The White Sox knew when they signed Joe Kelly that the righty likely wouldn’t be ready for the start of the season, and the reliever tells Daryl Van Schouwen of The Chicago Sun-Times that he is targeting late April for his Pale Hose debut. Biceps tightness sidelined Kelly while he was pitching with the Dodgers in the NLCS last October, and it has resulted in his now being a few weeks behind the other pitchers in terms of readiness for Opening Day.
White Sox Rumors
Yermin Mercedes To Undergo Hand Surgery
White Sox designated hitter Yermín Mercedes recently suffered a fractured hamate bone in his left hand, the club announced. He’ll undergo surgery next week and is expected to miss six-to-eight weeks.
Mercedes, owner of just one MLB plate appearance heading into last season, emerged as an April sensation in 2021. He hit .415/.455/.659 in the season’s first month, offense that translated to a 204 wRC+ that trailed only those of Mike Trout, J.D. Martinez and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. among qualified hitters. The rookie was never going to keep up anything like that kind of production, but few would’ve predicted the struggles he’d have.
From May 1 onwards, Mercedes posted only a .196/.264/.272 line, hitting just a pair of home runs in 174 plate appearances. The Sox optioned him to Triple-A Charlotte at the start of July. Mercedes’ production with the Knights was fine, as he hit .275/.318/.464 in 59 games. Yet he drew more attention for an Instagram post in which he said he was stepping away from baseball, only to reverse course and return to the club a day later.
After that incident, Mercedes played out the rest of the year in Charlotte. He didn’t get another big league look, but he has maintained his spot on the White Sox’s 40-man roster. The 29-year-old is entering his final minor league option year, meaning the Sox can shuttle him back and forth between Chicago and Charlotte this season as needed.
He’ll first need to recover from a procedure that’s seemingly in line to cost him around two months. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Sox place him on the 60-day injured list in the event that a 40-man roster spot is needed to accommodate some other move.
White Sox Offered Lucas Giolito Four-Year/$50MM Extension Prior To 2021 Season
The White Sox were known to be discussing a contract extension with Lucas Giolito last spring, and The Athletic’s James Fegan shares some details about the talks between the two sides. The Sox offered Giolito a four-year, $50MM deal covering the 2021-24 seasons (Giolito’s three remaining arbitration-eligible years and his first free agent year), and there was also a club option for the 2025 campaign.
As Fegan put it, the “offer was declined without a counter made by Giolito’s camp, as it was not viewed as being suitable enough to drive further discussion.” As a result, Giolito earned $4.14MM in 2021, as per the arbitration-avoiding deal he made with the Sox before extension talks began in earnest. His salary for 2022 has yet to be determined, as the two sides now appear to be heading for an arbitration hearing after failing to reach an agreement before Tuesday’s filing deadline.
Giolito is looking for a $7.5MM salary and the White Sox countered with a $7.3MM figure. Of the 31 players who didn’t agree to contracts prior to Tuesday’s deadline, Giolito’s case represents the smallest financial gap between player and team. Furthermore, Giolito told The Chicago Sun-Times’ Daryl Van Schouwen and other reporters that negotiations got as close as a $50K difference.
“For it to come down to a 50K difference prior to the filing, it’s like, ’Come on.’ It’s an upsetting part of the process. It’s why a lot of us don’t enjoy the business side of the process,” Giolito said.
Between the lack of progress in last year’s extension talks or this year’s arbitration talks, it remains to be seen whether or not these disputes could impact Giolito’s future in Chicago. GM Rick Hahn told Van Schouwen and other reporters that the arbitration impasse was “a function of the arbitration process” and “not a reflection of anything to do with [Giolito].” As for the right-hander himself, Giolito noted “Like I’ve always said about extensions, I absolutely love this team. The more I play the more I understand my value as a player. And I just want fair. It’s always fair for me, that’s where I’m at.”
Going back to the 2021 extension talks, it is clear that Giolito and his representatives didn’t think the four-year/$50MM offer fit their version of “fair,” considering that Giolito was coming off his second season of front-of-the-rotation performance. While the shortened 2020 campaign limited Giolito to 72 1/3 innings, he posted a 3.48 ERA and a 33.7% strikeout rate that ranked among the league’s best.
Back in March 2020, MLBTR’s Jeff Todd speculated that a Giolito extension could be worth around $45MM. With another good performance in the books that season and Giolito getting a year closer to free agency, clearly a $5MM bump from Todd’s projection wasn’t enough to get Giolito’s attention. While Chicago’s $50MM offer did top the amount of guaranteed money the Phillies gave Aaron Nola (another quality pitcher who had between three and four years of service time), Fegan writes that the Nola extension was “widely assessed as a team-friendly deal,” and also that Nola had recently had an injury scare in the form of a forearm strain.
Giolito, meanwhile, has no such injury issues, apart from a few brief IL stints due to muscle strains. And, with Giolito again pitching well in 2021, the CAA Sports client is surely looking for an even bigger payday in any multi-year extension. For teams like the White Sox who take a “file and trial” stance when it comes to negotiating one-year arbitration deals, more talks continue when it comes to discussing longer-term extensions, so it isn’t out of the question that the two sides can revisit the subject before things actually reach a hearing.
31 Players On Track For Arbitration Hearings
201 arbitration eligible players have reached agreements with their teams on a 2022 salary, most of which occurred just prior to Tuesday’s filing deadline.
According to Jake Seiner of The Associated Press, 31 arbitration eligible players remain unsigned and are on track for hearings. Due to the lockout, the hearings are expected to take place during the season if agreements are not reached. The full list of unsigned players, which includes Aaron Judge, Willson Contreras, and Dansby Swanson, can be found in our tracker. Judge, having submitted a $21MM figure against the Yankees’ $17MM submission, represents the largest gap at $4MM.
All the other gaps are less than $2MM, and the smallest is the $200K separating Lucas Giolito and the White Sox. Yesterday, Giolito told reporters that the sides were only $50K apart prior to filing, which the righty described as “very unfortunate, disheartening.”
The Braves have five of the 31 cases, with Swanson, Adam Duvall, Luke Jackson, Max Fried, and Austin Riley. Six of the 31 players were traded this offseason: Jesse Winker, Adam Frazier, Gary Sanchez, Chris Bassitt, and Jacob Stallings.
A look at the number of hearings by year in the last decade:
- 2021: 8
- 2020: 12
- 2019: 10
- 2018: 22
2017: 15 - 2016: 4
- 2015: 14
- 2014: 3
- 2013: 0
- 2012: 7
Multiyear deals are always an option, and we record those in our extension tracker.
White Sox Place Jonathan Stiever On 60-Day IL, Claim Yoan Aybar
The White Sox have placed right-hander Jonathan Stiever on the 60-day injured list, the team announced. Chicago also claimed southpaw Yoan Aybar off waivers from the Yankees, just days after the Yankees themselves claimed Aybar off waivers from the Rockies.
Aybar’s velocity and strikeout potential got him as high as the Rockies’ Double-A affiliate last season, though he is still very much a work in progress as a pitcher, after converting to the mound from the outfield prior to the 2018 season. As a hurler, Aybar has a 5.06 ERA and a 14.62% walk rate over 131 2/3 minor league innings, with a 24.9% strikeout rate.
The White Sox don’t have much left-handed depth in their bullpen beyond Aaron Bummer and Garrett Crochet, and the team has made a point of adding several southpaws to their Spring Training camp as non-roster invitees. Aybar probably isn’t likely to be on the radar for a big league promotion, but he’ll add more depth in the minors and perhaps serve as a project.
Stiever underwent lat surgery back in August and was initially expected to be ready for Spring Training, though the 60-day IL placement gives him more time to get fully healthy. Stiever was a fifth-round pick for the White Sox in the 2018 draft, and he has already gotten a brief taste of the majors, albeit in the form of three games and 6 1/3 innings over the last two seasons. Over 247 IP in Chicago’s farm system, Stiever has a 4.26 ERA and 26.86% strikeout rate, starting all 56 of his games. Once fully recovered, Stiever projects as a depth starter or potential bullpen long man for the Sox later in the season.
Braves Discussed Craig Kimbrel Trade With White Sox
The Atlanta Braves recently discussed a Craig Kimbrel trade with the White Sox, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, before the Braves signed Kenley Jansen. That one-year, $16MM deal for Jansen is an exact match for the one-year and $16MM remaining on Kimbrel’s contract, which perhaps suggests that Atlanta’s pursuit of Kimbrel is no longer in the cards.
Even before last year’s playoffs were finished, the writing seemed to be on the wall for Kimbrel and the White Sox. Reports at that time stated that the club’s plan was to pick up Kimbrel’s $16MM option and then trade him in the winter. With Liam Hendriks already present as an elite closer, Kimbrel was seen as surplus to requirements. Prior to the lockout, the club further bolstered their bullpen with the signing of Kendall Graveman, seemingly only increasing the odds of a Kimbrel trade. During the lockout, MLBTR listed him as one of the players most likely to be dealt in the post-lockout period.
However, after ten days of post-lockout frenzy and with Opening Day just over two weeks away, Kimbrel is still on the roster. The club also added yet another hard-throwing reliever recently, signing Joe Kelly to a two-year, $17MM deal.
Although the clock is ticking, there are still reasons to think Kimbrel could eventually be moved. The White Sox are currently projected for a payroll of $194MM, per Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. That’s miles beyond the club’s record for an Opening Day number, which was last year’s $129MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Between Hendriks, Kimbrel, Graveman and Kelly, they have over $44MM devoted to four relievers this year. While they could just roll into the season trying to have a super bullpen, it still seems more likely that they look to subtract Kimbrel’s salary from the ledger. The Blue Jays were recently reported to have checked in on Kenley Jansen. With Jansen now signed to the Braves, perhaps the Jays and any unknown Jansen suitors could now pivot to a Kimbrel deal instead.
White Sox Discussing Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas Trades With A’s
It’s been long suspected that the Athletics were going to undergo a roster teardown after the lockout. Those predictions have been coming true in recent days, as the club has already traded Chris Bassitt to the Mets and Matt Olson to the Braves. Among their most likely trade candidates, they still have third baseman Matt Chapman, along with starting pitchers Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas. When it comes to those pitchers, the White Sox are among the teams interested, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.
The Pale Hose already have an excellent front three in their rotation with Lance Lynn, Lucas Giolito and Dylan Cease. However, there are some question marks in the backend. For one, Dallas Keuchel had a rough season last year, throwing 162 innings with an ERA of 5.28. As for Michael Kopech, he missed most of 2018 and all of 2019 due to Tommy John surgery and then opted out of the 2020 pandemic season. Last year was mostly about getting him re-acclimated to pitching and building up his arm strength. While he fared well, putting up an ERA of 3.50, he only amassed 69 1/3 innings. While he may be able to handle a starter’s workload this year, it’s certainly not a sure thing.
In terms of depth, the club has Jonathan Stiever and Jimmy Lambert on the 40-man. Both are optionable and likely to be in Triple-A until an injury creates a need for their services. Vince Velasquez was also just signed to bolster the depth, perhaps serving as a long man out of the bullpen to start the year.
Adding Manaea or Montas to this group and bumping everyone down a peg would surely bolster the staff as a whole. Manaea pitched 179 1/3 innings last year with a 3.91 ERA, 25.7% strikeout rate and 5.4% walk rate. He’s scheduled to hit free agency at the end of the season and is projected to earn a salary of $10.2MM, per MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. Montas, meanwhile, tossed 187 frames with a 3.37 ERA, 26.6% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate. He’s projected for a $5.2MM salary and comes with an extra year of control.
One obstacle the White Sox might face is their farm system, or lack thereof. On Baseball America’s most recent Organization Talent Rankings, the club’s system came dead last. In order to pull off a major trade, they would have to further deplete what it already arguably the weakest system in the league.
However, the club will surely want to take advantage of what is a very strong MLB team that just made the postseason in back-t0-back seasons for the first time in their 120-year history. With the Twins and Guardians still aiming to compete and the Tigers making strong moves to emerge from a rebuild, the South Siders may be willing to take that hit to strike while their competitive window is wide open.
White Sox Sign Nick Ciuffo To Minor League Deal
The White Sox announced this afternoon they’ve signed catcher Nick Ciuffo to a minor league contract and invited him to big league Spring Training. The 27-year-old elected minor league free agency after being outrighted off the Orioles’ roster at the start of the offseason.
Ciuffo’s a former first-round draftee of the Rays (21st overall in 2013) who was regarded as one of the more promising prospects in a deep Tampa Bay farm system for a while. He’s struggled offensively throughout his career, however, and his prospect pedigree diminished as he moved towards the upper levels. He did make it to the big leagues in 2018 and he’s seen some major league time in three of the past four seasons.
The lefty-hitting backstop has tallied 56 MLB plate appearances, including six over two games with Baltimore last season. He’s a .240/.291/.370 hitter in 453 trips to the plate at the minors’ top level. The White Sox have Zack Collins and Seby Zavala as backup options behind Yasmani Grandal on the 40-man roster.
White Sox Sign Vince Velasquez
TODAY, 11:17am: The White Sox announced the Velasquez signing, a one-year, $3MM deal.
YESTERDAY, 1:00pm: The White Sox are signing right-hander Vince Velasquez, pending a physical, per Robert Murray of FanSided. The terms of the deal are not known at this time.
Velasquez, 30 in June, had an up-and-down tenure during his time in Philadelphia. Acquired as part of the Ken Giles trade in 2015, he had a promising debut in 2016, throwing 131 innings over 24 starts with an ERA of 4.12. Unfortunately, his ERA has never been as low since, as its been 4.85 or higher in each subsequent season.
He’s often been undone by walks and home runs, as his career walk rate of 9.5% is above league average. It’s also gotten worse in subsequent seasons, with a mark of 11% in 2020 and 11.8% in 2021. As for the home runs, the league average for HR/FB is usually around 10%, but Velasquez has a career mark of 15.1%. In 2021, he was released by the Phillies and latched on with the Padres towards the end of the season, finishing the campaign with an ERA of 6.30 over 94 1/3 innings.
Despite all of that, he has still tantalized with an ability to generate strikeouts, as his rate has been above 24% in each of his seasons except for 2017. He’s also still relatively young, making it possible that he could right the ship and deliver on some of the promise he’s shown.
The market for starting pitching has been the wildest this offseason, both before the lockout and after. It could perhaps be a side effect of the lockout leading to a condensed Spring Training and a regular season that will feature extra doubleheaders to make up for the delayed start of the schedule. Teams may be anticipating extra injuries throughout the year. Furthermore, now that players can’t be optioned to the minors more than five times per season, there will be less opportunities for roster churn. The White Sox already have five capable starters in Lance Lynn, Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, Dallas Keuchel and Michael Kopech. However, Velasquez has served in a swing capacity before and could perhaps do so again for the Sox, making multi-inning appearances out of the bullpen and perhaps stepping into the rotation should a need arise.
White Sox To Sign Joe Kelly
7:57pm: Kelly’s deal also contains a club option for 2024, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets. The total value of the deal is $17MM in guaranteed money.
6:19pm: The White Sox have signed right-hander Joe Kelly to a two-year deal, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter link). The signing will become official when Kelly passes a physical. Kelly is represented by the ACES agency.
The White Sox are a somewhat surprising suitor for Kelly, having inked Kendall Graveman to a three-year, $24MM deal prior to the lockout. They’re also on the hook for a combined $29MM in 2022 for Liam Hendriks and Craig Kimbrel. Aaron Bummer is under contract as well, and Garrett Crochet may also work out of the bullpen. MLB.com’s Scott Merkin notes that the Kelly signing “could indicate a Kimbrel trade on the horizon, but White Sox are not just giving away Kimbrel.”
Kelly, 33, typically rates as one of the game’s hardest-throwing relievers, though every year more relievers are able to average 98 miles per hour as he does. In his three years with the Dodgers, Kelly boosted his strikeout rate, hitting 27.5% in 44 innings in 2021. In recent years, his control has generally fallen into the acceptable range of issuing free passes to 8% of batters. Kelly also posted a healthy 58.9% groundball rate last year, helping him allow only three home runs on the season.
Kelly played a key role for the Red Sox in the 2018 postseason, allowing one earned run in 11 1/3 frames. Kelly switched sides after helping the Red Sox beat the Dodgers in the World Series, as Los Angeles signed him to a three-year, $25MM deal with a club option for 2022.
Kelly put up an unspectacular 2019 season for the Dodgers. He memorably earned a five-game suspension in the shortened 2020 season, also spending time on the shelf with shoulder inflammation before again helping his club win the World Series, though with not the same impact as he had for Boston. Kelly quietly underwent shoulder surgery that offseason, leading to a May 7 season debut in ’21. Kelly went on the COVID-IL in August of ’21, and later saw his season come to a close as he exited Game 5 of the NLCS with biceps tightness.
Faced with a $12MM club option or a $4MM buyout, the Dodgers chose the buyout. Though Kelly suggested mutual interest in a Dodgers reunion last month, he’ll instead join the White Sox bullpen. Kelly ranked seventh in the Dodgers’ bullpen in leverage index in 2021. Among those ranked ahead of him (used in more crucial situations), Kenley Jansen remains a free agent and Corey Knebel has signed with the Phillies. Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia, and Brusdar Graterol are holdovers, with Daniel Hudson joining as a free agent prior to the lockout. Tommy Kahnle is expected to pay some dividends after signing a two-year deal in December 2020 less than five months after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Kelly told 570 LA Sports at that time that he would “definitely be ready for the start of the season” after his NLCS biceps injury. The White Sox, widely expected to trade Kimbrel, have thus far only added a pair of right-handed relievers to their bullpen. Right around the same time tonight, the White Sox also bolstered their infield with the signing of Josh Harrison.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
