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White Sox Exercise Option On Nate Jones, Decline Option On James Shields

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The White Sox announced Monday that they’ve exercised their $4.65MM club option on right-hander Nate Jones and declined a $16MM option on righty James Shields in favor of a $2MM buyout. The Sox also reinstated Michael Kopech from the 60-day disabled list, filling a 40-man spot for the bulk of the offseason. Kopech underwent Tommy John surgery late in the season. Chicago’s 40-man roster now contains 34 players.

It’s the first of three club options that the White Sox hold over Jones, who turns 33 in January. His contract also comes with a $5.15MM option for the 2020 season and a $6MM option for the 2021 campaign. Both come with $1.25MM buyout figures attached to them.

Jones missed nearly three months of the 2018 season with a pronator strain in his right arm but was, as usual, a high-quality bullpen option for the Sox when healthy. In 30 innings of relief this season, he pitched to an even 3.00 ERA with a 32-to-15 K/BB ratio, four homers allowed and a 39.5 percent ground-ball rate. Control was a bit more of an issue for Jones than in a typical season, but he’s averaged a manageable 3.3 walks per nine innings in his career, making the recent blip a bit less concerning. Jones also maintained his premium velocity, averaging 97.2 mph on his fastball, which no doubt contributed to his strong 13.6 percent swinging-strike rate.

The veteran Shields has become synonymous with the ill-fated deal that brought him to Chicago in the first place (wherein then-unheralded but now-elite prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. went to the Padres), but the 36-year-old had somewhat of a rebound season in 2018. While his 4.53 ERA won’t do much to impress anyone, Shields started 33 games and pitched in 34 overall, racking up 204 2/3 innings while averaging 6.8 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9. He’ll turn 37 in December and may be a far cry from his peak seasons as “Big Game James,” but he displayed in 2018 that he’s still plenty durable and can provide some serviceable innings at the back of a thin rotation — likely at a highly affordable rate on a one-year deal.

White Sox Outright Danny Farquhar, Rob Scahill, Ryan LaMarre

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The White Sox announced that outfielder Ryan LaMarre and right-handers Danny Farquhar and Rob Scahill have been outrighted to Triple-A Charlotte after clearing waivers. All three will become free agents.

Farquhar will garner the most attention of the trio, as the 31-year-old endured a terrifying brain aneurysm in the White Sox’ dugout earlier this season and was subsequently rushed to the hospital. Farquhar required emergency surgery and, to the relief of teammates, fans and players throughout the league was discharged from the hospital a few weeks later. He ultimately made an emotional return to the clubhouse to visit his teammates, who honored him by hanging his jersey in the bullpen during his absence, the day after being released from the hospital. And on June 1, the ChiSox invited Farquhar to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Suffice it to say, Farquhar’s baseball future is somewhat up in the air. He didn’t throw a pitch in the Majors after suffering the aneurysm, though his neurosurgeon said at the time of his release from the hospital that it was possible the right-hander would be able to pitch again in future seasons. Given his uncertain future and a projected $1.4MM salary in arbitration, it was only logical for the Sox to make the roster cut from a business standpoint. It does seem there’s a chance that Farquhar and the others could return to the organization.

“We do plan to continue to stay in touch with these players and their representatives over the coming months to see if it makes sense for any of them to remain with our organization as we head into the 2019 season,” general manager Rick Hahn told reporters (Twitter link via Scott Merkin of MLB.com).

Scahill, 32 in February, pitched five innings for the Sox this season, yielding three earned runs on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts. He’s logged 149 2/3 frames at the MLB level over parts of seven seasons with the Rockies, Pirates, Brewers and White Sox, compiling a 3.85 ERA with 6.0 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 in that span.

LaMarre, 30 next month, split the year between the Pale Hose and the Twins, batting .279/.322/.382 in a career-high 180 plate appearances. A career .268/.336/.389 hitter in parts of three Triple-A campaigns, the right-handed-hitting LaMarre is capable of handling all three outfield positions.

Angels Claim Kevan Smith, Designate Joe Hudson

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The Angels announced Friday that they’ve claimed catcher Kevan Smith off waivers from the White Sox and cleared a spot on the 40-man roster by designating fellow backstop Joe Hudson for assignment.

Smith, 30, has spent parts of the past three seasons with the White Sox, totaling 146 games and 497 plate appearances with a .281/.318/.376 batting line, seven homers and 23 doubles in that time. He’s struggled enormously when it comes to controlling the running game, though, posting an anemic 14 percent caught-stealing rate. From a pitch-framing standpoint, Baseball Prospectus has given Smith rougly average marks between the Majors and minors over the past few seasons while rating his blocking skills to be below average.

Smith is out of minor league options, meaning he can’t be sent to the minors next year unless he first clears waivers — assuming he even sticks on the 40-man roster all winter, which is far from a given.

As for Hudson, the 27-year-old hit well with the Double-A and Triple-A affiliates for the Angels this season, albeit in minuscule sample sizes. Hudson notched a .970 OPS in seven games with the Double-A club before moving up to Triple-A and hitting .311/.380/.478 in 101 PAs. He’s also drawn solid framing marks over the past couple of seasons in the minors and has a career 43 percent caught-stealing rate.

Hudson went 2-for-12 in a late-season cameo with the Angels — a brief stint that marked his MLB debut. Generally speaking, however, he’s struggled with the bat in the upper levels of the minor leagues, hitting just .196/.297/.289 in parts of three Double-A seasons.

International Notes: Kikuchi, Gaston, Jimenez

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It’s already been reported in Japan that the Seibu Lions intend to post ace left-hander Yusei Kikuchi for Major League teams this offseason, but the pitcher himself said after his team was eliminated from the postseason that he has not yet made a firm decision (link via Jason Coskrey of the Japan Times). “Well, the season just ended,” Kikuchi said. “…Regarding the future, it’s not all up to me. I haven’t had a chance to talk with the team.” Kikuchi, 27, added that he needs to spend time with his family to ponder the decision before making any firm request. Coskrey writes that the Lions have publicly acknowledged that they would honor Kikuchi’s request if he ultimately wishes to be posted. Kikuchi turned in 163 2/3 innings of 3.08 ERA ball with 8.4 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 for the Lions this season. In 1035 1/3 career innings in Japan, the three-time All-Star has a 2.81 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 — including a combined 2.58 ERA over the past four seasons.

If he is posted, Kikuchi would be free of international spending restrictions and could negotiate with all 30 MLB clubs on a contract. The new posting system between MLB and NPB would require Kikuchi’s new team to pay a fee equal to 20 percent of his contract’s first $25MM, plus 17.5 percent of his next $25MM and 15 percent of anything beyond that (including incentives, option buyouts, etc.).

A few more notes on the international market…

  • The Marlins spent virtually all of their international bonus pool on brothers Victor Victor Mesa and Victor Mesa Jr., meaning right-hander Sandy Gaston almost certainly won’t be joining the Miami organization. Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald reports that Gaston’s camp is seeking a bonus north of $2MM for the 17-year-old flamethrower, with both the Orioles and Rays listed as potential landing spots. Baltimore has a reported sum of near $6.5MM left to spend on international amateurs, while Tampa Bay’s remaining international pool is in the $3.5MM range at present.
  • The White Sox have signed infielder Enoy Jimenez, the 17-year-old younger brother of top prospect Eloy Jimenez, reports Ben Badler of Baseball America (via Twitter). Scouting information on the younger Jimenez brother is virtually nonexistent, though it should be noted that the White Sox are barred from spending more than $300K on any international amateur signing due to their pool-shattering $26MM agreement with Luis Robert from the 2016-17 signing period, meaning Enoy couldn’t have received an especially large bonus. That certainly doesn’t mean that Enoy isn’t without upside — many high-profile Latin American players sign for only a few thousand dollars — but whatever the exact amount of the bonus was, it undoubtedly falls well shy of the $2.8MM the Cubs paid to sign Eloy back in 2013.

Looking At The White Sox 40-Man Roster Bubble

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  • The White Sox are still in rebuilding mode, so The Athletic’s James Fegan (subscription required) figures the team will take the long view on offseason roster placements in regards to out-of-options players and potential Rule 5 picks.  Since Chicago is likelier to keep players who can provide more help for the future than help in 2019, thus leaving the likes of Leury Garcia, Kevan Smith (both of whom are out of options), and others on the bubble.

Matt Davidson Hoping To Become Two-Way Player

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  • Fresh off his second straight 20-home run season, one which featured unspectacular overall production (104 wRC+) across 496 plate appearances, White Sox DH/corner infielder Matt Davidson would like to do more pitching in 2019. Davidson, who chipped in three scoreless innings of one-hit ball as a reliever in 2018, will spend the offseason working to become a legitimate two-way player, Bruce Levine of 670 The Score reports. The White Sox have okayed Davidson’s plan and will be able to monitor his progress in the offseason, given that he lives close to their Arizona-based complex, according to Levine. Davidson was a high school pitcher, notes Levine, who writes that Chicago’s coaching staff sees “decent movement” in his 92 mph fastball. Should Davidson achieve his goal, the soon-to-be 28-year-old would work out of the bullpen – albeit not in high-leverage situations – as a way to help keep the team’s conventional relievers fresh, per Levine.

Jones Hopes To Remain With ChiSox

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  • Right-hander Nate Jones tells Scott Merkin of MLB.com that he hopes to remain with the White Sox despite the team’s rebuilding status and several injury-shortened seasons. The ChiSox have a $4.65MM club option on Jones that comes with a $1.25MM buyout, making the overall $3.4MM decision on his services seem relatively straightforward. Jones, 32, has long been a quality bullpen piece, though injuries have held him to 41 2/3 innings over the past two seasons. Still, given the modest price tag and the upside, he seems plenty worth keeping around, if for no other reason than he has a second club option for the 2020 season and would be an undeniably appealing trade asset next summer if he can avoid the disabled list. The White Sox figure to be in the market for veteran additions to the relief corps this offseason anyhow, Merkin adds.

Players Electing Free Agency

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Quite a few players will hit the open market this fall, and they’ll do so by way of varying mechanisms. The end of the regular season triggered a recent wave of free agents, consisting of a certain subset of players — namely, those who were outrighted from 40-man rosters during the season and accepted minor-league assignments at that time despite having the right to elect free agency. Players in that situation are entitled instead to hit the open market at season’s end, if they were not added back to the 40-man roster in the meantime.

As conveyed by Matt Eddy of Baseball America, who also covers quite a few other minor moves, these players have now elected free agency:

Athletics: RHP Raul Alcantara, LHP Danny Coulombe

Blue Jays: RHP Mike Hauschild, INF/OF Darnell Sweeney

Braves: LHP Rex Brothers, RHP Miguel Socolovich

Cardinals: LHP Tyler Lyons

Indians: RHP Evan Marshall, RHP Alexi Ogando

Mariners: RHP Christian Bergman, LHP Ross Detwiler, RHP Mike Morin, INF Zach Vincej

Marlins: OF JB Shuck

Mets: RHP Chris Beck, OF Bryce Brentz, RHP Scott Copeland, OF Matt den Dekker, INF Ty Kelly

Nationals: LHP Tommy Milone, OF Moises Sierra, RHP Carlos Torres

Orioles: RHP Jhan Marinez, INF Luis Sardinas

Padres: OF Matt Szczur

Phillies: INF Trevor Plouffe

Pirates: LHP Buddy Boshers, RHP Casey Sadler, RHP A.J. Schugel

Rangers: C Juan Centeno, LHP Anthony Gose, RHP Drew Hutchison, INF Tommy Joseph, RHP Chris Rowley

Rays: INF Brandon Snyder, RHP Ryan Weber

Reds: C Tim Federowicz, RHP Kevin Quackenbush

Tigers: INF Dixon Machado, RHP Jacob Turner

White Sox: RHP Tyler Danish

Latest On Dane Dunning

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  • White Sox pitching prospect Dane Dunning’s season was cut short by an elbow sprain, but after rehabbing the injury, Dunning tells The Athletic’s James Fegan (subscription required) that he is hopeful of avoiding surgery altogether.  Dunning may even get a few instruction league innings under his belt just to test his arm before the offseason.  The 29th overall pick of the 2016 draft, Dunning came to Chicago as part of the trade that sent Adam Eaton to the Nationals, and his prospect stock has since been on the rise.  He cracked the preseason top-100 prospect lists from Baseball Prospectus, Baseball America, and MLB.com prior to 2018, and then posted a 2.71 ERA, 3.85 K/BB rate, and 10.4 K/9 over 86 1/3 combined innings at A-ball and Double-A this season.

White Sox Outright Dustin Garneau

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The White Sox have outrighted catcher Dustin Garneau to Triple-A Charlotte, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets. The club now has one open spot on its 40-man roster.

Chicago claimed Garneau off waivers from the Athletics in late May, and he went on to collect just three plate appearances with his new team. The 31-year-old spent the majority of the season in Charlotte, where he hit a solid .252/.340/.468 with seven home runs in 160 plate appearances. That continued a strong Triple-A run for Garneau, a career .262/.332/.494 hitter in 1,101 PA at the minors’ highest level.

While Garneau has hit well in the minors, his bat has been decidedly less impressive in the majors. Garneau owns a .194/.269/.321 line in 280 trips to the plate in MLB.

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