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Dylan Covey Elects Free Agency

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Right-hander Dylan Covey has rejected an outright assignment from the White Sox and is now a free agent, Vinnie Duber of NBC Sports Chicago tweets. Chicago designated the 28-year-old for assignment last week.

Covey has appeared in part of three seasons with the White Sox, showing promise at times but struggling on the whole. In 250 1/3 big league innings, he’s pitched to a 6.54 ERA with 6.2 K/9, 4.1 BB/9, 1.62 HR/9 and a 50 percent ground-ball rate. The 2013 fourth-rounder (Athletics) was Chicago’s Rule 5 pick in 2016, so a rough rookie campaign was always to be expected. But Covey impressed to begin the 2018 campaign, notching a 3.45 ERA and 3.54 FIP with a whopping 60 percent ground-ball rate through his first eight starts. Things went south from there, and the sinkerballer will now look for a new club in 2020.

That Covey went unclaimed on waivers means he’ll likely latch on elsewhere on a minor league deal. He does have a minor league option remaining, so anyone who signs him can shuttle him between Triple-A and the big leagues in 2020 if he’s ever selected to the big league roster. To his credit, Covey has been terrific at both the Double-A (1.84 ERA in 29 1/3 innings) and Triple-A levels (2.63 ERA in 95 2/3 innings).

White Sox Outright Dylan Covey

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The White Sox have outrighted hurler Dylan Covey to Triple-A Charlotte, per the International League transactions page. Covey has been outrighted before, so he’ll be allowed to decline the assignment in favor of free agency if he wants. It’s unclear if that will happen.

The right-handed Covey lost his spot on Chicago’s 40-man roster when the team designated him Jan. 14 to clear space for newly signed reliever Steve Cishek. Covey had been a fairly regular option in the White Sox’s pitching staff over the previous three seasons, but his time in the majors hasn’t gone well.

So far, Covey has combined for 250 1/3 innings (63 appearances, 45 starts) of 6.54 ERA/5.57 FIP ball in the bigs. Despite boasting a fastball that averages upward of 94 mph, Covey has struggled to limit home runs (1.62 per nine) and miss bats, having fanned just over six hitters per nine while walking more than four. Dating back to 2017, his K/BB ratio (1.52) ranks fifth worst among 193 pitchers who have thrown at least 200 innings.

While Covey has made double-digit starts in each of his three MLB seasons, he almost certainly won’t total that many in 2020 even if he does remain with the White Sox organization. The club has been aggressive in upgrading its rotation this winter, having signed southpaws Dallas Keuchel and Gio Gonzalez. They’re part of a group that should also include a mix of Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech and Carlos Rodon (when he returns from Tommy John surgery) during the upcoming season.

Regardless of whether Covey sticks with his current franchise, it appears he’ll have to improve his stock in the minors. The 28-year-old has been quite effective in Triple-A ball, where he owns a 2.63 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 95 2/3 frames.

White Sox Sign Adalberto Mejia, Drew Anderson, Matt Skole

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The White Sox announced a series of minor league signings Tuesday, including the yet-unreported additions of left-hander Adalberto Mejia, right-hander Drew Anderson, corner infielder Matt Skole and outfielder Jaycob Brugman. They’ll all be in Major League camp this spring.

Mejia, formerly of the Twins, Angels and Cardinals, was a top-100 prospect at his best but has yet to put things together at the game’s top level. Now 26 years old, Mejia was unscored upon in 9 1/3 minor league innings across multiple organizations this year but was hit hard in the Majors, logging a 6.61 ERA (4.97 FIP, 5.98 xFIP) with an ugly 30-to-21 K/BB ratio in 31 1/3 innings.

Mejia did make 21 respectable starts for the Twins in 2017 (4.50 ERA, 7.8 K/9, 4.0 BB/9) at just 24 years of age, creating some optimism that he could settle in as the fourth starter he’d been projected as in the upper minors. But blister issues and a left wrist injury shortened Mejia’s 2018 season, and he wasn’t able to regain his footing in 2019. The White Sox don’t look to have room for him in the rotation, but he could provide depth in Triple-A or look to carve out a bullpen spot.

Anderson, 25, enjoyed solid numbers in Double-A and Triple-A in 2017-18 but hasn’t found success in the big leagues yet. He’s thrown 21 innings for the Phillies but been hammered for 18 earned runs on 29 hits and nine walks with 19 strikeouts. He’s only yielded one home run in that time, but he’s been plagued by a sky-high .389 BABIP in the Majors. Anderson notched a combined 3.72 ERA in 111 1/3 innings in Triple-A from 2017-18 but slumped to a 5.77 mark in 48 1/3 frames there in 2019.

The 30-year-old Skole appeared in 27 games for the White Sox in 2019, hitting .208/.275/.236 in 80 plate appearances. He posted a .248/.384/.497 batting line with 21 long balls in Triple-A Charlotte this past season — his second in the White Sox organization. Skole has a generally productive track record throughout the minors thanks largely to his persistent knack for drawing walks.

Brugman, 28, hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since his 2017 debut with the A’s, when he batted .266/.346/.343 in 162 plate appearances. He’s been with the Orioles and Mariners since that time, including a terrific .283/.363/.601 slash in 331 plate appearances with Seattle’s Triple-A club in 2019. Brugman, though, has never shown that type of power in the past, so those numbers should be taken with a grain of salt considering the juiced ball in Triple-A this past season; the outfielder’s 24 homers in 2019 matched his combined total from 2016-18. Brugman has long had solid walk rates, though, and he’s a solid defender who can play all three outfield spots even though he’s consistently posted below-average power numbers excluding the 2019 surge.

Rick Hahn Discusses White Sox's Offseason

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  • The White Sox have been among the offseason’s most active teams in free agency. While the additions of Yasmani Grandal, Dallas Keuchel, Edwin Encarnación and Gio González (among others) figure to help Chicago next season, they’re all under team control through at least 2021, GM Rick Hahn points out to James Fegan of the Athletic. That jibes with the franchise’s long-term plan, the exec notes. The Sox have myriad prospects and young players at or near the MLB level, particularly on the pitching staff and in the outfield. Plugging some immediate holes with veterans buys Hahn and the rest of the front office additional time to sort through those largely unproven options.

White Sox Sign Bryan Mitchell To Minors Deal

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The White Sox have signed right-hander Bryan Mitchell to a minor league contract, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link).

Mitchell spent 2019 in the minors, after seeing at least a bit of MLB action in each of the previous five seasons.  Even with the caveat that 2019 was the most hitter-friendly season in the history of Triple-A baseball, Mitchell’s results weren’t good, as he posted a 9.41 ERA, 7.0 K/9, and 5.7 BB/9 over 44 innings for the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate in El Paso.

Chicago represents a fresh start for Mitchell, who has shown flashes of promise of his short big league career but has yet to deliver consistent results over his time with the Padres and Yankees.  San Diego acquired Mitchell in the 2017-18 offseason, as part of a trade that saw the Padres agree to absorb the remainder of Chase Headley’s contract as the price for getting a controllable young arm in Mitchell.  The gambit didn’t work out for the Padres, as Mitchell had a 5.42 ERA over 73 frames (starting 11 of 16 games) for the club in 2018.

White Sox Sign Andrew Romine

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The White Sox and utility player Andrew Romine have agreed to a minor league contract, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports. Romine will earn a $900K salary if he reaches the majors in 2020.

A fifth-round pick of the Angels in 2007, Romine debuted in the majors in 2010 and has since combined for 1,323 major league plate appearances with the Halos, Tigers and Mariners. While Romine has lined up all over the diamond in that span, offensive success has been hard to come by for the 34-year-old switch-hitter. So far, Romine has only managed a .235/.291/.301 line with 10 home runs.

Romine saw at least some MLB action in each season from 2010-18, but he spent all of last year in Triple-A ball with the Phillies. He slashed .289/.342/.409 with eight homers and 21 stolen bases across 417 trips to the plate.

White Sox Designate Dylan Covey, Announce Steve Cishek Signing

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The White Sox have designated right-hander Dylan Covey for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot goes to Steve Cishek, whose previously reported signing is now official.

Covey has certainly had his chances to forestall this result. Over the past three seasons, he has been given 250 1/3 innings of MLB action with the South Siders. The results simply have not been there.

All told, Covey carries a 6.54 ERA to this point in his career. He has an even fifty percent grounder rate but otherwise the peripherals are equally unsightly: 6.2 K/9, 4.1 BB/9, 1.62 HR/9.

Covey has averaged between 94 and 95 mph with both his four-seam and two-seam fastballs, partnering those with a changing variety of secondary offerings. Opposing MLB hitters have feasted on most everything he has sent across the plate and haven’t been tempted to chase very often.

It’s a disappointing situation for both team and player. Covey was long seen as a potential rotation fixture but just hasn’t made the leap. He has thrown 95 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level over the past three seasons as well, finding much more success there. In that span, Covey owns a 2.63 ERA with 84 strikeouts and 25 walks.

White Sox Hire Wes Helms As Triple-A Manager

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The White Sox announced some notable hires at the minor league level Monday, as LaMond Pope of the Chicago Tribune relays. Former major league infielder Wes Helms will manage the White Sox’s Triple-A team in Charlotte. Meanwhile, ex-MLB reliever Danny Farquhar will work as the organization’s pitching coach at High-A Winston-Salem. It was already known Farquhar would serve as a pitching coach in the organization when he retired in August, but the destination was unclear at that point.

Taking over in Charlotte represents a homecoming of sorts for the 43-year-old Helms, a North Carolina native. And he’ll be the second member of his family to manage in Charlotte, joining his uncle, Tommy Helms. Wes Helms spent last season as the bench coach with the White Sox’s Double-A club, and he served in the same role with the Phillies’ top minors affiliate in 2018, but this will be his first experience as a manager.

Of course, Helms is best known for his playing days in the majors. He suited up for the Braves, Brewers, Marlins and Phillies for a combined 1,212 games from 1998-2011.

As for Farquhar, the fact that he’s making news right now is especially interesting, considering the impact he had on the momentous events that just occurred in Houston. The sign-stealing accusations Farquhar made against the Astros in November helped lead to an investigation from Major League Baseball. The league then found enough evidence against the Astros to hit them with a massive penalty on Monday, and the team fired GM Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch as a result.

The Astros were also the team Farquhar dealt with a scary health situation against in 2018, as he suffered a life-threatening brain aneurysm while with the White Sox. That upended Farquhar’s MLB career, though he did attempt to return to the game’s highest level last season. Farquhar will now try to help some of Chicago’s young pitchers climb their way up to the bigs.

Hahn: McCann Still Has Role Despite Grandal, Encarnacion Deals

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  • Although the White Sox have largely displaced James McCann with the signings of Yasmani Grandal and Edwin Encarnacion, general manager Rick Hahn reiterated this weekend that he views McCann as a valuable member of the club (link via Madeline Kenney of the Chicago Sun-Times). “Having quality depth is a positive thing on good clubs, and it’s part of what makes good clubs able to withstand the unexpected,” said Hahn. “We view James as potentially playing a role on a championship club, and that hasn’t changed since the end of last season to today.” There’s been some speculation about McCann’s availability in trade talks, but ChiSox leadership has publicly maintained a desire to keep McCann on the roster. The 29-year-old’s .273/.328/.460 slash in 2019 was clearly strong on the whole, but it was fueled by a .359 average on balls in play. Beyond that, McCann wilted over the summer, hitting just .231/.285/.410 from July through season’s end. Most of that was due to an abysmal month of July — he rebounded to an extent in August and September — but the Sox clearly still saw room for an upgrade. At $5.4MM, he’s a bit of an expensive backup, but few clubs can boast that type of offensive potential from their reserve catcher and the Sox have the payroll space to make the situation work.

Examining The Luis Robert Extension

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  • Following their extension last week, the White Sox have now invested over $100MM in Luis Robert before his major league debut, observes Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. As Rosenthal explains, the Sox paid over $25MM in overage taxes while guaranteeing Robert $26MM as an amateur under the prior international spending rules. (Spending on international amateurs was hard capped following the 2016-17 signing period, so deals like Robert’s are no longer permissible). Nevertheless, Rosenthal argues, the extension makes perfect sense for the White Sox. Not only does it grant Chicago an extra season of team control, it creates a ceiling for Robert’s earnings in arbitration, he points out. While Robert was wise to secure the guarantee, Rosenthal opines, the agreement serves as the latest reminder that MLB’s economic landscape drastically underpays players at the beginnings of their careers, when they are likely to be their most productive. MLBTR readers certainly anticipate Robert’s becoming an impact player, with 56% of poll voters forecasting him to exceed 2.3 wins above replacement in his first season.

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