MLBTR Podcast: Royals’ Reinforcements, Promoted Angels, And The Terrible White Sox
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Mark Polishuk of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The most recent edition of the 2024-25 Free Agent Power Rankings (1:30)
- The Royals claim Tommy Pham and Robbie Grossman, as well as trading for Yuli Gurriel (5:15)
- The Angels promote Caden Dana and Samuel Aldegheri (10:50)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- What’s the problem with the White Sox? Is it an owner not willing to spend? Is it inept senior management in getting taken in trades and a poor plan for success? What is it going to take to become competitive again? Are there other factors that keep top free agents from coming to the White Sox? Franchise culture? Moving a family to Chicago? Inability to develop talent? (20:35)
- Who should the Rangers be looking at this winter? A center fielder? A backup catcher and pitching? (30:50)
- As a big Braves fan, I am curious to see what they do about shortstop for 2025 and beyond. Whom do you think ends up starting there? It seems unlikely Nacho Alvarez Jr. seizes the position, right? Do we move on from Orlando Arcia? My preference would be to re-sign Whit Merrifield to play there. Could he handle shortstop? What do you guys say? (36:40)
Check out our past episodes!
- Scott Servais, Perry Minasian, The Orioles’ Rotation, And Joey Votto – listen here
- Who Could Get Waived, Potential Rule Changes, Austin Riley, And Hector Neris – listen here
- The White Sox Fire Their Manager, Víctor Robles Extended, And The Marlins’ Front Office – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
White Sox Designate Touki Toussaint For Assignment
The White Sox announced they have designated right-hander Touki Toussaint for assignment. The move will give Chicago another 40-man vacancy, as they’re filling his spot by recalling righty Matt Foster, who’s already on the 40-man. Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reported the moves prior to the official announcement.
Toussaint, 28, has pitched in 11 games and tallied 23 innings for the ChiSox this season, but the results haven’t been pretty. The former first-rounder and top prospect has been tagged for a 7.43 ERA, thanks in no small part to a bloated 15.4% walk rate. Toussaint has unequivocally had some poor fortune on balls in play, evidence by a mammoth .464 BABIP, and the White Sox’ porous defense surely hasn’t done him any favors in that regard.
All the same, Toussaint’s hefty walk rate and average strikeout rate (22.2%) aren’t conducive to success even with a more typical average on balls in play. He’s had a particularly rough go of it lately, with 11 runs yielded over his past 9 1/3 innings. Now that he’s been designated for assignment, Toussaint will head to waivers. He’ll likely clear, at which point he’ll have the right to elect free agency (both by virtue of his major league service time and prior outright assignments).
Foster, 29, has pitched well in Triple-A and in the majors this season in what’s been his first year back from Tommy John surgery performed in April 2023. The right-hander’s velocity (91.6 mph average fastball) is down two miles per hour from his pre-surgery days, though that could build back up as he gets more work in. To this point, he’s only pitched 18 minor league frames and another three in the majors. In 115 2/3 innings, Foster owns a 4.28 ERA with a 23.6% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate. The Sox can control him via arbitration through the 2026 season.
Drew Thorpe To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery To Remove Bone Spur
White Sox right-hander Drew Thorpe is set to undergo season-ending surgery to remove a bone spur from his right elbow, as relayed by MLB.com’s Scott Merkin. Merkin adds that the club announcement details that Thorpe, who has been on the injured list the past month due to a flexor strain, is expected to be ready for Spring Training with no restrictions.
Thorpe made plenty of headlines this winter when he was included in not one but two separate blockbuster trades over the offseason. First, the Yankees swapped their second-round pick from the 2022 draft to the Padres as part of the package that brought Juan Soto to the Bronx. Just three months later, Thorpe was on the move yet again as he was shipped to Chicago in order to bring right-hander Dylan Cease to San Diego. The hype surrounding Thorpe that led him to be included in two of last winter’s biggest trades was based in his status as a consensus top-100 prospect who had just finished up a dominant 2023 season with the Yankees that saw him post a 1.48 ERA in his first taste of Double-A action down the stretch.
Upon suiting up for the White Sox for the first time back in April, Thorpe was sent back to the Double-A level and continued to display the dominance he had shown during his time with New York. In 60 innings of work across 11 starts, Thorpe posted a 1.35 ERA despite his strikeout rate dropping from the eye-popping 34% rate he flashed with the Yankees last year to a more pedestrian 25%, and by the time the calendar flipped to June the White Sox decided that Thorpe needed a bigger challenge. Rather than promote him to the Triple-A level and test him there, the club opted to promote him directly to Chicago. Thorpe impressed in his first big league start as he struck out four across five innings of one-run ball, though his second outing against the Diamondbacks saw the right-hander allow seven earned runs on six hits and five walks in 3 1/3 innings of work.
The ups and downs of Thorpe’s first two starts would continue throughout his first taste of big league action. He rattled off a stretch of five excellent starts throughout the end of June and start of July where he posted a microscopic 1.23 ERA despite a diminished 17.9% strikeout rate that stood out as a potential red flag. Those concerns promptly came to pass, as what would prove to be Thorpe’s final two starts of the year saw him lit up to the tune of a 22.24 ERA as he surrendered 14 runs on just 5 2/3 innings across the pair of outings. In that time, he allowed four walks and four home runs while striking out just one batter.
Given those deep struggles, it’s perhaps somewhat reassuring that the heralded prospect has been dealing with significant physical issues that could help to explain not only his lackluster 5.48 ERA in his first taste of big league action but also the diminished strikeout rates he posted throughout his first year in the White Sox organization. That relative lack of strikeouts was paired with a fastball that averaged just 91.1 mph in the majors this year, a noticeable decrease compared to scouting reports that noted his ability to routinely sit at 92 and touch 95 with his heater.
With the White Sox in the midst of a lost season in which they’re flirting with the worst record in major league history and Thorpe currently expected to be ready for action in time for Spring Training next year, perhaps the youngster’s upcoming surgery is a sign that fans on the south side have a healthy, more effective Thorpe to look forward to next year. In the meantime, the Sox figure to rely on a rotation featuring Garrett Crochet, Jonathan Cannon, Chris Flexen, Nick Nastrini, and Davis Martin down the stretch.
White Sox To Promote Jairo Iriarte
The White Sox will officially call up right-handed pitching prospect Jairo Iriarte on Sunday when rosters expand to 28 players, according to the Tiburones Report and Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El ExtraBase (both links to X). The 22-year-old Iriarte will skip Triple-A Charlotte entirely in making the leap from Double-A right to the verge of his Major League debut. Iriarte is already on the 40-man roster, so the White Sox won’t need to make any other corresponding moves.
MLB Pipeline ranks Iriarte fifth among Chicago’s prospects, while Baseball America isn’t far behind with a seventh-place ranking. The righty was an international signing for the Padres out of his native Venezuela in 2018, and he was sent to the White Sox this past March as part of the trade package San Diego gave up to land Dylan Cease.
Over 126 innings with Birmingham, Iriarte has a 3.71 ERA, 10.7% walk rate, and 22.8% strikeout rate. The latter metric is well below the K-rates Iriarte posted in his previous three seasons, but his grounder rate has continued to move upwards, now up to a 46.7% rate. He has also continued to do a good job at keeping the ball in the park, with seven homers allowed over his 126 frames.
The scouting reports indicate Iriarte has a mid-90s fastball and a mid-to-low 80s slider as his primary two pitches, with a decent changeup that is still something of a work in progress. Both Pipeline and BA aren’t certain he’ll necessarily stick as a starting pitcher, but the White Sox will surely first see what he can do as a starter before considering a future move to the bullpen. Iriarte would seem to have a relief-friendly arsenal already, and he could potentially become a closer if a career as a starter isn’t in the cards.
Moving Iriarte straight to the majors from Double-A is a little unusual, as it wasn’t like the right-hander was so dominant in Birmingham that he was kicking down the door for a call-up. With the White Sox in full rebuild mode as they try to avoid a record-setting season of losing, there may not be much harm in evaluating any promising prospects they have, even if Iriarte just gets a couple of outings to get his feet wet against MLB hitters.
White Sox Place Nicky Lopez On Waivers
The White Sox have placed infielder Nicky Lopez on waivers, reports Kiley McDaniel of ESPN on X. There hasn’t been anything to suggest he has been designated for assignment, so he remains on the roster and can continue to play for the club while the waiver process plays out. However, the waivers are irrevocable, so he will be changing jerseys if someone does put in a claim.
Players claimed prior to September 1 are playoff-eligible for their new club. Teams out of contention will be placing players on waivers now in the hopes that someone else will put in a claim and therefore take on the remainder of the player’s contract, while giving the player the chance to play more meaningful games. Players like Michael A. Taylor of the Pirates, Drew Smyly of the Cubs, Tommy Pham of the Cardinals and others have reportedly been made available this month.
The White Sox are the team in the majors furthest from contention. Their 31-104 record translates to a .230 winning percentage, putting them in the running to finish as one of the worst clubs in the modern era.
Lopez, 29, came over to the club as part of the November trade that sent left-hander Aaron Bummer to Atlanta. He has generally served as a light-hitting utility guy in his career and that has continued during his time on the South Side. He has a line of .238/.310/.290 this year, which leads to a wRC+ of 73. That’s roughly in line with his career line of .247/.311/.314, which also leads to a wRC+ of 73.
On defense, he’s capable of playing all four infield positions and has also seen some time in left field. His grades have been strong everywhere he’s played. Oddly, he has -10 Defensive Runs Saved in just 281 2/3 shortstop innings this year, but that feels anomalous since he has been roughly league average in about 2,000 innings apart from that. Outs Above Average has given him a massive +34 ranking at short in his career, which also feels odd since that’s mostly due to a huge +25 grade in 2021, but he’s still better than par when ignoring that.
The Sox can retain him for next year via arbitration but they are likely leaning towards a non-tender at this point. He is making $4.3MM this year and would be due a raise, since the arbitration system effectively always pushes salaries northward. That’s a lot of money for a role player when the most recent offseason saw guys like Enrique Hernández, Adam Duvall, Randal Grichuk, Amed Rosario, Paul DeJong and the aforementioned Taylor sign for $4MM or less.
There’s roughly $700K remaining to be paid on Lopez’s salary this year. If any contender feels especially in need of a glove-first upgrade to their position player mix, they can grab Lopez off the wire. The priority goes in reverse order of standings, but teams outside of contention won’t have motivation to grab him.
White Sox Release John Brebbia
The White Sox released veteran right-handed reliever John Brebbia after designating him for assignment earlier this week, tweets Vinnie Duber of CHGO Sports. He’s now a free agent.
Brebbia inked a one-year, $5.5MM deal with the ChiSox in the offseason and has had a tumultuous tenure with the club. The 34-year-old righty started the season on a run of six scoreless appearances and had a sharp 3.38 ERA in mid-May before falling into a monthlong slump that ballooned his ERA to 7.71. He bounced back with a dominant five-week run kicking off in early June, wherein he rattled off 18 1/3 innings while allowing just two runs with a 27-to-4 K/BB ratio. Since that time, he’s been tagged for another 16 runs in 11 2/3 innings, however.
The end result of that roller coaster is a 6.29 ERA in 48 2/3 innings, although Brebbia’s rate stats are far more encouraging. He’s fanned a strong 26.9% of his opponents against a tidy 7.9% walk rate. Home runs have been a prominent issue for the righty (1.66 HR/9), however, and have typically been at the root of his struggles. That’s been especially true at the homer-friendly Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, where Brebbia has posted an ERA north of 7.00 and allowed seven of his nine homers on the season.
While Brebbia’s run with the White Sox won’t go down as an overall success, the right-hander has a solid track record and an encouraging K-BB profile even during his down 2024 showing. Brebbia entered the 2024 season with a career 3.42 ERA, 25.5% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate in 299 2/3 innings. He’d pitched in six big league seasons prior to the ’24 season and logged a sub-4.00 ERA in five of them.
Now that he’s been released, the Brebbia can sign with any club. If he lands with a new team on or before Aug. 31, he’d be eligible for the postseason roster, provided he can turn things around in the season’s final month. Any team that signs Brebbia would owe him only the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster or injured list. The White Sox are on the hook for the remainder of his 2024 salary.
Nick Senzel Elects Free Agency
Infielder Nick Senzel has elected free agency, per James Fegan of Sox Machine on X. The White Sox had designated Senzel for assignment earlier this week and it appears he cleared waivers. Since he has more than five years of service time, he has the right to elect free agency while also retaining his salary.
Senzel, 29, started the season by signing with the Nationals, a one-year deal with a $2MM guarantee. He hit .209/.303/.359 in 235 plate appearances, production that translated into an 88 wRC+. He was designated for assignment in July and the Nats simply released him, likely due to his aforementioned right to elect free agency.
He then signed a major league deal with the Sox, which didn’t lead to better results. He only got into 10 games in over a month on the roster, stepping to the plate 32 times. He produced a dismal line of .100/.129/.133 in those, dropping his season-long line to .195/.283/.331 and a 73 wRC+. When combined with his time with the Reds in previous seasons, he has slashed .232/.299/.363 for a 76 wRC+ in over 1600 career plate appearances.
He hasn’t been able to provide anything on the other side of the ball either. He came up as a third baseman but the Reds had that spot filled by Eugenio Suárez at the time and moved Senzel around to other spots. He’s now played over 2,000 major league innings in the outfield, as well as over 800 at the hot corner and a brief look at second base to this point in his career. Advanced defensive metrics have given him negative grades at all those spots.
Given that track record, any interest in Senzel at this point would be based on his previous prospect pedigree. The Reds took him second overall in the 2016 draft based on his huge numbers at Tennessee, where he hit .332/.426/.509. He then hit .314/.390/.513 in the minors over the 2016-18 period, which got him onto the top ten of most league-wide prospect lists. But the big offensive production stopped once he reached the majors in 2019.
The results have come in far below expectations thus far, but Senzel is a cheap flier for any club that still has hope of him tapping into his previous form. The Nats are still on the hook for his salary since they released him earlier this year. Any other club could sign him for the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Nats are paying.
White Sox Designate John Brebbia For Assignment
The White Sox announced Tuesday that they’ve designated right-handed reliever John Brebbia for assignment and optioned third baseman Bryan Ramos to Triple-A Charlotte. Their roster spots will go to infielder Jacob Amaya, whom the Sox recently claimed off waivers, and right-hander Prelander Berroa, who’s being recalled from Charlotte.
It’s been a rollercoaster of a season for Brebbia, who signed a one-year, $5.5MM deal with the Sox over the winter. He started the season with five scoreless appearances and was generally sharp through mid-May before enduring a massive three-week slump. He righted the ship in early June and went on a dominant six-week stretch where he pitched to a sub-1.00 ERA with elite strikeout and walk rates … only to fall into another, even lengthier slump from which he’s yet to escape. Dating back to July 14, Brebbia has allowed 16 runs in 11 2/3 frames.
All told, Brebbia’s Jekyll-and-Hyde act will result in a grisly 6.29 ERA through 48 2/3 innings. He had multiple stretches where he pitched far, far better than that ultimate mark would suggest him to be capable of, but when Brebbia has been off his game, things have often snowballed in a hurry. He’s had six different relief outings this season in which he’s been tagged for at least three earned runs — including a four-run drubbing in what’ll now be his final outing with the Sox.
Ugly as this season’s results have been, Brebbia has a nice track record overall. In six prior big league seasons, he pitched 299 2/3 innings with a 3.42 ERA, 25.5% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate between the Cardinals (2017-19) and Giants (2021-23). Brebbia missed the 2020 season due to Tommy John surgery and struggled to a 5.18 ERA in his 2021 return (albeit in just 18 1/3 innings). Outside of that short ’21 showing and this year’s implosion with the South Siders, he’s posted a sub-4.00 ERA every season.
Even with that track record and some legitimately impressive stretches interspersed throughout his 2024 season, Brebbia won’t be claimed off waivers. He’s owed not only the balance of his $4MM base salary (about $688K) but also a $1.5MM buyout on next year’s $6MM club option. If that combined $2.188MM for a four-week rental isn’t dissuading enough, Brebbia would also pick up a $250K bonus the next time he takes the mound, under the terms of his current contract. (He’s already earned $500K of bonuses for reaching 45 and 50 appearances and had identical bonuses available at 55 and 60 games pitched.)
Instead, Brebbia will pass through waivers unclaimed and become a free agent (whether by straight release or rejecting an outright assignment). At that point, a new team could sign him for only the prorated league minimum for any time spent in the majors. The incentives built into his White Sox contract would not follow him to a new team on a new free-agent deal, so that $250K bonus and the option buyout (which is still owed to him by the White Sox) will be nonfactors for Brebbia’s next team.
Even with this season’s poor bottom-line results, Brebbia has whiffed 27% of his opponents and limited walks at a sharp 7.9% clip. A contender in need of bullpen depth might be intrigued by that K-BB profile and take a low-risk flier on the veteran righty. So long as he’s with his new organization on or before Aug. 31, he’d be postseason-eligible.
White Sox Claim Jacob Amaya, Designate Nick Senzel For Assignment
The White Sox announced today that they have claimed infielder Jacob Amaya off waivers from the Astros. The latter club had designated him for assignment on the weekend. Infielder Nick Senzel was designated for assignment by the White Sox in a corresponding 40-man roster move for the claim of Amaya. Infielder Bryan Ramos has been recalled to take Senzel’s active roster spot. The Sox also recalled left-hander Sammy Peralta and optioned lefty Ky Bush.
Amaya, 25, has just five major league games and ten plate appearances but is now joining the fourth organization of his career. An 11th-round pick of the Dodgers, he was flipped to the Marlins in the January 2023 trade that sent infielder Miguel Rojas to Los Angeles. He spent just over a year in the Marlins’ system but was designated for assignment in April of 2024 before being flipped to the Astros for right-hander Valente Bellozo and cash considerations.
Prospect evaluators have long praised Amaya for his defense, but his bat has been more questionable, which is borne out by the numbers. In 450 minor league games from 2021 to the present, he has slashed .240/.335/.384 for a wRC+ of 86. His 12.3% walk rate in that time is strong but he hasn’t made a ton of impact when putting the bat on the ball.
Amaya can still be optioned for the rest of this year but will be out of options next year. He has mostly played shortstop but has also seen some time at second and third base. The rebuilding Sox don’t have a ton set in stone in their future infield. Nicky Lopez has appeared in 105 games for them this year but is hitting a tepid .240/.309/.293 for a wRC+ of 74. He could be retained via arbitration for next year but would be a due a raise on his $4.3MM salary and could be non-tendered. Paul DeJong was traded to the Royals. Yoán Moncada is in the final guaranteed season of his contract and club won’t have much interest in picking up his $25MM club option for 2025.
Perhaps that will get Amaya a chance to earn some playing time for the rebuilding club. Even if his bat doesn’t come around, having a glove-first infielder is a sensible move for a rebuilding team that will undoubtedly be giving plenty of chances to unproven pitchers in the future.
That same uncertainty is what opened a spot for Senzel. The White Sox signed him in the middle of July after he was released by the Nationals. He got 32 plate appearances with the Sox but hit just .100/.129/.133 in those. Those struggles have nudged him off the roster and the Sox will have to put him on waivers now that the trade deadline has passed.
The Nats signed him to a one-year, $2MM deal in the offseason after he was non-tendered by the Reds. He was designated for assignment by the Nats in July, when a trade was still possible, but he ended up released. Presumably, the interest hasn’t been raised during Senzel’s tenure with the White Sox, so he’s likely to end up a free agent again.
Though he was once a second overall pick and ten ten prospect in the sport, his bat hasn’t played at the major league level. He has over 1600 plate appearances to this point but has hit .232/.299/.363 in those for a wRC+ of 76.
The Nats are still on the hook for the majority of that $2MM salary. If another club is intrigued by Senzel’s past prospect pedigree, they could sign him and pay him only the prorated portion of the $740K major league minimum salary. That amount would be subtracted from what Washington pays.
AL Central Notes: Baez, Gray, Correa, Twins, Moncada, Soroka
The Tigers placed shortstop Javier Baez on the 10-day injured list yesterday, calling up Ryan Kriedler from Triple-A to fill the void in the infield. It is the second time this season that Baez has been sent to the IL due to lumbar inflammation, though this latest placement also involves inflammation in his right hip. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press) that “we haven’t gotten the full diagnosis” on Baez’s injuries yet, but the team should shortly “know a little bit more about what the next month looks like and what, if any, baseball activity he’ll be able to do.”
That doesn’t sound like it bodes well for Baez’s chances of returning in 2024, as the Tigers have only the faintest hopes of a wild card berth and might just choose to shut Baez down to get him ready for next year. While injuries have contributed to Baez’s struggles this season, his .184/.221/.294 slash line over 289 plate appearances marks the third straight disastrous year for Baez since coming to Detroit on a six-year, $140MM free agent deal in the 2021-22 offseason. With $73MM still owed to Baez over the 2025-27 seasons, the contract is already an albatross, and it remains to be seen exactly how much longer the Tigers still stick with Baez as a regular part of their lineup (or whether they could release him altogether).
More from around the AL Central…
- Sonny Gray told the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Bobby Nightengale that the Twins didn’t make much of a push to re-sign him when the veteran righty entered free agency last winter. “They were very transparent from the get-go, saying, ‘Listen, we do not have the resources to give you a contract, as much as we would like to.’ So, I kind of knew that,” Gray said. “Even though we did come back a couple of times and try to work on some things, I kind of knew early on that it wasn’t [happening].” The Twins’ lack of certainty over their broadcasting contract led to a payroll reduction last winter and continued budget limitations this year, so it didn’t seem too likely that Minnesota would be able to outbid the several other clubs who had interest in Gray’s services. Gray ended up signing a three-year, $75MM deal with the Cardinals, and he has continued to pitch well in St. Louis, if not at the level of his AL Cy Young runner-up performance with the Twins in 2023. Gray will face his old teammates today when he gets the start for the Cards in today’s game in Minneapolis.
- In other Twins news, Alex Kirilloff started a Triple-A rehab assignment yesterday and Brooks Lee will start a similar assignment today, manager Rocco Baldelli told the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Bobby Nightengale and other reporters. However, Baldelli still didn’t have any new news on Carlos Correa, saying the shortstop is just “continually making steady improvement” as he recovers from plantar fasciitis in his right heel. Correa hasn’t played since July 12, and he received a PRP injection early in his recovery process.
- White Sox GM Chris Getz told reporters (including Mike Clark of the Chicago Sun-Times) that Yoan Moncada and Michael Soroka will start Triple-A rehab assignments on Tuesday. Moncada played in only 11 games before a left adductor strain sidelined him for the majority of the season, but it looks like he’s on track to get back to the majors at some point in September. Soroka had a 5.23 ERA over 72 1/3 innings in his first season with the White Sox, and he has missed close to six weeks recovering from a strain in his right shoulder.