Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

White Sox Rumors

Braves Claim Nick Solak From White Sox

By and | at

The Braves announced that they have claimed infielder/outfielder Nick Solak off waivers from the White Sox and optioned him to Triple-A. The latter club had designated him for assignment on the weekend. Atlanta had an open roster spot due to losing left-hander Richard Lovelady off waivers to the Athletics last week.

Solak, 28, has spent the past four seasons in the Rangers organization. Once regarded as a polished bat with a questionable defensive outlook, the former second-round pick hit .293/.393/.491 in 135 plate appearances as a rookie in 2019 but hasn’t found much success at the plate since.

Dating back to 2020, Solak is a .246/.317/.354 hitter in 839 trips to the plate. He’s spent the bulk of his time in the Majors at second base but also has experience in left field (324 innings), in center field (108 innings) and at third base (97 innings). Defensive metrics have panned his glovework at all four spots, however.

Solak may not have much big league success, but he has a sharp .289/.369/.503 batting line in parts of four Triple-A seasons, has played multiple infield and outfield positions, and has a minor league option remaining. That’s caused him to bounce around the league this year, as several clubs have picked him up since his original DFA with the Rangers in hopes of being able to pass him through waivers themselves, thus retaining Solak as a non-roster depth option in Triple-A.

Texas initially traded Solak to Cincinnati in exchange for cash back in November. When the Reds designated him for assignment in late March, the Mariners sent cash to the Reds to acquire Solak. Current outright waiver priority is still dependent on last year’s regular-season standings and, contrary to popular belief, is not league-specific. (That only applied to now-defunct August trade waivers.) As such, Solak falling to Atlanta means that the vast majority of the league passed on him, with only the Astros and Dodgers having lower priority than the Braves at present. Atlanta could well try to pass Solak through waivers in the coming days, but for now he’ll head to Gwinnett and hope to play his way into an opportunity on the big league roster.

White Sox Sign Luke Farrell To Minor League Deal

By | at

The White Sox have signed right-hander Luke Farrell to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has been assigned to the Arizona Complex League White Sox for now, but will presumably move to a higher level after ramping up in a delayed spring ramp-up.

Farrell, 32 in June, has pitched in each of the past six major league seasons, but rarely staying with any club for long. He’s bounced around the rosters of the Royals, Reds, Cubs, Angels, Rangers and Twins in his career. Last year, he signed a minor league deal with the Cubs and was eventually selected for a second stint on their roster. He was designated for assignment about two weeks later and was claimed by the Reds, joining that club for a second time. He was outrighted towards the end of the season and eventually elected free agency. Between the two teams, he tossed 15 innings over six appearances with a 5.40 ERA. He also tossed 60 innings in the minors with a 4.95 ERA, starting 11 of his 18 appearances.

For his career, he’s tossed 102 2/3 innings with his ERA currently at an even 5.00. He’s struck out 23.3% of batters faced with a swinging strike rate of 10.2%, but he’s also walked 11.7% of opponents while getting ground balls on just 32.4% of balls in play.

Farrell has worked both as a starter and reliever in his career. It’s unclear how the Sox intend to use him, though they have been hit with a few notable injuries in their bullpen while their starters Dylan Cease, Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn, Michael Kopech and Mike Clevinger are all healthy. Their 15-day injured list currently has Liam Hendriks, Garrett Crochet and Joe Kelly on it, while Matt Foster was recently transferred to the 60-day. Farrell will get some work in at the ACL level and provide the club with some non-roster depth whenever he’s back in game shape.

White Sox Select Adam Haseley, Place Hanser Alberto On 10-Day IL

By | at

Per The Athletic’s James Fegan, the White Sox have selected the contract of outfielder Adam Haseley. In addition, infielder Hanser Alberto has been placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to Saturday) with a left quad strain. Infielder Nick Solak was designated for assignment to make room for Haseley on the 40-man roster.

Haseley, who celebrated his 27th birthday earlier this week, was taken 8th overall in the 2017 draft by the Phillies, but has failed to live up to that promise he showed as a prospect to this point in his career. In 355 plate appearances with Philadelphia, Haseley slashed just .264/.322/.373 before being traded to the White Sox ahead of the 2022 season. The outfielder only made it into 14 games with his new club in 2022, posting a 73 wRC+ in those games prior to being outrighted by Chicago during the offseason. With Alberto headed to the injured list, Haseley will now get another chance in the big leagues, where he will likely be the fourth outfielder on the roster, backing up Andrew Benintendi, Luis Robert Jr., and Oscar Colas.

Haseley will take the roster spot of Alberto, who is headed to the injured list without a timetable for his return. A veteran now playing in his 8th MLB season, Alberto has ever hit much in his career, posting a .271/.293/.380 line across 1406 plate appearances while only cracking 90 wRC+ once in his career, in 2019 with the Orioles. Still, the 30 year old remains a useful bench piece by virtue of his career strikeout rate of just 12.2% and his positional versatility; Alberto has played all four infield spots and the outfield corners in his career. With Alberto on the shelf, that should make more playing time available to fellow bench infielder Romy Gonzalez.

As for Solak, the utilityman spent the past four seasons as a member of the Rangers, slashing .252/.327/.372 (93 wRC+) in 974 plate appearances while playing primarily second base, though he’s also seen time at third base, left field, and even center field during his career. Solak was shipped from Texas to Cincinnati at the beginning of last offseason, and since then has bounced to the Mariners and the White Sox. Now, he figures to look to catch on with his fifth club in the past six months. That should be an attainable goal, considering the attractiveness of optionable infield depth.

White Sox Claim Nick Solak; Place Yoán Moncada On IL

By | at

The White Sox announced a batch of roster moves this afternoon. Outfielder Eloy Jiménez was reinstated from the injured list, swapping places with third baseman Yoán Moncada, who lands on the 10-day IL retroactive to April 11 with lower back soreness. Infielder/outfielder Nick Solak was also claimed off waivers from the Mariners and optioned to Triple-A Charlotte, with right-hander Matt Foster transferred to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move. Additionally, right-hander Jesse Scholtens was optioned to Charlotte while left-hander Tanner Banks was recalled.

Solak, 28, has bounced around the league quite a bit over the past six months or so. After spending four seasons with the Rangers, he was flipped to the Reds for cash considerations in November. He didn’t impress in spring and was designated for assignment on Opening Day. The Mariners acquired him at that time, with Solak being dealt for cash yet again. After a couple of weeks in the Mariners’ system, he was designated for assignment again and now lands with the Sox.

The fact that Solak is in a limbo zone where various teams are interested in his abilities yet he keeps losing his roster spot is a reflection of his uneven career so far. He debuted with the Rangers in 2019 by posting a .293/.393/.491 batting line and 126 wRC+ in 33 games. But he hit just .246/.317/.354 in the next three seasons for a wRC+ of 88. Despite those struggles at the big league level, he’s continued to flash promise in the minors, hitting .289/.368/.503 in Triple-A.

The White Sox will now be the latest team to give him a shot and see what happens. He still has an option remaining and will head to Charlotte for now. A second baseman earlier in his career, he was pushed into a corner outfield role when the Rangers signed Marcus Semien. It remains to be seen how the Sox deploy Solak for the Knights, but they do have a question mark at second base, as Tim Anderson’s injury has moved Elvis Andrus over to shortstop. That leaves utility players like Romy González, Hanser Alberto and Lenyn Sosa covering second, though Moncada’s injury means they’re needed at third base as well. The outfield corners are a bit more secure with Andrew Benintendi and Óscar Colás taking those spots on a regular basis.

Moncada has been dealing with the back issue for the past few days, having last started on Sunday. Just a few days ago, manager Pedro Grifol said it was possible that Moncada could be ready for action by this weekend, per James Fegan of The Athletic, but it seems the club will give him a bit of a breather to recuperate. He was off to a hot start, currently hitting .308/.325/.564, but that will now be put on pause. By backdating the IL placement, he could potentially be back in a week if he heals up as hoped. His roster spot will go to Jiménez, who is back after just a minimum stay on the IL. He was originally expected to miss about two or three weeks but has beaten that timeline slightly. Within days of going on the IL, he told Fegan that he was feeling much better and would have been available to pinch hit if were still active.

As for Foster, he started the season on the 15-day injured list with a right flexor strain. It’s unclear what his timeline for return is, but he will now be ineligible until late May. The 60-day count goes from his initial IL placement and not today’s transfer.

White Sox Sign Daniel Ponce de Leon To Minor League Contract

By | at

The White Sox have signed right-hander Daniel Ponce de Leon to a minor league deal, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link). He’ll head to Triple-A Charlotte as rotation depth.

Ponce de Leon has pitched in parts of four big league seasons. All of his MLB experience has come in St. Louis. A Cardinal draftee, the right-hander debuted in 2018. He remained with the Cardinals through 2021, working to a 4.33 ERA over 147 2/3 innings in a swing capacity. Ponce de Leon punched out a solid 23.2% of opposing hitters but had trouble throwing strikes consistently. He walked batters at a 12.7% clip overall and doled out free passes nearly 14% of the time in his final two seasons there.

Since being cut loose by St. Louis, the 31-year-old has bounced around the league. He signed minor league deals with four different teams last season. Ponce de Leon initially caught on with the Angels but was released in Spring Training. He bounced to the Mariners, Nationals and Tigers to close out the year. He had a tough season at the top minor league level, allowing a 6.52 ERA in 116 innings between those three affiliates. He struck out more than a quarter of opponents but walked 11.4% of batters faced and was quite homer-prone.

Rough 2022 season aside, Ponce de Leon brings a fair amount of upper level experience to the Chicago system. He misses a decent number of bats and can operate in a long relief or starting capacity if the Sox need to call upon him. They haven’t had to dip beyond their top five of Dylan Cease, Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn, Michael Kopech and Mike Clevinger to this point in the offseason. The depth behind that group is questionable, though, with Davis Martin, A.J. Alexy and non-roster players like Ponce de Leon and the recently outrighted Jonathan Stiever among the potential considerations.

White Sox Place Tim Anderson On Injured List

By | at

The White Sox announced Tuesday that shortstop Tim Anderson has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a sprain in his left knee. He’s expected to miss between two and four weeks of action, per the team. Infielder Lenyn Sosa is up from Triple-A Charlotte to take Anderson’s spot on the active roster.

Anderson appeared to suffer the injury during yesterday’s game against the Twins, when he attempted to corral an errant throw from Hanser Alberto in a poorly executed rundown between second and third base (video link). He originally remained in the game and finished out the inning, but Anderson was later lifted for a pinch-hitter.

The 29-year-old Anderson is out to a nice start, batting .298/.327/.404 and a perfect 5-for-5 showing in stolen bases to begin his 2023 campaign. His injury will likely slide Elvis Andrus over to shortstop or possibly open the door for Sosa to take some reps at the position. If it’s indeed Andrus taking the reins at short, as he did in 2022 when Anderson was injured, then second base reps will fall to a combination of Sosa, Alberto and Romy Gonzalez.

Any absence is notable for Anderson, who’s steadily been one of the best-hitting shortstops in the game for the past four years. Dating back to 2019, Anderson has posted at least a .301 batting average, .338 on-base percentage and .395 slugging percentage in every season. He’s a collective .317/.346/.471 hitter in just shy of 1700 plate appearances dating back to 2019, and his 122 wRC+ in that time (indicating he’s been 22% better than an average hitter after weighting for home park and league run-scoring environment) trails only six other shortstops: Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts, Trea Turner, Carlos Correa, Bo Bichette and Corey Seager.

Injuries have regularly hampered the White Sox over the past several seasons, and Anderson now becomes the second key member of the lineup on the injured list, joining slugger Eloy Jimenez, who’s expected to be sidelined into late April with a low-grade hamstring strain. The Sox are also currently missing relievers Liam Hendriks, Garrett Crochet, Joe Kelly and Matt Foster.

The Sox made the easy call to pick up a $12.5MM option on Anderson at the end of the 2023 season, and they’ll have a $14MM option or $1MM buyout over his 2024 campaign as well. Given Anderson’s overall track record, it’s hard to imagine Sox buying him out. The presence of that option at least makes it worth keeping a close eye on how Anderson recovers from this issue, but a one-year deal at that rate remains a relative bargain for a player of his caliber, so long as he’s healthy.

White Sox Select Keynan Middleton, Place Joe Kelly On IL, Outright Jonathan Stiever

By | at

The White Sox announced Monday that they’ve placed right-hander Joe Kelly on the 15-day injured list due to a groin strain and selected the contract of right-handed reliever Keynan Middleton. Right-hander Jonathan Stiever was outrighted in order to open a 40-man spot for Middleton. Stiever hasn’t been previously outrighted and doesn’t have three years of MLB service time, so he can’t reject the assignment. He’ll remain with the organization now that he’s cleared waivers.

Middleton, 29, signed a minor league deal over the winter and didn’t initially win a spot in Chicago’s bullpen, pitching to a 6.00 ERA in nine spring innings. He’s opened the year in Charlotte with a trio of scoreless frames, punching out three of the 11 batters he’s faced and also walking a pair.

The White Sox will be Middleton’s fourth big league club. He spent the first four seasons of his career with the Angels, looking at one point like a potential building block in the relief corps in Anaheim. Middleton debuted with 58 1/3 solid innings back in 2017 (3.86 ERA, 25.6% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate) and showed a high-octane fastball that averaged 97 mph.

Middleton started the 2018 season with an even stronger 2.04 ERA in 17 2/3 frames but saw diminished velocity while his strikeout and walk rates trended in the wrong direction. He was placed on the injured list in May with what the team discovered some damage in his ulnar collateral ligament. He underwent Tommy John surgery just a few days later. That wiped out the remainder of his 2018 season, and while Middleton returned with a clean 1.17 ERA in 7 2/3 innings the following year, he walked more hitters (seven) than he struck out (six) and was working with a fastball sitting at 94.2 mph.

In the three seasons since, Middleton’s velocity has fluctuated greatly, but his results with the Halos, Mariners and D-backs have been similarly below par. Overall, since returning from Tommy John surgery, the right-hander carries a 4.66 ERA with a 19% strikeout rate and 11.9% walk rate that are both worse than the league average. In the aggregate, his post-TJS fastball has sat at 95.6 mph, but that includes year-to-year averages that are all over the map: 94.2 mph in 2019, 97.2 mph in 2020, 95.6 mph in 2021 and 94.8 mph in 2022. Along the way, he’s encountered biceps, elbow and ankle injuries.

As for the 34-year-old Kelly, he’s gotten out to a rough start, yielding three runs on four hits and a walk through his first 2 2/3 innings of the 2023 campaign. He’s playing out the second season of a two-year, $17MM contract that hasn’t panned out as either he or the White Sox hoped. Biceps and hamstring injuries limited the former Red Sox and Dodgers hurler to 37 innings last year, during which he posted an unsightly 6.08 ERA with a career-worst 13.5% walk rate. He’ll now head to the injured list for the third time in just over one calendar year with the South Siders.

Kelly, of course, has a much better track record prior to his time with the ChiSox. From 2017-21, he tossed 229 innings of 3.62 ERA ball, and he was a postseason hero for the 2018 Red Sox, tossing 11 1/3 innings of one-run ball with a 13-to-0 K/BB ratio in the postseason during their march to an eventual World Series title.

Stiever, 26 next month, is a 2018 fifth-rounder who ranked among the White Sox’ best prospects from 2020-21 but has seen his stock tumble in recent seasons, in part due to health troubles. Stiever underwent lat surgery late in the 2021 season and spent nearly the entire 2022 campaign on the 60-day injured list as a result. He’s appeared in just 6 1/3 MLB innings, allowing 10 runs on 11 hits (four homers) and four walks in that time.

Because of those injuries and the lost 2020 minor league season, Stiever still has just 252 minor league innings under his belt. Seventy-nine of those have come at the Triple-A level, but he’s been tagged for a 5.47 ERA in that time. All but five of those 79 frames came during an ugly 2021 season, and Stiever has tossed a pair of scoreless innings so far to begin his ’23 season. He’ll remain in Triple-A and hope that better health brings about better results. If so, he could conceivably work his way back into the 40-man roster conversation at some point.

Diamondbacks Acquire Jose Ruiz From White Sox

By | at

The Diamondbacks announced that right-hander Jose Ruiz has been acquired from the White Sox in exchange for cash considerations.  Ruiz was designated for assignment by the Sox on Friday.

Ruiz was a regular in Chicago’s bullpen for most of the last four seasons, except for an injury-shortened 2020 season that saw Ruiz pitch mostly at the club’s alternate training site.  With a 3.75 ERA over 129 2/3 innings from 2020-22, Ruiz’s bottom-line results were solid, and his high-velocity fastball carries some solid spin.  Ruiz’s effectiveness was tempered, however, by mediocre walk rates and a lot of hard contact, and a .260 BABIP over the previous three seasons was likely a big factor in his success.

That good fortune turned around hard on Ruiz this season, as he had a whopping 22.09 ERA over his first 3 2/3 innings of the 2023 campaign.  It was enough for the White Sox to part ways with Ruiz, and he’ll now look for a fresh start in Arizona’s bullpen.

The D’Backs are looking for some relief help in the wake of multiple injuries to their intended bullpen mix.  Joe Mantiply has yet to pitch this season due to shoulder fatigue, while Cole Sulser, Mark Melancon, and Corbin Martin are all on the 60-day injured list — in the case of Melancon and Martin, it remains to be seen if either will return before the 2023 season is over.  The injury bug has now spread to the rotation in the form of Zach Davies’ oblique strain, and with Drey Jameson moving from the bullpen to Davies’ spot in the starting five, Arizona took a flier on Ruiz to add some depth to the relief corps.

White Sox, Alex Colome Agree To Minor League Contract

By | at

The White Sox have agreed to a minor league deal with reliever Alex Colomé, according to the hurler’s transaction log at MLB.com. Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets that the Wasserman client will head to Triple-A Charlotte tomorrow.

Colomé is a familiar face for Sox fans. He spent the 2019-20 seasons on Chicago’s South Side, combining for a 2.27 ERA over 83 outings. Despite middling strikeout and walk marks, Colomé held opposing hitters to a woeful .183/.262/.313 line in 339 plate appearances. The righty departed Chicago for Minnesota on a $6.25MM free agent deal over the 2020-21 offseason.

Things have gone downhill for Colomé since leaving Chicago. He tossed 65 innings for Minnesota, working to a fine but unspectacular 4.15 ERA. The next winter saw him sign another one-year deal, this time worth $4.1MM to join the Rockies. Colomé played the 2022 campaign in Denver, struggling to a 5.74 ERA over 47 appearances. Over the last two seasons, he’s allowed 4.82 earned runs per nine innings with a modest 17.8% strikeout percentage and an average 8.9% walk rate. He’s induced grounders at a strong 54.5% clip but not replicated the success he showed from 2016-20, when he combined for a 2.62 ERA in 275 appearances.

Colomé was limited to minor league offers over the winter. The 34-year-old latched on with the Nationals and spent the spring in Washington’s camp. The veteran hurler was tagged for seven runs in 9 2/3 exhibition frames, walking and striking out seven batters apiece. That wasn’t enough to get him a spot in the season-opening bullpen, and he was granted his release last week.

Chicago opened the season with three relievers — Liam Hendriks, Garrett Crochet and Matt Foster — on the injured list. Hendriks recently completed chemotherapy treatments after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Crochet is rehabbing from 2022 Tommy John surgery, while Foster has been slowed by a forearm strain. The White Sox have given high-leverage innings to Jake Diekman, Kendall Graveman, Reynaldo López and Aaron Bummer in the early going. Chicago carried a league-worst 9.36 bullpen ERA through 25 innings entering play today.

White Sox Designate José Ruiz, Select Jesse Scholtens

By | at

The White Sox announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Jesse Scholtens, while fellow righty José Ruiz has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Ruiz, 28, was claimed off waivers from Padres in December of 2017 and has been with the White Sox since that time. Over his first five years with the club, he posted generally solid numbers, including a 4.17 ERA over 174 appearances. His 11.1% walk rate was a bit high, but his 23% strikeout rate and 40.6% ground ball rate were both close to league average. Unfortunately, he’s been rocked in the early going here in 2023, allowing nine earned runs already through 3 2/3 innings.

The Sox will now have a week to trade Ruiz or pass him through waivers. He passed the three-year service time mark last year, meaning that he qualified for arbitration for the first time. He and the club agreed to a salary of $925K. Since he’s over that three-year mark, if he clears waivers and is outrighted, he will have the right to reject the assignment and elect free agency. However, since he has less than five years of service time, he would have to leave that money on the table in order to hit the open market.

Scholtens, 29, cracks a major league roster for the first time after many years in the minors. He was selected by the Padres in the ninth round of the 2016 draft. He moved his way up the minors with that organization, working primarily as a starter, but never got added to their roster. Last year, he made 17 starts and 22 relief appearances in Triple-A, posting a 4.10 ERA in 83 1/3 innings. He struck out 25.4% of batters faced while walking 8.6% and getting grounders on 37.9% of balls in play. He reached free agency at the end of the season and signed a minor league deal with the White Sox.

The White Sox were roughed up a bit this week, allowing 31 runs in a three-game series against the Giants. Scholtens will give them a fresh arm in the bullpen and could perhaps serve as a multi-inning option, as James Fegan of The Athletic points out that Scholtens was stretched out during Spring Training. The righty already made one Triple-A start, tossing 74 pitchers over four innings on Saturday.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows scroll to top