- The White Sox are looking for DH help, but they don’t appear to be looking at the Dodgers’ Matt Kemp as a trade possibility.
[SOURCE LINK]
White Sox Rumors
White Sox, Jeanmar Gomez Agree To Minor League Deal
The White Sox are in agreement with right-hander Jeanmar Gomez on a minor league contract, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo. The Magnus Sports client will vie for a bullpen role with the South Siders in Spring Training.
Gomez, 30 in February, got off to a strong start with the Phillies in 2016 and emerged as their closer, saving 37 games for the Phils over the course of that season. However, his ERA and save total never matched up with his secondary numbers, and he was tattooed for 17 runs in eight innings that September.
The Phils held onto Gomez despite pedestrian peripheral marks, but his struggles took a turn for the worse in 2017. Gomez was torched for a 7.25 ERA in 22 1/3 innings with the Phillies this past season and ultimately cut loose in late June. He latched on with the Mariners and Brewers on minor league contracts and threw well with their Triple-A affiliates, though he never resurfaced in the Majors.
Chicago GM Rick Hahn has been active in bringing in experienced bullpen options this offseason, hoping to create depth and perhaps to catch lightning in a bottle — as he did with minor league signee Anthony Swarzak last offseason. The Sox took on Joakim Soria (and cash) and Luis Avilan in a three-team trade with the Royals and Dodgers, and they’ve added several veterans on minor league deals as well. In addition to Gomez, the Pale Hose will have Xavier Cedeno, Rob Scahill, T.J. House and Chris Volstad in camp this spring, among others. Beyond that, they swung a trade with the Mariners to acquire hard-throwing young righty Thyago Vieira, giving them yet another arm to compete for relief innings in 2018.
Latest On Jose Abreu, Avisail Garcia
While things can always change with one phone call or text, White Sox GM Rick Hahn suggested at SoxFest over the weekend that he expects both Jose Abreu and Avisail Garcia to open the year with the ChiSox (link via MLB.com’s Scott Merkin).
“…[W]e are now basically done with an offseason during which we were able to understand what their value is out in the market,” said Hahn. “We made the assessment we were much better served as an organization to have both with us to start the 2018 season.”
Entering the offseason, both Abreu and Garcia stood out as plausible trade candidates, as each was coming off a terrific season with just two years of club control remaining. The Sox haven’t deviated much from their rebuilding direction, though the addition of Welington Castillo on a two-year, $15MM deal was more focused on near-term improvement than any of the moves the Sox made last offseason (or than any that they’ve made since).
Both Garcia and Abreu had their names bounced about the rumor circuit a bit earlier this winter, with Garcia being prominently connected to the Athletics and also speculatively linked to the Cardinals, among others. Abreu had his name connected to the Red Sox, Rockies and Cardinals himself, though it never seemed that talks between the White Sox and any interested party advanced especially far down the road to a deal.
Hahn, unsurprisingly, was mostly vague when speaking about the possibility of either player remaining with the team beyond the remaining two years of arbitration each has prior to free agency. The GM cited Miguel Gonzalez, whom the Sox recently re-signed, as evidence that players can return to an organization even after testing the free-agent waters and also indicated that it’s possible the Sox “figure it out sooner,” in reference to a potential long-term deal for Abreu and/or Garcia.
Abreu and the Sox have already avoided arbitration for the coming season by agreeing to a one-year, $13MM contract. Garcia figures to agree to a one-year deal at some point, though it may require a hearing; he filed for a $6.7MM salary against Chicago’s $5.85MM (as can be seen in MLBTR’s 2018 Arbitration Tracker), and the two sides have yet to reach an agreement. While those hearings can be a contentious process at times, Garcia didn’t sound especially concerned about the matter (link via CBS Chicago’s Bruce Levine).
“Yes for sure,” Garcia said when asked if he wants to remain with the Sox. “I want to play baseball here in Chicago. As a player, you never know what is going to happen. My job is to continue to work hard and get better.” Garcia voiced praise for manager Rick Renteria as well, Levine notes, though he also indicated that he doesn’t believe there’s been any talk of an extension between his agents and the White Sox’ front office. Such matters are often handled in Spring Training, though, and now that the Sox are more in tune with the market value of both Garcia and Abreu in trade talks, it stands to reason that they’ll also touch base with their camps to gauge the value of brokering a longer-term pact beyond the 2020 season.
Hahn On White Sox Spending, Yelich Trade
- The White Sox will be ready and willing to spend when they move from rebuilders to contenders, GM Rick Hahn told CBS Chicago’s Bruce Levine and other reporters. “Ultimately, competing for free agents and targeting big-ticket items and hopefully converting on them will be the next logical step when the time is right,” Hahn said. “Anyone who doubts that we will break from past perception or past process, I believe the evidence is there over the last year that those old standards are gone.” Chicago has explored making some high-profile (and pricey) trades for the likes of Manny Machado and Christian Yelich this winter, and in my opinion, it wouldn’t be a total surprise to see the Sox make a play for one of the big-name free agents still on the market. Speaking of Yelich, Hahn said (via Levine’s Twitter) that the White Sox “we were not comfortable going above what we offered” the Marlins in negotiations.
White Sox Sign Xavier Cedeno to Minor-League Deal
9:17pm: A tweet from Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports reveals that Cedeno’s contract comes with a spring training invite, as one may have expected. He stands to earn $1.05MM if he breaks camp with the big league club.
8:21pm: The White Sox have agreed to terms on a minor-league pact with left-hander Xavier Cedeno, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation reports via a tweet.
The 31-year-old Cedeno has pitched at the major-league level in each of the past seven seasons. After he missed nearly all of 2017 due to a forearm injury suffered in April, the Rays elected to non-tender Cedeno rather than pay him a 2018 arbitration salary (he made $1.3MM in 2017). That’s hardly surprising considering Tampa Bay’s interest in trimming payroll this winter.
For his career, the southpaw owns a 3.98 ERA out of the bullpens of the Astros, Nationals and Rays. While he’s been a below average major-leaguer in terms of WPA (-0.85), his career 8.85 K/9 and 3.39 BB/9 suggest he could be a viable bullpen piece for his new club. That outlook only gets brighter when considering he’s a respectable lefty specialist; Cedeno has faced a left-handed hitter 320 times over the course of his MLB tenure, and they’ve batted a paltry .220/.286/.299 against him.
[Related: Updated Chicago White Sox Depth Chart]
It seems likely that the Puerto Rican native can earn himself a role in the White Sox bullpen. Outside of the recently-acquired Luis Avilan, the Southsiders don’t have much in the way of viable left-handed options for their relief corps.
Cedeno was originally a 31st-round selection of the Rockies back in 2004. He pitched exclusively as a starter up through the end of the 2008 season, when he reached the Double-A level for the first time. However, following a demotion to the Rockies’ High-A affiliate, Cedeno transitioned to a relief role. Though the Astros tried giving him another chance to start in 2011, his performance at the Double-A level that season wasn’t good enough to warrant a permanent shift back to the rotation. He’s pitched exclusively as a reliever since his MLB debut with Houston later that year.
Dean Anna Signs Minor League Deal With White Sox
- Infielder Dean Anna announced yesterday that he’s joining the White Sox organization (Twitter link). Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets that Anna’s minor league deal doesn’t contain an invite to MLB camp. The 31-year-old Anna, an Illinois native, will join the club he grew up watching and hope for an eventual opportunity to return to the big leagues. The former 26th-rounder (Padres, 2008) appeared in a dozen games for the 2014 Yankees and one lone game for the 2015 Cardinals, hitting .130/.192/.304 in 26 plate appearances. Anna is a career .283/.373/.386 hitter in parts of five Triple-A seasons and has experience at second base, shortstop, third base and in the outfield corners.
Minor MLB Transactions: 1/23/18
We’ll track the day’s minor moves in this post:
- Outfielder Jacob May was outrighted by the White Sox after clearing waivers, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports. Likewise, Angels lefty Nate Smith is headed for Triple-A via outright. Both were designated for assignment recently.
- Infielder Ty Kelly is returning to the Mets, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). The 29-year-old first reached the bigs in New York and also spent time in the majors last year with the Phillies. He has hit well at times in the upper minors but has yet to translate that to the majors in limited opportunities.
- The Tigers have purchased the contract of lefty Caleb Thielbar from the St. Paul Saints, per an announcement from the indy ball club. Soon to turn 31, Thielbar hasn’t seen the majors since 2015. In 98 2/3 total innings at the game’s highest level, though, he has pitched to a 2.74 ERA with 7.2 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9. He was released by the Marlins just before the start of the 2017 season after competing for a job in camp.
- Righty Carlos Frias is re-joining the Indians on a minors pact, the club announced. The 28-year-old, who has not seen substantial MLB time since 2015, stumbled to an 8.05 ERA with an ugly 21:22 K/BB ratio at Triple-A last year with the Cleveland organization.
- The Angels have re-signed lefty John Lamb, Cotillo tweets. Once a well-regarded prospect, the 27-year-old saw his career derailed by back issues. He did throw 139 innings at Triple-A last year with the Halos organization, though he managed only a 5.44 ERA with 5.2 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9.
- Reliever Bryan Harper has re-joined the Nationals on a minor-league deal with a spring invite, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports on Twitter. Bryce’s older brother has never been seen as a major asset, but he’s an accomplished minor-league reliever. He missed all of 2017 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but has allowed less than three earned runs per nine in over a hundred frames in the upper minors.
- Outfielder Matt Lipka is joining the Giants organization on a minor-league deal, Cotillo also tweets. A first-round pick in the 2010 draft, Lipka has not yet shown that he can hand the bat in the upper minors. He posted a .754 OPS in 370 plate appearances last year at the High-A level, but limped to a .160/.216/.223 slash over his 102 trips to the plate at Double-A.
White Sox Sign Chris Volstad, T.J. House, Matt Skole To Minor League Deals
The White Sox announced a slew of non-roster invitations to Major League Spring Training today, including minor league deals with right-hander Chris Volstad, left-hander T.J. House and corner infielder Matt Skole. (The Sox also confirmed their previously reported minor league agreements with free agents Rob Scahill, Michael Ynoa and Patrick Leonard.)
Volstad, 31, will return to the South Siders after making a return to the Majors with them in 2017. The former Marlins right-hander had pitched just 10 1/3 innings in the Majors since the conclusion of the 2012 campaign but was called upon for a pair of starts and four relief appearances with the Sox, totaling 19 1/3 innings with a 4.66 ERA and a 10-to-5 K/BB ratio. This will be the third straight season that Volstad has spent in the ChiSox system, as he also pitched for their Triple-A affiliate in 2016.
House, meanwhile, should be somewhat familiar with the Sox having faced them often as a member of the Indians from 2014-16. Shoulder troubles slowed House’s career in 2015, and he’s scarcely appeared in the Majors since. House, 28, did enjoy a healthy season with the Blue Jays after a Spring Training scare in which he was struck in the head by a line drive. He recovered and went on to make 24 starts for Triple-A Buffalo, where he posted a 4.32 ERA with 7.3 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9 in 133 1/3 innings of work. He also logged a pair of innings for Toronto in the Majors in August before being outrighted back to Buffalo.
Skole, also 28, has never appeared in the Majors. The former Nationals farmhand was considered one of the organization’s best prospects after a massive 2012 season in A-ball, but his 2013 campaign was cut short in a collision at first base that left him with a broken wrist and a torn UCL in his non-throwing elbow. Skole has played three full seasons in the upper levels of the minor since that time but has never rediscovered the form he showed in that promising 2012 campaign. He’s a career .238/.332/.444 hitter in parts of three Triple-A seasons.
Brewers Reportedly Close To Making Trade
There’s “buzz” that the Brewers are closing in on a trade, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN reports. Crasnick doesn’t offer any details about an exact trade partner or players involved, though he notes that the Brewers have been discussing outfielders with multiple teams (Twitter link).
At present, the Brewers have several outfielders who are either established major leaguers or players who are closing in on regular roles. The group includes Ryan Braun, Domingo Santana, Keon Broxton, Brett Phillips and Lewis Brinson. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported earlier this month that the Brewers could move someone from that quintet for much-needed starting pitching and to open up room for free agent center fielder Lorenzo Cain. The 31-year-old Cain was a “frequent topic of conversation” for Milwaukee’s front office, Rosenthal wrote at the time.
If a deal does happen, it won’t be with San Francisco, according to Crasnick, even though the Giants and Brewers discussed Santana and Broxton earlier this offseason. The White Sox, on the other hand, are a possibility, Crasnick suggests (via Twitter).
Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel adds (on Twitter) that the Brewers have been shopping Santana since last month’s Winter Meetings, and he notes that they’re also in the market for second base help. Milwaukee received disappointing production at the keystone most of last season from Jonathan Villar, who remains in the fold. Villar’s down season led the Brewers to acquire Neil Walker last August. Although Walker thrived during his month and a half with the Brewers, he’s currently a free agent.
White Sox, Gonzalez Germen Agree To Minor League Deal
- Cotillo also tweets that righty Gonzalez Germen is signing a minors pact with the White Sox after spending the past year in Japan. Germen, 30, posted a 2.68 ERA with 9.8 K/9 against 4.6 BB/9 in 47 innings of relief in his lone season in Japan, where he pitched for the Orix Buffaloes. In parts of four MLB seasons between the Rockies, Mets and Cubs, he’s worked to a 4.63 ERA with 129 strikeouts against 81 walks over the life of 144 innings.
