White Sox Release Chad Kuhl
September 24: Kuhl has cleared waivers and been released, per Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times on X.
September 21: The White Sox announced a series of roster moves this afternoon headlined by the club designating right-hander Chad Kuhl for assignment. Kuhl’s departure from the roster makes room for the return of right-hander Michael Soroka, who Chicago activated from the 15-day injured list and reinstated to the active roster. Right-hander Jordan Leasure was also activated from the IL, but was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte and will not be rejoining the club’s active roster.
Kuhl, 32, signed a minor league deal with the White Sox back in January but did not get the call to the majors until mid-June. He joined the club’s bullpen as a multi-inning relief option and performed fairly well in the role early on, with a 3.69 ERA and 4.08 FIP in 31 2/3 innings of work through the end of July. He moved to a short relief role following the trade deadline, however, and hasn’t acclimated to the new role well with a 7.06 ERA in 21 2/3 innings of work despite fairly solid peripheral numbers during that time, including a 4.14 FIP that was only a few points higher than his successful first half of the year and a strong 26.7% strikeout rate.
Overall, the right-hander has pitched to a lackluster 5.06 ERA that’s 18% worse than league average by measure of ERA+ despite a solid 4.11 FIP. Those lackluster results are more or less par for the course relative to Kuhl’s career, as his career 4.98 ERA and 86 ERA+ aren’t too dissimilar from his production in 2024. Where there’s room for optimism, however, is in his peripherals. That aforementioned 4.11 FIP is actually the best Kuhl has posted in a season since his rookie campaign back in 2016 with the Pirates, while this year’s 22.5% strikeout rate and 44.4% groundball rate are both career-bests for the veteran of 8 big league seasons.
It seems as though the biggest culprit for Kuhl’s struggles this year is his inflated .340 BABIP allowed, a stat that perhaps isn’t surprising given that the White Sox are the worst team in the majors by Defensive Runs Saved and second from the bottom by measure of Outs Above Average. Given those solid peripherals and his experience both starting and pitching in relief, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Kuhl enter free agency this offseason as somewhat attractive depth option for pitching-needy clubs, particularly if he’s once again willing to accept a minor league deal. In the meantime, Chicago will have one week to try and pass Kuhl through waivers, though the right-hander would have the opportunity to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency and he’d still be slated to reach free agency this November even if he accepted the outright.
Replacing Kuhl on the roster is Soroka, who was acquired from the Braves last offseason. Soroka’s 72 1/3 innings of work this year are the most he’s pitched in a season since 2019, when he finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting and sixth in NL Cy Young award voting with an excellent 2.68 ERA and 3.45 FIP in 29 starts for Atlanta. Unfortunately, injuries have derailed the right-hander ever since, and his return to action this year left much to be desired as he posted a lackluster 5.23 ERA with a 5.41 FIP across 22 appearances, including nine starts. Soroka’s numbers improved after he was moved out of the rotation, however, as he pitched to a 3.45 ERA with a 3.34 FIP in 28 2/3 relief innings thanks to an excellent 36.7% strikeout rate out of the bullpen. Those solid numbers in a relief role were cut short by a shoulder strain just before the All-Star break, but nonetheless offer reason for optimism as the righty heads to free agency for the first time in his career this winter.
White Sox Claim Ron Marinaccio
Right-hander Ron Marinaccio, who was designated for assignment by the Yankees last week, has been claimed off waivers by the White Sox. Both clubs announced the move, with the Sox adding that Marinaccio has been assigned to Double-A Birmingham. The Double-A regular season is done but the Barons are playing in the Southern League championship this week, whereas the Triple-A Charlotte Knights are done for the year. The Sox had a 40-man roster vacancy after righty Chad Kuhl was designated for assignment recently and won’t need to make a corresponding move in that regard.
Marinaccio got nudged out of the Yankees’ plans but it’s unsurprising that he got picked up by the club with the top waiver priority. Now 29, he made his major league debut in 2022 and it was strong first impression. He logged 44 innings for the Yanks that season, only allowing 2.05 earned runs per nine. His 13.3% walk rate was definitely worrisome but he managed to work around that by striking out 30.9% of batters faced.
His results backed up a little bit from there. He had a 3.99 ERA in 47 1/3 innings last year. He still walked too many guys, a rate of 13.2%, with his strikeout rate slipping slightly to 27.3%. Here in 2024, the Yanks have frequently shuttled him back and forth between the majors and Triple-A. His 23 1/3 big league innings resulted in a 3.86 ERA with a reduced 10.1% walk rate but also a diminished 25.3% strikeout rate. At the Triple-A level, he has 39 2/3 innings with a 2.04 ERA, 25.8% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate.
Those are pretty decent numbers overall but he was getting squeezed from the roster in the Bronx. He had already been optioned five times this season, the maximum amount in an individual campaign. He’s also in his final option season and will be out of options next year.
It was therefore going to be challenging for him to continue hanging onto his roster spot on a competitive Yankee club going forward, so he got pushed out last week when Cody Poteet was ending his rehab assignment and needed to get added back to the 40-man.
But for the White Sox, he’s a sensible flier to take. As the worst club of the modern era, the Sox have plenty of room for guys who have shown promise elsewhere. Marinaccio has just over two years of service time and still won’t have qualified for arbitration this winter. He can be controlled for four seasons beyond the current campaign. If things click in Chicago next year, he can be a long-term part of their bullpen or perhaps become a valuable trade chip.
White Sox Add Edgar Quero To Taxi Squad
The White Sox are promoting catching prospect Edgar Quero to the team’s taxi squad prior to their next game on Tuesday, according to reporter Francys Romero (via X). While Quero is technically not part of the team’s active roster yet, the move would seem to imply that the Sox are planning to have the 21-year-old switch-hitter make his Major League debut before the season is over.
Quero left his native Cuba in 2019 and signed with the Angels in 2021, then immediately hit the ground running with some big numbers in his first pro seasons. The Angels’ acquisition of Logan O’Hoppe in 2022 and then their desperation to reach the postseason in 2023 (Shohei Ohtani‘s last year with the club) made Quero an expendable piece, and the young backstop was sent to the White Sox as part of the 2023 deadline deal that sent Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez to Los Angeles.
The move to the White Sox organization didn’t slow Quero down, and he has a combined .281/.368/.467 slash line over 397 minor league plate appearances in 2024. The last 105 of those trips to the plate took place at Triple-A Charlotte, though Quero only just returned this week from an IL stint. Quero missed over five weeks of playing time dealing with a back problem, and if he had been healthy, it seems likely that he already would’ve been up in the big leagues earlier in September.
MLB Pipeline ranks Quero as the 59th-best prospect in baseball, and Baseball America has the catcher 79th on their top-100 list. (The Athletic’s Keith Law also had Quero 67th on his preseason top-100 ranking.) Quero has generally been more productive against left-handed pitching than against righties, but had good contact numbers from both sides of the plate. His power dipped in 2023 but rebounded this year, moving to a .467 SLG and 16 homers after posting only a .351 slugging percentage and six homers in 455 PA in 2023.
Defensively, BA’s scouting report seems a bit more bullish than Pipeline about Quero’s future at catcher, as both sites note that the 5’10”, 210-point Quero will need to watch his conditioning to help his mobility. Even if Quero tops out as an average defensive catcher at best, his offensive potential should still allow him to carve out at least a part-time role in the majors.
Korey Lee‘s first full Major League season got off to a nice start, but he went into a deep slump as the season went on, and he has only a 60 wRC+ and a .207/.238/.341 slash line over 382 PA. Known more for his glovework than his bat anyway, Lee has struggled in terms of blocking and framing, but he has thrown out 23 of 100 baserunners attempting to steal this season, giving him one of the better caught-stealing percentages of any catcher in baseball.
Even if Lee had done enough to take a firmer grasp of the everyday catching job going forward, the White Sox are naturally still going to look towards the future in the tail end of this disastrous season. If Quero does indeed make his big league debut on Tuesday, he could share in some unfortunate history, as the 36-120 White Sox are one more defeat away from breaking the 1962 Mets’ modern record for losses in a season.
White Sox Hire David Keller To Oversee International Scouting
The White Sox have hired David Keller to run their international scouting department, according to a report by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. The report was later elaborated on by James Fegan of SoxMachine, who noted that Keller’s title with Chicago will be special assistant to the GM. Francys Romero also chimed in to note that the club’s international scouting department is being restructured and that the club is expected to hire a director for the department in the coming months. Prior to joining the Sox, Keller had been a scout with the Mets since 2009.
While front office members and scouts changing organizations is a fairly common occurrence in the final months of the season and the first months of the offseason, Chicago’s decision to hire external for a high-level position is especially noteworthy as a potential sign that the club has begun to look for outside voices amid what appears likely to wind up as the worst season any organization has put together in the modern era by almost any metric.
The Sox tied the the 2003 Detroit Tigers for the most losses in AL history with a loss to the Padres last night, and the club would have to win each of their final seven games in order to avoid at least tying the 120-loss 1962 Mets for the most losses in the modern era. Meanwhile, the club’s current .232 winning percentage is already the worst of the modern era, and they’d need to win at least three of their remaining games to surpass the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics, who went 36-117 for a winning percentage of .235. If they don’t win another game this year, Chicago’s 36 wins would tie the aforementioned 1916 Athletics club as well as the 1919 club for the fewest wins in a modern MLB season.
A disastrous season of this magnitude is bound to inspire reflection both inside and outside the organization, so it was no surprise when The Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli and Ken Rosenthal published a lengthy article looking at the club’s failings. MLBTR readers are encouraged to read the report in full for a look at quotes from a wide-ranging group of sources regarding the state of the White Sox organization. In Ghiroli and Rosenthal’s findings, much of the blame for the South Siders’ struggles falls onto the shoulders of owner and chairperson Jerry Reinsdorf. The article notes that while Reinsdorf has a genuine passion for baseball and a desire to see the White Sox succeed, his old-school mentality and unwillingness to invest fully in advanced analytics and technology has held the team back in recent years.
Another concern the article points out regarding Reinsdorf’s ownership style is his extreme loyalty to his employees, which has helped to foster an insular culture within the organization that prevented the club from adapting to the current era’s norms and strategies in areas ranging from game planning for pitchers to defensive positioning. It’s also prompted Reinsdorf at times to go against what others in the organization think is best, such as when he promoted Chris Getz to run baseball operations rather than seek an outside hire or when he overrode then-GM Rick Hahn in the search for a manager to replace Rick Renteria following the 2020 season.
Hahn had his eye on former Astros manager A.J. Hinch, who had won a World Series championship with an organization that was widely-regarded as one of the league’s most forward-thinking, and according to Ghiroli and Rosenthal had begun looking into places to live in Chicago with an interview for the managerial gig scheduled. Instead, Reinsdorf stepped in and hired longtime Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who managed for the White Sox from 1979 to 1986 but had previously retired following the 2011 season, his final year in St. Louis. That left Hinch to sign with the Tigers, a club that was mired in mediocrity at the time but has emerged as a surprise contender for a playoff spot this year with a strong second half.
Considering the organization’s history under Reinsdorf, the hiring of Keller could be seen as the latest step towards accepting outside voices into the fold as they look to move past a brutal 2024 season. Previously, Chicago went outside the organization to hire then-Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol to replace La Russa after he vacated the managerial chair due to health issues, and Getz suggested when they fired Grifol earlier this year that they plan to hire another outside voice to replace Grifol headed into 2025, though Grady Sizemore has been acting as interim manager for the time being.
White Sox Plan To Cut Payroll In 2025
Whether or not the 2024 White Sox ultimately set a new record for the most losses in a single season, there is no denying their performance this year has been a massive disappointment. The South Siders finished with a dismal 61-101 in 2023, yet somehow, they’re on pace to lose an additional 23 games in 2024. So, it shouldn’t come as any shock that the White Sox are planning to reduce their payroll next season, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Nightengale suggests the budget cuts are due to “sustaining substantial losses in revenue” this year.
While it’s impossible to guess how much the White Sox’s revenue might have actually declined in 2024, there’s no doubt attendance has gone down at Guaranteed Rate Field. According to ESPN, the White Sox have dropped from 24th to 27th in average attendance, going from 21,405 to 17,910 spectators per game. That’s the fourth-largest drop-off this season, and the only teams who have seen their average attendance fall by a larger amount – the Mets, Cardinals, and Blue Jays – are all outpacing the White Sox in average attendance by at least 11,000 fans per game.
General manager Chris Getz has plenty of challenges ahead of him with this White Sox team, but cutting payroll won’t be one of them. The highest-paid player on the team, Yoan Moncada, is making $24.8MM this season. Next year, the White Sox will only have to pay him a $5MM buyout. More impending free agents include Mike Clevinger ($3MM salary in 2024), Michael Soroka ($3MM), and Chris Flexen ($1.75MM). The team could also non-tender Nicky Lopez, who is making $4.3MM this year in his second season of arbitration eligibility, and Andrew Vaughn, who is making $3.25MM in his first. They certainly won’t non-tender Garrett Crochet, who is due for a sizeable raise in his second offseason of arbitration, but Getz could look to trade Crochet this winter. He would be one of the most coveted players on the offseason trade block.
Also off the books will be the tens of millions of dollars in salary the White Sox paid/are paying to players no longer in the organization, including Eloy Jiménez, Erick Fedde, Martín Maldonado, Leury García, John Brebbia, Michael Kopech, Tommy Pham, Paul DeJong, Tim Hill, and Touki Toussaint, as well as the $6MM they spent on buyouts for Clevinger, Jake Diekman, and Tim Anderson. All told, RosterResource estimates the White Sox payroll is approximately $148.8MM this year. And as things stand, they only have $35.3MM in payroll commitments for 2025. Thus, barring an unprecedented offseason spending spree, the White Sox payroll will be much lower next season.
Any significant spending from the White Sox this offseason already seemed unlikely before Nightengale’s report. Earlier this month, Getz discussed his club’s terrible season, saying “You try to make the best of it, and I think it’s an opportunity to embrace the situation that we’re in.” While those comments are vague, Getz implies he is moving toward a long, multi-season rebuild. In other words, he won’t be looking to make a splash on the free agent market this winter. Indeed, Getz said as much in a recent appearance on the NBC Sports Chicago TV broadcast, remarking: “We’re not gonna be working heavy in free agency.”
It’s hardly surprising, but that doesn’t make it any less disappointing for White Sox fans. The last few years have been hard to watch, and it doesn’t look like the team is going to get meaningfully better any time soon.
AL Central Notes: Moncada, Lorenzen, Larnach
The White Sox told reporters (including James Fegan of Sox Machine) that third baseman Yoán Moncada will be activated for tomorrow’s game against the Angels. Moncada has been out with a left adductor strain since April 9. Prior to his injury, he was off to a relatively strong start in 2024, going 11-for-39 (.282) with a 122 wRC+ in 11 games.
Moncada has dealt with injuries in almost every season of his career, and outside of a phenomenal performance in 2019, he has struggled to live up to his top prospect billing. However, if he can be just a league-average hitter and a capable defender at third base, the 29-year-old will represent a huge upgrade for the White Sox lineup over the final two weeks of the season. Miguel Vargas, who has been starting for the club at third base since the trade deadline, is batting .112 with a .395 OPS so far in his brief tenure on the South Side. He has made four errors in just 27 games at third base, accruing -2 OAA and -2 DRS. The White Sox aren’t going to give up Vargas (himself a former top prospect) just yet, but there is no denying that Moncada should make for a significant improvement.
Chicago doesn’t have much to play for this year, but the club is still hoping to avoid setting a new modern-day record for most losses in a season. Meanwhile, Moncada is looking to make a strong impression before most likely entering free agency in the offseason; the White Sox are all but certain to turn down his $25MM club option for 2025 in favor of a $5MM buyout.
More from around the AL Central:
- Michael Lorenzen was dominant over his first five starts with the Royals after the trade deadline (1.85 ERA in 24 1/3 IP) before a left hamstring strain forced him to the 15-day IL. He has not pitched since August 27. Lorenzen made his second rehab appearance this past Friday, and prior to the game, Anne Rogers of MLB.com noted the right-hander was likely to rejoin the team this coming week. However, Rogers reported today that he was “more sore than normal” following his rehab outing, so the Royals will need to wait and see how he feels in the coming days before determining his next steps. The phrasing “more sore than normal” doesn’t necessarily suggest a serious setback, but it’s far less likely Lorenzen will be pitching in Kansas City this week.
- Twins manager Rocco Baldelli revealed that outfielder/DH Trevor Larnach is playing through a hamstring injury (per Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic). That explains why he hasn’t played the field since last Tuesday. It also explains why, in Gleeman’s words, he’s running “at way less than full speed.” It’s surely concerning for the Twins that their cleanup hitter is nursing an injury, but Baldelli suggests the hamstring issue hasn’t had an impact on Larnach’s swing. That’s certainly a relief for Twins fans, considering how important Larnach has been to this offense. He rarely plays against left-handed pitching, but he has been one of Minnesota’s better bats when he has the platoon advantage. He boasts a team-leading 15 home runs and 47 RBI against right-handed pitching, with a .792 OPS and a 125 wRC+. The Twins will have to hope his hamstring injury doesn’t turn into anything more serious.
White Sox Select Sean Burke
The White Sox announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of righty Sean Burke from Triple-A Charlotte. Fellow right-hander Nick Nastrini was optioned to Charlotte in a corresponding move. The Sox already had multiple vacancies on the 40-man roster to accommodate Burke’s promotion.
Burke, 24, was Chicago’s third-round pick back in 2021 and has spent the season in the Charlotte rotation, making 16 starts and pitching to a 4.62 ERA with a weighty 31% strikeout rate but an ugly 13% walk rate. The 6’6″ righty was a two-sport star in high school, also shining as a basketball player, and has drawn praise for both his athleticism and a lively heater that sits mid-90s and reaches 97 mph. He complements the offering with a curveball, slider and changeup.
Baseball America ranked Burke 14th among Sox prospects entering the season but has since dropped him off their list. He’s currently their No. 29 prospect at MLB.com and No. 23 at FanGraphs. Each of Burke’s secondary offerings has drawn average or better ratings, but his entire arsenal is undercut by a lack of command.
Splitting time between two sports in high school, missing a year of his NCAA career at Maryland due to Tommy John surgery, and missing much of the 2023 campaign due to shoulder troubles have all cut into some potential development time for Burke. Optimists might argue his command could yet realistically be expected to improve as a result of this, but the pair of arm injuries is also a clear concern.
To his credit, Burke has indeed cut back on his walk rate, going from 16.3% in Triple-A last year to 13% this year. He’s improved particularly as of late, logging a 3.66 ERA, 37.4% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate across his past seven starts. It’s clear there’s still work to be done on his command, but he’s trending in the right direction the further he distances himself from last year’s shoulder woes.
Now, Burke will be the next man up for what could be a historically poor White Sox season. There’s no immediate spot in the rotation, with Jonathan Cannon slated to start tonight and Davis Martin going tomorrow, followed by a Thursday off-day. However, the Sox used four relievers to cover 6 1/3 innings yesterday, including 3 1/3 from Nastrini. He wouldn’t have been available to pitch after that lengthy relief appearance, so he’ll head to Triple-A while the South Siders summon a fresh arm to potentially provide length out of the ‘pen. It’s conceivable that Burke could get a start or two down the stretch, particularly if he doesn’t pitch today or tomorrow.
Chris Getz Discusses Potential Loss Record, Crochet, Managerial Search
The White Sox lost again on Monday, dropping a 5-3 contest to the Guardians. Chicago didn’t have a baserunner until the seventh inning against rookie Joey Cantillo in a game that dropped them to a staggering 33-112. They’re now just eight losses away from matching the 1962 Mets for most in a season since 1900. They’d need to go 9-8 to avoid setting the modern era record.
Sox general manager Chris Getz met with the team’s beat before Monday’s game. The GM said he’d “have been a little surprised” if he were informed coming into the season that the Sox could — and, at this point, seem quite likely to — set the loss record (link via Jesse Rogers of ESPN). However, Getz implied that he did anticipate one of the worst seasons in franchise history.
“Now if you would have told me prior to the year that we would have ended up with over 100 losses, 105, 110, I wouldn’t have been as surprised,” he told reporters. “But this is the cards that we’ve been dealt at this point. You try to make the best of it, and I think it’s an opportunity to embrace the situation that we’re in.” Before this year, the Sox’s franchise high was the 106 losses they posted in 1970.
That situation is of the Sox’s own making, of course. Getz had been assistant general manager under Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn until that duo was fired shortly after the 2023 trade deadline. Owner Jerry Reinsdorf tabbed Getz to take over baseball operations not long thereafter. The White Sox were already fully amidst a teardown by the time Getz took the reins.
Bright spots on a team that’ll probably lose 120 games are obviously few and far between. Getz unsurprisingly pointed to Garrett Crochet’s breakout as a starting pitcher when asked about his favorite development of the season. Chicago made a risky decision to give the hard-throwing southpaw a rotation job despite his limited workload coming into the year. Yet that turned out to be an excellent call, as Crochet has turned in a 3.83 ERA while striking out nearly 35% of opponents through 29 starts. The Sox have eased up on his workload in the second half, but Crochet should top 140 innings after entering the year with all of 85 1/3 professional frames.
Fantastic as Crochet has pitched, the Sox weren’t able to find an offer to their liking at the deadline. Their trade talks were complicated by the lefty’s camp angling for an extension as a condition of continuing to pitch into October with a new team. Getz and his staff will no doubt field a ton of interest in the 25-year-old during the upcoming winter.
Crochet will probably be the offseason’s top trade candidate. Getz acknowledged they’ll explore the market on the former first-round pick, who is eligible for arbitration for two seasons after this one. “The reality of baseball and where we’re at as an organization, you need to look at the types of return you could potentially get in trades,” Getz said (link via Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times). “We need to weigh where we’re going to be in a year or two years, but we also know how talented he is, and he can certainly lead a rotation with the White Sox or anyone else. So we’re going to take advantage of what he’s capable of doing as a starter. But also it’s wise to see what the market holds for Garrett Crochet to see if we can improve the White Sox for the future.”
Getz added that the Sox are not “actively shopping” Crochet, though there’s probably not much distinction in practice. Virtually every contender figures to gauge the Sox’s asking price. Chicago is almost certainly not going to be competitive in either of the next two seasons. There’s no indication that an extension is particularly likely. That would require ownership to sign off on a larger deal than the franchise-record $75MM Andrew Benintendi contract.
The Sox could choose to hold Crochet until the 2025 deadline. If he’s healthy and pitching at a top-of-the-rotation level, he could be the best starter available next summer. Holding him incurs the risk of an early-season injury or, less likely, a sharp drop in performance. An offseason trade seems probable now that Crochet has addressed a lot of the questions about his ability to hold up as a starter. An acquiring team could realistically expect him to build to 160-170 innings in his second full season from the rotation.
[Related: What Might It Cost To Extend Garrett Crochet?]
While a Crochet trade would probably be the Sox’s biggest move of the offseason, it won’t be their first major decision. Getz is leading a managerial search for the first time after the team fired Pedro Grifol a month ago. The Sox announced at the time that they expected their next hire would come from outside the organization. That remains the case, as Getz made clear they’re searching among “candidates that are in uniform with other organizations right now” (relayed by Jay Cohen of the Associated Press). The Sox have gone 5-23 since hiring Grady Sizemore on an interim basis.
In a separate piece at the Sun-Times, Van Shouwen suggests the White Sox could make a run at Skip Schumaker. The 2023 NL Manager of the Year will be out of contract at the end of the season. It is widely expected that he and the Marlins will part ways. Miami agreed to void a ’25 club option on Schumaker’s contract after the manager expressed his frustration with the decision to fire former GM Kim Ng. The Marlins almost immediately kicked off a multi-year rebuild under new baseball operations president Peter Bendix.
Whether Schumaker would have any interest in jumping to a Chicago team that is in an even worse short-term position isn’t clear. Perhaps that’ll depend on which other managerial positions open over the next couple months. Getz declined to narrow a timeline for the Sox hiring, though he said they have not begun to reach out to other teams about getting permission to interview personnel who are currently under contract.
White Sox Outright Touki Toussaint
The White Sox sent right-hander Touki Toussaint outright to Triple-A Charlotte, the team announced (relayed on X by Scott Merkin of MLB.com). Chicago designated him for assignment on Tuesday.
Toussaint made it into the MLB bullpen just before the trade deadline. He pitched 11 times and ate 23 innings with a 7.43 ERA. He struck out 22.2% of opponents while issuing walks at a massive 15.4% clip. That’s more or less the same profile that the former first-round pick has shown over his seven seasons in the big leagues. While Toussaint misses bats at a roughly league average rate, he has always had well below-average control.
This was the second straight season in which the 28-year-old pitched for the Sox. Chicago claimed him off waivers from the Guardians last summer. He started 15 of 19 appearances down the stretch, posting an ERA a hair under 5.00. Toussaint held his 40-man roster spot until the end of Spring Training. The Sox outrighted him to Charlotte just before Opening Day. He pitched to a 5.15 ERA in 50 2/3 innings there before being called back up.
Toussaint has multiple career outrights, giving him the right to elect free agency. There may not be enough runway for him to catch on anywhere else this season, so it seems likelier he’ll report to Charlotte and try to return to the Chicago bullpen over the next couple weeks. He’ll be a minor league free agent in the offseason unless the White Sox call him back up.
Elvis Andrus To Retire
September 4: Now things will be more official shortly. Per another piece from Grant, Andrus will officially retire on as a Ranger Friday, September 6. He will throw out the first pitch prior to that day’s game against the Angels.
August 27: Elvis Andrus has been a free agent since the Diamondbacks released him at the end of Spring Training. While the longtime shortstop has not made any official retirement announcement, it seems he’s prepared to start a new chapter.
Andrus spoke with Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News last week about the considerations in all but officially ending his playing career. The 36-year-old told Grant that he’d initially stayed in shape after being released by Arizona in case another team presented him with an MLB opportunity. After a few weeks, he pulled back on those training efforts.
“Being in the big leagues was always a blessing, but the game has changed, players have changed, teammates changed,” Andrus noted. “Everybody is in their early 20s. Everybody I grew up with is out now. The last five years, I’ve seen all the guys that were my closest friends retire. Over the last few years, I found myself thinking: ‘When is it going to be my time?’
“I thought this was going to be a depressing journey, but it’s been amazing,” he added. “I really thought it was going to be harder to be away, but I’ve really been at peace and I’m at peace with the next decision about the next journey.” Andrus also told Grant that his three children have expressed throughout the summer that they’d prefer he stay home rather than continue to pursue playing opportunities.
Assuming this indeed marks the end of Andrus’ playing days, it’s the conclusion of a very good career. Signed by the Braves as an amateur out of Venezuela, Andrus quickly developed into a top prospect. He and Jarrod Saltalamacchia headlined Texas’ return in the 2007 blockbuster that sent Mark Teixeira to Atlanta.
Andrus reached the majors before his 21st birthday. He emerged as the Rangers starting shortstop by ’09, hitting .267 across 145 games. Andrus finished runner-up behind Andrew Bailey in that season’s Rookie of the Year voting. He earned an All-Star nod during his sophomore campaign and was the everyday shortstop on Texas’ consecutive pennant winners between 2010-11. Andrus topped 30 stolen bases in each of his first three MLB seasons. He earned a second All-Star nod with a .286/.349/.378 showing in 2012.
The Rangers committed to Andrus as their franchise shortstop early in the 2013 season. Texas inked him to an eight-year deal with a $120MM guarantee and a pair of opt-out chances. Andrus remained a fixture of the Ranger infield. He played a strong shortstop while hitting for high averages and playing nearly every game. While he was never a huge power threat, he got to 20 homers with a .297/.337/.471 slash and 88 RBI in a 2017 season that was arguably his best.
Andrus appeared in at least 145 games in each of his first nine seasons. He stole at least 20 bags in all of those years. His offensive productivity was a bit up-and-down, but he remained an average or better overall player throughout the 2010s. His numbers dropped off during the shortened 2020 campaign, leading Texas to ship him to the A’s in a contract swap involving Khris Davis that also netted future starting catcher Jonah Heim.
After spending a year and a half in Oakland, Andrus caught on with the White Sox late in the 2022 season. He hit well over 43 games for Chicago down the stretch and returned to the Sox last year. He hit .251/.304/.358 while splitting time between shortstop and second base in what looks to be his final major league action.
Andrus will be best remembered for his 12-year run with the Rangers. He tallied more than 7000 plate appearances, hitting .274/.330/.372 while stealing 305 bases. A regular on five playoff teams for Texas, he eventually logged more than 17,000 innings at shortstop. Andrus checked off a pair of milestones in his final season, surpassing 2000 career hits and 100 home runs. Baseball Reference credited him with 34 wins above replacement, while FanGraphs graded him at 36 WAR.
Grant also chats with Hall of Fame third baseman Adrian Beltré, Andrus’ longtime infield mate and close friend, about the shortstop’s impact on the Rangers. Texas fans, in particular, will want to read the Dallas Morning News column in full. Grant suggests the Rangers could enshrine Andrus in the organizational Hall of Fame once he officially announces his retirement. If this is the end of his playing days, MLBTR congratulates him on an excellent career and sends our best wishes for his post-playing endeavors.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.