White Sox Rumors

Rays Acquire Travis Jankowski From White Sox

By Anthony Franco | April 26, 2025 at 2:19pm CDT

TODAY: The Rays have officially announced the trade. In corresponding moves, Montes was optioned to Triple-A, and left-hander Shane McClanahan was moved from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL.

APRIL 25: The White Sox traded Travis Jankowski to the Rays, according to an announcement from Chicago’s Triple-A affiliate. The outfielder was on a minor league deal and will not require a 40-man roster spot for Tampa Bay. He’ll presumably head to their top farm team in Durham.

Jankowski broke camp with the Sox after signing a minor league deal midway through Spring Training. He only stuck on the roster for a week and a half. Chicago outrighted him off the 40-man, then brought him back on a new minor league contract after he elected free agency. He has spent the past three weeks in Charlotte, batting .261 with a homer in five games.

A left-handed hitter, Jankowski has appeared in the big leagues in 11 straight seasons. He has worked as a fourth or fifth outfielder for most of that time, only twice reaching 300 plate appearances. Jankowski doesn’t provide any kind of power, but he has shown generally solid plate discipline. He was a contributor to the Rangers during their World Series team in 2023, when he hit .263/.357/.332 with nearly as many walks as strikeouts across 287 trips.

The strikeout and walk rates both went in the wrong direction last year. Jankowski managed only a .200/.266/.242 slash across 207 plate appearances. He was limited to minor league offers as a result. He collected three hits, all singles, and one walk across 14 at-bats in his limited MLB look with the White Sox.

Tampa Bay placed Jake Mangum on the injured list yesterday because of a groin strain. They were already without Josh Lowe, Richie Palacios and Jonny DeLuca. They’re using an outfield of Christopher Morel, Kameron Misner and top prospect Chandler Simpson. Utilityman Coco Montes was recalled to replace Mangum. Third catcher Logan Driscoll is the only healthy position player who is on the 40-man roster and on an optional assignment in the minors. Jankowski joins Eloy Jiménez as non-roster outfield options with the Bulls.

White Sox Acquire Gage Workman, Designate Nick Maton

By Mark Polishuk | April 26, 2025 at 1:32pm CDT

The White Sox announced that infielder Gage Workman has been acquired from the Cubs in a trade for cash considerations. To create roster space for Workman, the Sox designated infielder Nick Maton for assignment.

Workman was designated for assignment earlier this week, and he’ll now head from Wrigleyville to the South Side in a relatively rare trade between the two Chicago rivals. Workman hit .214/.267/.286 over 15 plate appearances with the Cubs, and his nine games marked Workman’s debut at the Major League level. A Rule 5 draft acquisition out of the Tigers system last December, the Cubs had to keep Workman on their active roster for the entire season to fully assume his rights, but the club chose to abandon the experiment a few weeks into April.

The trade has no bearing on Workman’s Rule 5 status, so the White Sox will also have to carry him on the 26-man for the rest of the season or else offer him back to Detroit. This is nothing new for the Sox, who now have three Rule 5 picks on their roster between Workman, Shane Smith, and Mike Vasil. Since the Pale Hose are in clear rebuild mode, there’s nothing to be lost for the White Sox in seeing what these prospects can do at the big league level, and both Smith and Vasil have thus far acquitted themselves quite well in their rookie seasons.

Workman has played mostly shortstop and third base in the minors, with some work at second base and right field to add to his versatility. Chicago figures to utilize him all over the diamond in a backup role, and Workman might be something of a temporary replacement for infielder Chase Meidroth, who is on the IL due to thumb inflammation.

With the rebuild in mind, the Sox preferred Workman over more of an established player in Maton, who has appeared in 207 games over the last five big league seasons. That total includes 23 games with Chicago this year, as Maton’s minor league contract was selected to the Opening Day roster and he hit .173/.295/.327 in 61 plate appearances. That slash line roughly matches Maton’s career slash line, as some promising numbers in part-time work with the Phillies in 2021-22 didn’t translate when Maton received more playing time in an ultimately fruitless stint with the Tigers in 2023. After playing in 93 games with Detroit in 2023, Maton got into just five MLB games with the Orioles last year.

Maton is out of minor league options, so Chicago had to designate him and expose him to waivers before attempting to send him to Triple-A. If Maton clears waivers and is outrighted, he can choose to reject the outright assignment in favor of free agency, since Maton has previously been outrighted during his career.

Looking Ahead To Club Options: AL Central

By Anthony Franco | April 24, 2025 at 6:38pm CDT

MLBTR continues our division by division look at next year’s team/mutual option class with the AL Central. Virtually all of the mutual options will be bought out by one side. Generally, if the team is willing to retain the player at the option price, the player will decline his end in search of a better free agent deal.

Previous installments: player options/opt-outs, NL West, AL West, NL Central

Chicago White Sox

Martín Pérez, LHP ($10MM mutual option, $1.5MM buyout)

Pérez signed a $5MM free agent deal to serve as the veteran presence in a very young White Sox rotation. Chicago hoped he’d pitch well enough in the first half to net a lottery ticket prospect at the deadline. Pérez was reasonably effective through his first three starts, but he came out of his fourth outing with forearm discomfort. A flexor strain diagnosis immediately sent him to the 60-day injured list. He’s expected to avoid surgery but will miss almost the entire season. A deadline trade is off the table, and he’ll be bought out at season’s end.

Luis Robert Jr., CF ($20MM club option, $2MM buyout)

As recently as a few months ago, Robert’s $20MM club option looked like excellent value, as did the matching option for 2026. He was a down-ballot MVP performer in 2023, when he hit .264/.315/.542 with 38 homers while playing plus center field defense. The ’24 campaign was a struggle. Robert missed nearly two months early in the season with a hip flexor strain and was unproductive when healthy. He hit .224/.278/.379 with 14 homers in 100 games. Chicago held him into this year rather than sell low in an offseason trade.

That put a lot of pressure on Robert to hit early in the year. An excellent few months could make him one of the top position players available at the deadline. A terrible start might tank what remained of his trade value. The early returns are disastrous: .138/.255/.238 with 30 strikeouts in 96 plate appearances. There’s still time for a turnaround, but Robert may be following in the footsteps of Tim Anderson and Eloy Jiménez — players whose once team-friendly extensions soured to the point that they were traded for meager returns and/or bought out.

Cleveland Guardians

John Means, LHP ($6MM club option, no buyout)

Means underwent UCL surgery last June. That was his second such procedure within the past three years. He’d undergone Tommy John surgery in 2022 and had only just returned before his elbow gave out again. The Guardians took a $1MM flier in free agency. The deal includes a $6MM team option for next season. Means is hoping to return to the mound in August or September. His late-season form will determine whether Cleveland wants to keep him around next year.

If the Guardians exercise the option, Means could unlock up to $2.5MM in performance bonuses. He’d earn $75K apiece at 20, 30, 40 and 50 innings pitched next year. That climbs to $100K each for 60, 70, 80 and 90 frames; $125K at 100, 110, 120 and 130 innings; and $150K apiece for 140 and 150 frames.

Paul Sewald, RHP ($10MM mutual option, $1MM buyout)

Sewald had a pair of above-average seasons as Seattle’s closer between 2022-23. His production started to trend down after a ’23 deadline deal that sent him to Arizona. Sewald remained generally productive through the Snakes’ surprising World Series run that year. Last season was his worst since his 2021 breakout. He allowed a 4.31 ERA with declining velocity through 39 2/3 innings. The Guardians surprisingly guaranteed him $7MM to deepen an already excellent bullpen. The veteran righty has punched out 13 hitters through 10 1/3 frames, but he has already surrendered three homers while averaging just 90.2 MPH on his fastball.

Detroit Tigers

John Brebbia, RHP ($4MM club option, $500K buyout)

Detroit added Brebbia on a $2.75MM contract early in Spring Training. It was a roll of the dice on the veteran righty’s intriguing swing-and-miss rates. Brebbia had allowed nearly six earned runs per nine innings last season (mostly with the White Sox), but he punched out nearly 28% of opposing hitters. Things have reversed early in his Detroit tenure. Brebbia has only allowed two runs (one earned) over his first nine innings. His 8.8% swinging strike rate is well below average, though, and he’s given out eight free passes — five walks and three hit batters.

Brebbia is working in low-leverage situations that suggest he’s towards the bottom of the bullpen depth chart. He’ll need to turn around his underlying numbers to pitch his way into more meaningful spots and, eventually, to convince the front office to exercise the option.

Brebbia could push the option price by another $4MM based on his performance this year. It’d climb by $500K at 65 appearances, $1MM apiece at 45 and 50 games finished, and by $2MM for 55 games finished. The maximum escalator value is capped at $4MM, so the appearance threshold would essentially be nullified if Brebbia finishes 55 games and pushes the option value to $8MM based on that criteria alone. He has finished six of eight appearances so far.

José Urquidy, RHP ($4MM club option, no buyout)

Urquidy’s situation is similar to that of Means. The former Astros righty required Tommy John surgery last June. Houston waived him at the end of the season. He reunited with A.J. Hinch in Detroit on a $1MM contract. Urquidy won’t be an option until the final few weeks of the season in a best case scenario. Detroit can gauge his progress to determine whether they want to retain him at a $4MM base value. Urquidy could tack on another $3MM if the Tigers exercise the option: $150K each at four and seven starts next year; $300K apiece for 10, 13, 16 and 19 starts; and $500K each at 22, 25 and 28 starts.

Kansas City Royals

Michael Lorenzen, RHP ($12MM mutual option, $1.5M buyout if team declines its end)

Kansas City brought Lorenzen back on a $7MM free agent deal. He’s playing on a $5.5MM salary and would collect a $1.5MM buyout on a $12MM mutual option assuming the Royals decline their end. He grabbed a season-opening rotation spot with both Alec Marsh and Kyle Wright on the shelf. Lorenzen has had a customary start to the season. He carried a 4.57 ERA with a below-average 17.7% strikeout rate into this evening’s appearance against the Rockies. He’s through five scoreless innings against Colorado at the time of this writing.

Salvador Perez, C ($13.5MM club option, $2MM buyout)

Perez is making $22MM in the final season of the four-year extension that he signed in March 2021. At the time, it was the largest contract in organizational history. (Bobby Witt Jr. has since shattered that record.) Perez is a franchise stalwart, of course, but it was still surprising to see the Royals guarantee him $82MM for his age 32-35 seasons — especially given the heavy workloads he’d taken throughout his career.

The nine-time All-Star has rewarded the team’s faith. He led the majors with 48 homers and 121 RBI in 2021, though he was already under contract for that season anyhow. He combined for a .261/.307/.447 slash over the first three seasons of the extension. Perez eclipsed 20 home runs in each, and he won the AL Silver Slugger Award behind the dish with a .271/.330/.456 showing during last year’s playoff season.

Perez has started this season more slowly. He entered today’s doubleheader with a .185/.235/.293 line, though he has picked up four doubles over two games against Colorado pitching. If this continues all season, the Royals could face a tough decision, but the safer bet right now is that Kansas City will exercise the option. It’s tough to imagine Perez playing anywhere else.

Minnesota Twins

Harrison Bader, CF ($10MM mutual option, $1.5MM buyout)

Minnesota added Bader on a $6.25MM contract amidst a quiet offseason. They’ve preferred to have a capable right-handed hitting fourth outfielder who can reduce Byron Buxton’s workload in center field while complementing their lefty-hitting corner bats. Bader has started 18 of the team’s first 25 games. He’s hitting .230/.319/.393 with a trio of home runs through 69 plate appearances. It’s an early improvement over last year’s .236/.284/.373 showing, but it’s unlikely the Twins would exercise their end of a $10MM option.

The bigger factor might be Bader’s semi-regular playing time. He could push the buyout price as high as $3MM based on this season’s plate appearance total. It has a $1.5MM base value and would climb by $200K at 400, 425 and 450 plate appearances, then by $450K at 475 and 500.

Note: Justin Topa’s arbitration contract contains a $2MM club option or a $225K buyout for next season. He’d remain eligible for arbitration if the team declines the option, as he will not have reached six years of service time.

MLBTR Podcast: Justin Steele, Triston McKenzie, And Tons Of Prospect Promotions

By Darragh McDonald | April 23, 2025 at 11:47pm CDT

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 Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

The Cubs’ rotation outlook after Justin Steele’s UCL surgery (1:15)
The Guardians designating Triston McKenzie for assignment (7:30)
The Athletics promoting prospect Nick Kurtz (16:10)
The White Sox promoting prospect Edgar Quero (20:55)
The Rays promoting prospect Chandler Simpson (26:45)
The Marlins promoting prospect Agustín Ramírez (33:30)
The Twins promoting prospect Luke Keaschall (38:30)

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

Can high-caliber early-career players like Paul Skenes demand trades or are they stuck where they are? (44:45)
With constant injuries and DFAs, could the new CBA lead to some changes in roster rules? (49:25)

Check out our past episodes!

Free Agent Power Rankings – listen here
Vlad’s Massive Deal, Extensions for Merrill and Marte, And Quinn Priester Traded – listen here
Garrett Crochet’s Extension, Problems In Atlanta, And Other Early-Season Storylines – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images

White Sox Re-Sign Omar Narvaez To Minor League Deal

By Anthony Franco | April 23, 2025 at 9:55pm CDT

The White Sox brought Omar Narváez back on a minor league contract. The deal was announced by their Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte, where the veteran catcher has been assigned.

Narváez had elected free agency on Monday after being outrighted off Chicago’s major league roster. He’d spent a week in the big leagues after the Korey Lee injury, appearing in four games as the backup behind Matt Thaiss. He went 2-7 with a couple walks. The Sox called up well-regarded prospect Edgar Quero on Thursday, pushing Narváez out in the process.

It’s common for players to re-sign on a fresh minor league deal after rejecting an outright assignment. Narváez seemed like a candidate to look elsewhere, as the Sox don’t have a great path to playing time behind the plate. Quero should get regular playing time, while Thaiss is out of options and cannot be sent down without going on waivers. Top prospect Kyle Teel is the starter in Charlotte, leaving Narváez to work as his backup in the minors.

Narváez is clearly comfortable with the situation. He spent the first three years of his big league career with the Sox between 2016-18. He developed into a solid #1 catcher for the Mariners and Brewers thereafter, though his production has tanked over the past few seasons. He owns a .201/.278/.286 slash line since the start of 2022.

Martín Pérez To Miss Majority Of 2025 Season

By Darragh McDonald | April 22, 2025 at 5:25pm CDT

5:25pm: Perez has been diagnosed with a flexor strain, per Scott Merkin of MLB.com.

3:15pm: White Sox left-hander Martín Pérez is on the injured list with inflammation in his throwing elbow and it doesn’t appear he will be coming back soon. Jesse Rogers of ESPN reports that the southpaw won’t require Tommy John surgery but his season is effectively done regardless, though he could be throwing again in September.

The lefty departed Friday’s game after just three innings and the Sox placed him on the 15-day IL the next day. The club didn’t provide any updates about how long they expected him to be out of action, but they quickly moved him to the 60-day IL yesterday when they added Bobby Dalbec to the roster. That at least indicated they didn’t expect him back within a couple of months, but it now seems he’ll be out longer than that and may not return this year at all.

That’s obviously unfortunate for both Pérez and the Sox. The two sides agreed to a one-year, $5MM pact in the offseason. With the Sox having lost 121 games last year, the plan was presumably to have Pérez act as a stabilizing veteran presence in the rotation for at least a few months. If he pitched well into July, he would have been traded to a contender for prospects, giving him a chance to potentially play meaningful games while the Sox would add young talent to help in their rebuild.

That’s all off the table now. Pérez made just four starts before landing on the shelf and it’s possible he won’t get a chance to add to that. Even if he does make it back in September, that would only give him a chance to make a start or two. In that scenario, the Sox might prefer to give the ball to young pitchers they are hoping to evaluate before the winter sets in.

For now, the rotation on the South Side consists of Sean Burke, Jonathan Cannon, Davis Martin and Shane Smith. A fifth starter will be needed at some point to replace Pérez. Jairo Iriarte, Nick Nastrini and Owen White are each on the 40-man and pitching in Triple-A so far this year. Justin Dunn is a non-roster depth arm with big league experience, also in Triple-A at the moment. Some pitchers recently designated for assignment by other clubs include Triston McKenzie and Yoendrys Gómez and Michael Fulmer.

Photo courtesy of Eric Canha, Imagn Images

White Sox, Juan Carela Agree To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | April 22, 2025 at 11:55am CDT

The White Sox re-signed righty Juan Carela to a minor league deal, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. Chicago designated Carela for assignment and released him earlier this month, though that was only done because of the fact that Carela was injured and on the 40-man roster. Injured players cannot be passed through outright waivers, by rule, so Carela was released and will now return on a non-roster pact with an eye toward contributing in 2026, when he’s hopefully recovered from last month’s Tommy John surgery.

Carela, 23, came to the White Sox in the 2023 deadline trade that sent reliever Keynan Middleton to the Yankees. He pitched well for Chicago’s High-A club down the stretch that year and delivered a strong performance — 3.71 ERA, 25.2% strikeout rate, 9.9% walk rate, 43.2% grounder rate — in 106 2/3 innings between High-A and Double-A in 2024. That performance netted Carela a spot on the White Sox’ 40-man roster as they sought to protect him from being selected by another organization in December’s annual Rule 5 Draft.

Heading into the season, Carela looked primed to make his big league debut at some point in 2025. He’d pitched well in more than 100 innings of High-A work and handled himself well in a late-2024 bump to Double-A. A healthy Carela could’ve opened the season either with Double-A Birmingham or Triple-A Charlotte and pushed for a roster spot this summer or later in the season. Unfortunately, both he and fellow righty Prelander Berroa were diagnosed with torn ulnar collateral ligaments in their pitching elbows this spring and will now be out until midway through the 2026 campaign.

Omar Narvaez Elects Free Agency

By Steve Adams | April 21, 2025 at 11:18am CDT

Veteran catcher Omar Narvaez, who was designated for assignment by the White Sox last week, passed through waivers unclaimed. He was assigned outright to Triple-A Charlotte but has rejected that assignment in favor of free agency, per the transaction log at MiLB.com.

The 33-year-old Narvaez appeared in four games in his return to the White Sox — with whom he originally made his MLB debut — going 2-for-7 with a pair of walks in 10 plate appearances. It was a tiny sample as the Sox looked for a short-term stopgap to pair with Matt Thaiss in the wake of an injury to catcher Korey Lee. Chicago quickly pivoted, turning Narvaez’s roster spot over to top prospect Edgar Quero, who’d had a big start in Charlotte and has been excellent through his first four MLB games.

Narvaez was a solid regular behind the plate from 2017-21, when he tallied 1670 plate appearances and batted .266/.351/.403 between the White Sox, Mariners and Brewers. He improved his defensive reputation, particularly his framing grades, along the way and even earned an All-Star nod with the 2021 Brewers.

His output since that terrific 2021 season has faded, however. He’s taken 521 plate appearances between the Brewers, Mets and this brief ChiSox return, posting a collective .201/.278/.286 line that checks in nearly 40% below average at the plate, by measure of wRC+.

Narvaez could simply return to the organization on a new minor league contract, but although the White Sox have the second-worst winning percentage in MLB, catcher is an area of depth for them. In Quero, Lee, Thais and top prospect Kyle Teel — the headliner from the Garrett Crochet trade with Boston — the Sox have a quartet of younger catchers who’d land ahead of Narvaez on the depth chart. Quero and Teel, in particular, are viewed as potential building blocks for the organization and should get prominent opportunities this season. The veteran Narvaez could likely find a less-crowded path back to big league playing time with another organization.

White Sox Transfer Martin Perez To 60-Day IL, Select Bobby Dalbec

By Steve Adams | April 21, 2025 at 8:28am CDT

The White Sox selected the contract of infielder Bobby Dalbec from Triple-A Charlotte, per a team announcement. Fellow infielder Chase Meidroth heads to the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his right thumb, while veteran lefty Martin Perez is moving from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL. Perez exited his most recent start due to forearm soreness and was placed on the 15-day injured list over the weekend due to inflammation in his left elbow.

The Sox haven’t provided further word on Perez’s injury, but the move to the 60-day IL was not expected based on the information that’s been made publicly available. A move to the 60-day IL takes him out until at least late June. That’s a tough blow for the ChiSox, both because Perez has had a nice start to the season and because it clouds his potential outlook as a trade candidate prior to July’s deadline.

Perez, 34, signed a one-year deal worth $5MM over the winter. Through his first three starts with the South Siders, he posted a 1.59 ERA with a 26.9% strikeout rate and 13.4% walk rate in 17 frames. History tells us that Perez is highly unlikely to keep inducing strikeouts at that level but also that his walk rate should be expected to drop substantially; over the past four seasons, Perez fanned just 18.4% of his opponents but also limited his walk rate to a solid 8% mark.

However, Perez was roughed up for four runs in three innings against the Red Sox his last time out. He yielded five hits, including a homer, walked two batters and didn’t record a strikeout. There was no major velocity drop, but Statcast did measure Perez’s cutter at a season-low 84.9 mph on average, down from his 85.5 mph average in his first start. His sinker had a similar dip. That’s not stark enough to prompt major concern, but it’s of some mild note in the wake of his 60-day placement. Presumably, White Sox skipper Will Venable will have more information on Perez’s status prior to today’s series finale at Fenway Park.

Fenway was long the home park for Dalbec, 29. The former Red Sox fourth-rounder (2016) ranked among the team’s best prospects for much of his minor league tenure and posted a solid .243/.308/.511 batting line with 33 home runs through his first 545 major league plate appearances from 2020-21. It’s been a sharp decline ever since. Dating back to the 2022 season, Dalbec has appeared in 175 big league games and tallied 499 plate appearances, but he has just a .198/.269/.330 slash to show for it. He’s fanned in 38% of his plate appearances along the way and nearly 37% of his overall plate appearances in the majors.

Through his first 12 games in Triple-A this season, Dalbec has been on a tear. He’s hitting .326/.354/.696 with four homers, three doubles, a triple and a stolen base in only 48 trips to the plate. He’s still punched out in exactly one-third of those turns at the dish, but he’s stinging the ball when he makes contact.

It seems likely to be a short-term stint on the 40-man roster for Dalbec. He’s out of minor league options, so he can’t be sent back down without first being designated for assignment and passed through waivers.

Meidroth tells MLB.com’s Scott Merkin that x-rays on his thumb were negative. He first felt the issue in Charlotte, prior to his original promotion to the majors. He rested a few days and returned to the Triple-A lineup pain-free. It’s resurfaced recently, and after trying to play through it for the past week or so, he’ll now sit down for a longer spell to try to get the issue cleared up once and for all.

Acquired from the Red Sox in the Garrett Crochet trade, the 23-year-old Meidroth was Boston’s 2022 fourth-round pick. He opened the year with a .267/.450/.600 slash through 40 Triple-A plate appearances before being summoned for his MLB debut, and he’s batted .269/.387/.269 in his first 31 trips to the plate as a big leaguer.

AL Central Notes: Carpenter, Erceg, Meidroth

By Mark Polishuk | April 20, 2025 at 10:18pm CDT

With four outfielders already on the injured list, the Tigers might’ve lost another key contributor when Kerry Carpenter left today’s 4-3 loss to the Royals with what manager A.J. Hinch described as right hamstring soreness. As Hinch told the Detroit News’ Chris McCosky and other reporters, Carpenter suffered the injury while running out an infield single in the seventh inning. Nothing appeared to be amiss until Carpenter was replaced in left field in the top of the ninth inning.

More will be known about Carpenter’s status tomorrow, but if he has to miss time, he’ll join Parker Meadows, Matt Vierling, Wenceel Perez, and Manuel Margot (who was signed in late March to help address the outfield depth issue) on the increasingly crowded Detroit injured list. Carpenter likely would’ve been a part-time outfielder and part-time DH in the world where everyone was healthy, but he has played only twice at the DH position this season. Beyond the outfield crunch, Carpenter’s absence would also remove a big bat from the Tigers’ lineup, as the slugger is hitting .315/.338/.562 with five homers in his first 77 plate appearances of 2025.

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