to the lineup last night but left early after hurting his knee on a check swing. Obviously, the new injury will lead to a significantly longer absence.

It’s another blow for the White Sox, who have also lost their presumptive starting left fielder (Eloy Jiménez), center fielder (Luis Robert) and second baseman (Nick Madrigal) for significant chunks of the season. Jiménez and Robert have been out for months after suffering injuries early in the year, while Madrigal was lost for the rest of the season after going down last month.

It’ll be tough for the Sox to replace Grandal’s production in the coming weeks. While the 32-year-old is only hitting .188, his power and incredible patience have made him a highly productive player. The switch-hitting backstop is reaching base at a fantastic .388 clip thanks to a league-best 24.4% walk rate. He’s popped 14 home runs (tied for third-most among catchers) en route to a decent .436 slugging percentage. Grandal has also earned a reputation as one of the game’s elite pitch framers in recent years, although Statcast suggests he’s only been average in that regard this season.

It now seems the Chicago catching situation will fall to the younger tandem of Zack Collins and Zavala. The recently-optioned Yermín Mercedes could also play his way into the mix, but the Sox were fairly reluctant to give him much time behind the dish when he was tearing the cover off the ball earlier in the year and have turned to Zavala before Mercedes in the immediate aftermath of Grandal’s injury. It’s possible they look to acquire a more experienced backstop from outside the organization before the trade deadline, but Chicago’s six-game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central could give them enough confidence to roll with their in-house options until Grandal returns.

White Sox Designate Adam Eaton For Assignment

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The White Sox have designated outfielder Adam Eaton for assignment, the team announced.  The move clears a roster space for another outfielder in Adam Engel, who was activated off the 10-day injured list.

Eaton only just returned from the IL himself earlier this week, after missing two weeks with a hamstring strain.  However, the White Sox had clearly seen enough from Eaton after he hit only .201/.298/.344 over 219 plate appearances, marking his second straight year of subpar offensive production after a similarly lackluster season with the Nationals in 2020.

That said, it still counts as a bit of a surprise to see the White Sox so abruptly cut ties with Eaton, in part because of the team is still so shorthanded in the outfield with Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez both still on the injured list.  Until those stars return (or unless the Sox make a notable trade deadline addition), Chicago will go with a mix of Engel, Andrew Vaughn, Brian Goodwin, Gavin Sheets, Billy Hamilton, and utilitymen Leury Garcia and Danny Mendick as their outfield options.

Beyond the immediate on-field impact, the Sox will now almost surely have to eat the remainder of Eaton’s contract.  The outfielder inked a one-year deal worth $8MM in guaranteed money ($7MM salary, $1MM buyout of an $8.5MM club option for 2022) during the offseason, and while Eaton didn’t play well in 2020, it wasn’t a bad investment for the White Sox to make considering his above-average play over the majority of this career.  Since it seems quite unlikely that another team will claim Eaton off DFA waivers and absorb the rest of his salary, Chicago’s front office will have to chalk the signing up as a misfire.

While many fans wished for a more substantive outfield addition last winter, the club’s plan of having Robert, Jimenez, and an Eaton/Engel platoon in the outfield (with Vaughn in the wings as an outfield/first base/DH candidate) seemed at least decent on paper, though injuries quickly altered the situation.  The White Sox have still build a big lead in the AL Central even despite all their injury woes, but the outfield clearly seems like an area of need heading into the trade deadline.

Since another team would only have to pay Eaton the prorated minimum salary, it seems probable that the veteran will land somewhere else once he clears DFA waivers and is cut loose by the White Sox.  Speculatively, a return to Washington might not be out of the question, as the Nationals are in need of outfield help with Kyle Schwarber sidelined by a hamstring injury.

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