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Kyle Seager Undergoes Surgery For Injured Tendon

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March 14: Seager will miss 10 to 12 weeks following the procedure, general manager Jerry Dipoto told reporters (link via Johns). He won’t swing a bat for the next eight weeks and isn’t likely to return to the field before June.

March 11: Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager is slated to undergo surgery to repair an injured tendon in his left hand, MLB.com’s Greg Johns was among those to report (Twitter links). He’s expected to be sidelined for all of April, at least, with a precise timeline as yet unknown.

Seager had been preparing for what he hoped to be a bounceback season at the plate. Now, the 31-year-old will need to overcome a physical obstacle before he has a chance to show that his forgettable 2018 season was just a down year.

Durability has never been an issue for Seager, who has never been placed on the disabled list during his eight-year MLB career. He will be among the first players to go on the newly-dubbed injured list, however, and will therefore fall shy of 154 games played for the first time since his first full season in the majors back in 2012.

Seager had also always been an above-average big league hitter until running into trouble last year. He ended the season with an ugly .221/.273/.400 slash and 22 home runs in 630 plate appearances — a far cry from the .263/.332/.447 line he carried entering the season.

There were some indications that poor fortune played a role in that decline. Seager carried a career-low .251 BABIP despite what Statcast categorized as a 39.6% hard contact rate. His .288 wOBA lagged his .306 xwOBA, though that still fell well shy of his prior levels.

Worryingly, Seager also saw changes in his plate discipline. He struck out at a career-high 21.9% rate while walking at a career-low 6.0% clip. On the bright side, Seager’s power was down from his prior four seasons, though his .178 isolated power mark wasn’t too far off of his .183 career rate.

There were also mixed signals defensively. Seager continued to receive quality grades from Ultimate Zone Rating for his glovework. The opposite was true of the Defensive Runs Saved system, which has swung wildly and not seen eye to eye with UZR on Seager over the years.

Ryon Healy will step in at the hot corner for the meantime, per skipper Scott Servais (also via Johns, on Twitter). Missing out on a month or more of Seager’s contributions represents less-than-promising news for the M’s, though the club has already made clear it doesn’t expect to push for a postseason spot this year. With $56MM committed to Seager over the next three seasons, the Seattle organization will be concerned mostly with his ability to regain his form with the bat once he is back at full health.

Jose Berrios Declined Extension Offer From Twins

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The Twins have already extended a pair of young players this winter, inking both Max Kepler (five years, $35MM) and Jorge Polanco (five years, $25.75MM) to long-term deals, and they at least made an attempt to hammer out a long-term arrangement with Jose Berrios as well. The young righty tells Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune that he and his representatives at Wasserman turned away an extension offer this winter.

Berrios, however, didn’t rule out signing a contract that would extend his stay in Minnesota — perhaps even before Opening Day 2019. “I have to manage my business, too,” said the 24-year-old. “…We’re waiting for the best for both sides. If it doesn’t happen this year, maybe next year.”

Miller lists the recent extensions signed by Aaron Nola (four years, $45MM) and Luis Severino (four years, $40MM) as data points, though it’s not clear that Berrios’ camp is seeking that type of guarantee. Furthermore, Severino was a Super Two player when he signed that deal, and Nola was had already reached three years of MLB service. Both players were already eligible for arbitration and were in line for salaries of at least $4.4MM for the coming season, whereas Berrios has two years, 44 days of MLB service and won’t be eligible for arbitration until next winter. As such, signing a comparable contract to either Nola or Severino would set a new precedent for the two-to-three service class.

As MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes explored when looking at a potential extension for the Rockies’ Kyle Freeland, Berrios finds himself among a group of quality players with two-plus years of service who still seem likely to fall shy of record-setting money. Corey Kluber’s $38.5MM extension, signed on the heels of a Cy Young season, is the largest ever for a non-Super-Two pitcher with between two and three years of MLB service. Berrios’ case, clearly, isn’t as strong; historically speaking, he’s more in line with a large group of starters who signed in the realm of $30MM over five years (though many of those contracts are close to a decade old). It’s worth emphasizing, of course, that Berrios’ asking price and the parameters put forth by the Twins earlier this winter aren’t known.

Berrios had an awful rookie campaign as a 22-year-old but has since settled in as very solid big league starter — one whose raw stuff and former prospect pedigree create optimism that there’s still a fair bit of improvement left in the tank. Dating back to 2017, the Puerto Rican-born righty has worked to a 3.86 ERA with 9.1 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, 1.06 HR/9 and a 40 percent ground-ball rate in 338 innings. He’ll take the hill for Minnesota in his first career Opening Day start this season as the Twins hope the long touted right-hander can take another step forward and keep them in competition for a division title in the AL Central.

If Berrios is able to do that, he’ll vault himself into another tier of earning potential. At that point, he’d line up more comparably with Nola’s $45MM guarantee or the $51MM guarantee attained by the Cardinals’ Carlos Martinez, the latter of which stands out as the largest deal ever promised to a pitcher with between three and four years of MLB service (as can be seen in MLBTR’s Extension Tracker). For the time being, Miller’s colleague La Velle E. Neal III reports (via Twitter) that Berrios agreed to a one-year contract worth $620K for the upcoming season — his final pre-arbitration salary before at least entering the arb process next winter. Minnesota controls Berrios through the 2022 campaign.

Largest Contract In Franchise History For Each MLB Team

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Here’s our list of the largest contract each of the 30 MLB teams has ever signed.  Each contract is linked to its MLBTR post, with the exception of those that predate the site’s existence.

MLB, MLBPA Announce Single Trade Deadline, Changes To Roster Size

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10:10am: The league and Union have formally announced the changes. A full rundown of the new rules is available, but here’s a more concise overview:

Effective Immediately

  • There will be no trades after July 31. August trade waivers have been eliminated, though players can still be placed on and claimed from outright waivers, as they would throughout the rest of the year.
  • All-Star voting will still be conducted by fans online, but the top three players at each position, in each league, will now participate in an All-Star Election Day. The top three vote-getters at each position, in each league, (top six in the case of outfielders) will receive bonus payments.
  • The Home Run Derby will now come with $2.5MM of prize money, including a $1MM prize for the winner.
  • The maximum number of mound visits per game will be reduced from six to five.
  • Commercial breaks between innings are reduced to two minutes in length for all games.
  • The MLB and MLBPA will form a “Joint Committee” to discuss further issues and rule changes.

Effective Beginning in 2020

  • The standard roster size in regular season games and postseason games will increase from 25 to 26 players. Beginning on Sept. 1, roster size will expand further to a 28-player maximum (as opposed to the current 40). A maximum number of pitchers will be designated by the Joint Committee. (Passan reported that the league has proposed no more than half a team’s players can be pitchers.)
  • Position players are only eligible to pitch in extra innings or when a team is leading or trailing by seven or more runs. Certain position players may be designated as “two-way players,” but to be eligible, they’ll need to have accrued at least 20 innings pitched and started 20 games as a position player/designated hitter in the current season or the preceding season (including at least three trips to the plate in each of those lineup appearances).
  • A pitcher must face at least three batters per appearance unless he is removed due to injury or the half-inning in which he is pitching ends before three batters have come to the plate.
  • The minimum length of stay for pitchers who are optioned to the minors or placed on the injured list will increase from 10 days to 15 days. This change is still “subject to input” from the newly formed Joint Committee.

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Nationals Sign Tony Sipp

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March 14: The Nats have formally announced the deal, and Sipp has reported to camp. Because they already had an open 40-man spot after releasing Solis, no corresponding move was necessary to accommodate the addition of Sipp.

March 13: The Nationals have a deal in place with free agent reliever Tony Sipp, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter links). It’s a one-year, $1.25MM contract that includes a $250K buyout on a $2.5MM mutual option, per reports from Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (Twitter links) and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Sipp, a 35-year-old southpaw, bounced back in the results department last season after two rough campaigns in Houston. He finished 2018 with 38 2/3 innings of 1.86 ERA pitching over 54 appearances — quite an improvement over the 5.33 ERA he had maintained over his prior 81 frames. As Sipp’s low innings tallies suggest, he has been used primarily as a left-on-left specialist. That also means the earned runs outcomes probably aren’t the best means of measuring his usefulness on the hill.

Looking beneath the hood, Sipp has generally maintained solid K/BB numbers throughout his career. In five years in Houston, he carried 9.9 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 and rarely strayed too far from those means. The difference between his good and bad years, more than anything else, has been his ability to limit the long ball. Sipp hit his stride in Houston when he improved upon early-career problems in that regard, then slipped when he allowed more than two dingers per nine innings in those ugly 2016-17 seasons. Last year, only a single opposing hitter left the yard against him.

Though that surely isn’t sustainable — a 2.6% HR/FB rate is sure to rise — it shows that Sipp was able to adjust. He still has the same underlying stuff and ability that led the ’Stros to give him a three-year deal in the 2015-16 offseason. Last year, he maintained a 13.7% swinging-strike rate and maintained a fastball in the 92 mph range, both of which are at or above his career levels. The Statcast numbers were quite promising: hitters entering the box against Sipp maintained a meager 22.1% hard-contact rate and mustered only a .258 wOBA that actually lagged expectations (.252 xwOBA) based upon contact quality.

Sipp is likely to be deployed primarily as a southpaw specialist in D.C. He held opposing left-handed hitters to an anemic .188/.263/.294 batting line last year after finally dealing with the gopher ball infestation. Over his career, though, Sipp has actually maintained quite neutral platoon splits. Through about a thousand plate appearances each against left-handed and right-handed hitters, the former group carries a .308 wOBA and the latter a .311 mark.

It’s a bit difficult to pinpoint just what allowed Sipp to regain his effectiveness. A re-aligned release point is certainly notable; perhaps it enabled deeper changes (sequencing? tunneling?) to boost the effectiveness of his repertoire. Poor competition in a stratified American League and lower-leverage usage were surely also factors, though it’s fair to note that Sipp ended up with a career-best 1.24 win-probability added and was ultimately called upon to pitch in three ALCS contests.

The Nats probably aren’t expecting premium results from Sipp, given the late-stage signing and meager guarantee. But it’s an easy risk to take on a player who can reasonably be expected to represent an upgrade over the just-released Sammy Solis. The club avoided all but a sixth of the $850K arb deal it had in place with Solis, which accounts for about half of the new obligation. Sipp will serve as a LOOGY and middle relief option for the Washington club, boosting a bullpen depth chart that has its fair share of questions.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

White Sox Shut Down Dane Dunning

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White Sox prospect Dane Dunning has been shut down after experiencing renewed discomfort while working through a throwing program, general manager Rick Hahn revealed to reporters (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Scott Merkin). As if that wasn’t ominous enough, Dunning is slated to meet with Dr. James Andrews this week, and Hahn was candid about the ominous nature of his injury. “Everything is on the table including a potential Tommy John surgery,” the GM said.

The 24-year-old Dunning was the third piece acquired in the trade that sent Adam Eaton to the Nationals, joining fellow righties Reynaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito. He’s elevated his prospect status since the time of that deal, currently checking in at No. 80 on MLB.com’s ranking of the game’s Top 100 prospects. Baseball Prospectus ranked him 76th this winter, while he currently checks in just outside the Top 100 (No. 121) on Fangraphs’ rankings.

Last year, Dunning opened the season at Class-A Advanced and moved up to Double-A after four starts — excelling at both levels. His 2018 season was cut short by an elbow sprain, but when he was healthy enough to take the mound, he worked to a terrific 2.71 ERA with 10.4 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 and a ground-ball rate north of 50 percent. In 86 1/3 innings of work, Dunning yielded just two home runs.

Should Dunning require Tommy John surgery, he’d be the second of the White Sox’ top-rated arms to sit out the 2019 campaign while rehabbing a UCL replacement. Righty Michael Kopech underwent the same operation late in the 2018 campaign and won’t be back on the mound for the organization until the 2020 season. Sox fans have been dreaming of a rotation headlined by Kopech, Dunning and fellow highly touted right-hander Dylan Cease, but that the timeline to that potential reality continues to be pushed back by injury troubles.

Offseason In Review: Chicago White Sox

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This is the latest post of MLBTR’s annual Offseason in Review series, in which we take stock of every team’s winter dealings.

The White Sox pinned most of their offseason hopes to signing Manny Machado, and instead wound up adding a series of largely unexciting veteran players.

Major League Signings

Options Exercised

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

Of MLBTR’s top ten free agents this winter, the White Sox reportedly showed some level of interest in at least seven of them.  Their most high-profile pursuit was that of Manny Machado.  Prior to the Winter Meetings, GM Rick Hahn tried to make it clear to reporters that he couldn’t “guarantee by any stretch that we’re going to convert on these targets.”  Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel notwithstanding, the dust has settled on the offseason, and the White Sox failed to convert on any premium player they were targeting.

Looking at what the team actually did, this was a fairly typical recent White Sox offseason.  It’s just that fan expectations tend to balloon when front office brass is meeting with Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, we know the team can afford either player, and it’s about that time where a rebuilding process draws to a close.  The club hung around in the Machado bidding til the bitter end, strangely acquiring Manny’s brother-in-law Yonder Alonso and good friend Jon Jay presumably to help close the gap on an offer that fell far short.  Here’s White Sox executive vice president Kenny Williams attempting to defend the team’s eight-year, $250MM final offer, as reported by Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times: “People are lost on the fact that on a yearly basis, our offer was more than San Diego’s. The average annual value was $31 [million] and change. So it was about years guaranteed. So there is an argument that could be made that our offer was the better of the two. It certainly had more upside for him. All he had to do was basically stay healthy.”  This is almost comical, as is Williams’ assertion that if the team had gone further financially, fans would have been “much more disappointed in our inability to keep this next core together.”  The key piece of that core, Eloy Jimenez, remains a minor leaguer for the purpose of gaining control of his 2025 season.  The team’s “next core” literally hasn’t reached the Majors yet, but giving Machado an extra two years would break it up?

Chicago’s offer to Machado came in a full $50MM shy of the contract he received from the Padres.  The Sox thought this star free agent was going to be swayed by a ridiculous $100MM in additional non-guaranteed money, or by the acquisition of his buddies?  Going into free agency, there was never a reason to think $250MM would get the job done for Machado or Harper, so why even try?  Hahn’s claim that the Sox made a “very aggressive offer” is patently untrue.  With every large market team sitting out Machado’s market and the price coming in much lower than it could have been, the White Sox still never got close.  After losing out on Machado, Hahn pledged, “The money will be spent. It might not be spent this offseason, but it will be spent at some point. This isn’t money sitting around waiting to just accumulate interest. It’s money trying to be deployed to put us in best position to win some championships.”  

Perhaps Hahn said that so that Sox fans will dream about signing Anthony Rendon or Xander Bogaerts next winter, but the Machado progression hardly inspires confidence that White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf is willing to outspend the field for a premium free agent.  When Reinsdorf last did that by signing Albert Belle – over 22 years ago – Bud Selig and the owners were stunned that “the owner who’s railed the loudest and longest about curbing player salaries has just broken the bank,” wrote Jon Pessah in his 2015 book The Game.  There’s little reason to think Reinsdorf will shatter precedent again.

Given the self-imposed $250MM limit on Machado, the White Sox knew they weren’t going to get close on Harper.  The White Sox certainly explored other avenues, including upgrades at catcher.  They made a multiyear offer (terms unknown) to Yasmani Grandal, according to Robert Murray of The Athletic.  And the Sox were “in the mix” for J.T. Realmuto, according to Ken Rosenthal.  The White Sox had moved on from last year’s tandem, Omar Narvaez and Kevan Smith, deciding someone new should pair with Welington Castillo in 2019.  They went with non-tendered former Tigers catcher James McCann.  Patrick Nolan of Sox Machine disparaged the choice, writing, “The White Sox’ young pitchers have had the misfortune of throwing to tiny strike zones and guys who let the ball get away, and McCann’s poor receiving and pitch-blocking will help continue that trend.”  It’s particularly painful to see a pitcher’s dream backstop, Martin Maldonado, sign with a division rival for the same contract (although Maldonado’s asking price at the time McCann signed had not yet fallen to this level).

The White Sox made reasonable efforts to address their bullpen this winter, trading Narvaez for Colome in November and signing Herrera in January.  Colome is under team control through the 2020 season, though his salary in that season will climb even higher than this year’s $7.325MM.  He’s a solid reliever who stands a good chance of serving as the team’s closer.  They also signed Herrera to a two-year deal with a vesting option for a third season.  Herrera had surgery in September to repair a torn Lisfranc ligament in his foot, but he’s made his Cactus League debut, implying the procedure may not affect him during the 2019 season.  Herrera’s got some other red flags, such as 2018’s declining strikeout and ground-ball rates, but the 29-year-old still throws 97 miles per hour and has a chance to be a major asset to Chicago.  Along with holdovers Nate Jones and Jace Fry, this could be a decent bullpen, especially compared to the cumulative work of last year’s unit.  The White Sox reportedly showed interest in Adam Ottavino, Andrew Miller, and Joe Kelly before they signed elsewhere.

With highly-regarded pitching prospect Michael Kopech out for 2019 due to Tommy John surgery and James Shields gone to free agency (though technically still unsigned), the White Sox reportedly poked their head in on free agents Patrick Corbin, J.A. Happ, and Nathan Eovaldi, before ultimately trading for Ivan Nova in December.  Nova, owed $8.5MM in 2019, is a pitch-to-contact, homer-prone veteran who projects for an ERA around 4.60.  If you’re looking for a veteran starter who could potentially be flipped for something interesting in July, Nova doesn’t qualify.  Nor does Ervin Santana, who signed a minor league deal but seems likely to eventually earn the team’s fifth starter job.

“Fundamentally this is a baseball deal,” Hahn told reporters upon acquiring Alonso from the Indians in December, but that claim hardly stands up when looking at the types of contracts that comparable first-base-only sluggers received this offseason (MLBTR Free Agent Tracker link).  I again turn to Patrick Nolan of Sox Machine, who explains that adding Alonso at designated hitter will “either eat into Daniel Palka’s plate appearances or force everyone to watch Palka play the outfield more often,” while it also “helped out a division rival with $8 million in cash relief.”  That’s a little harsh, but in Nova and Alonso, the White Sox took on $17.5MM for a pair of players projected by Steamer and ZiPS to be worth about one WAR apiece in 2019.  It feels like spending money just to spend money.

Jay, his friendship with Machado aside, is an acceptable veteran stopgap for a club that parted ways with longtime right fielder Avisail Garcia.  Top prospect Eloy Jimenez will start the season at Triple-A after being optioned just hours ago — presumably to “work on his defense” or another semi-vague reason that will be resolved once he cannot accrue a full year of service time in 2019 (as is commonplace throughout the league with this caliber of prospect).  Until Jimenez arrives, none of the White Sox outfielders look like part of their next contending team.

The truly baffling aspect of Chicago’s offseason additions is that had they simply condensed the money offered to that patchwork collection of stopgaps, those resources could’ve been utilized to up the offer to Machado — a transformative player who’d move the needle considerably more not only in 2019 but in the long term.  The near-$50MM they spent on this offseason’s group is worth much more than $50MM in 2028-29 dollars.  Perhaps the Padres would’ve been willing to further increase their proposal had the ChiSox presented a legitimately competitive offer, but the approach would’ve been much more understandable.

2019 Season Outlook

Fangraphs projects the White Sox as a 70-win team this year, virtually no different from the Tigers or Royals.  Given the team’s run at Machado, this may seem like an incredibly disappointing offseason, but go back to something Hahn said in September 2017: “I think even under the most optimistic projections of our ability to contend, certainly ’18 and ’19 don’t include the bulk of the time when we anticipate having a window open to us.” 

So, it seems the club was willing to sign Machado or Harper at a relative bargain price and maybe make a little noise in ’19, but that duo’s free agency was always coming a year before the White Sox thought their team would be ready.  The White Sox have just $12.5MM committed to two players for the 2020 roster, so they’ll again enjoy major payroll flexibility in the offseason.  Generally, you don’t get a fourth year for an intentional rebuild, so it’s 2020 or bust for this group.

How would you grade the White Sox’ offseason? (Poll link for Trade Rumors app users.) 

How would you grade the White Sox' offseason?
D 32.62% (1,842 votes)
F 31.86% (1,799 votes)
C 26.21% (1,480 votes)
B 7.86% (444 votes)
A 1.43% (81 votes)
Total Votes: 5,646

Mariners Option J.P. Crawford

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The Mariners announced tonight that they’ve optioned shortstop J.P. Crawford to Triple-A Tacoma. While the move isn’t entirely unexpected after Seattle signed Tim Beckham as a stopgap at shortstop this winter, it’s still of some note. Crawford will eventually receive the opportunity to prove that he can be the Mariners’ shortstop of the future, though the former first-round pick and highly touted prospect has yet to establish himself at the MLB level (hence the Phillies’ willingness to move him as part of the Jean Segura trade).

Crawford came to the Mariners with a year and 20 days of big league service time, meaning he’ll need to accrue 152 days of service in 2019 to reach the two-year plateau. As it stands, the Mariners control him through the end of the 2023 season, although if he remains in the minors for five weeks, the Mariners would control him through the end of the 2024 campaign.

The extent to which that’ll be a factor in determining his timeline to Seattle remains to be seen, but that seems like a distinct possibility given the signing of Beckham and Crawford’s generally tepid output in an injury-shortened 2018 season. Crawford was slowed last season first by a forearm strain and later by a fractured hand, limiting him to just 123 plate appearances in the minors and 138 PAs in the Majors. In his time with the Phillies last year, the now-24-year-old Crawford mustered only a .214/.319/.393 batting line.

Clearly, the lack of big league production to this point in his career hasn’t dissuaded the Mariners from buying into Crawford’s potential, but it was clear at the time the organization signed Beckham that Crawford would have to force his way up to the big league roster, and that’s yet to transpire. Beckham signed a modest one-year, $1.75MM salary and is coming off an ugly .230/.287/.374 showing in the big leagues last season himself, and he’s capable of moving around the infield if and when the organization feels Crawford merits a look. At that point, Beckham won’t stand in the way of Crawford’s arrival. For the time being, however, Beckham will team with Ryon Healy on the left side of the Seattle infield following the recent injury to Kyle Seager.

White Sox Option Eloy Jimenez To Triple-A

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In what has been a widely anticipated move, the White Sox announced Wednesday that they’ve optioned top outfield prospect Eloy Jimenez to Triple-A Charlotte. The move was one of nine spring cuts by the ChiSox, who also optioned out top pitching prospect Dylan Cease, catcher Seby Zavala and outfielder Micker Adolfo.

Jimenez, 22, is not only considered to be among the game’s premier prospects but is also largely believed to be ready for MLB action. The Dominican-born slugger obliterated Double-A and Triple-A pitching in 2018, posting ridiculous slash lines of .317/.368/.556 and .355/.399/.597 at those respective levels.

Jimenez’s demotion will stand out as one of the more blatant examples of service time manipulation this spring, as the decision to send him to Triple-A is surely motivated more by the desire to gain an extra season of club control over the player rather than to further his development. This year’s regular season is 186 days long, and a player would gain a full season of MLB service by spending 172 of those days at the MLB level (be it on the active roster or the injured list). In other words, by keeping Jimenez in the minors for just 15 days, the Sox will be able to control him for seven seasons as opposed to the six seasons for which they’d control him by bringing him to the Majors to open the year.

It’s a maddening and counter-intuitive side effect of a system that has prompted pundits, players, agents and fans to call for change. For a team in the White Sox’ situation — unlikely to contend this season but optimistic that their ongoing rebuild is nearing the finish line — it makes perfect sense from a business standpoint to trade two weeks of Jimenez in a noncompetitive season for a full extra year of control over a potential premium player. For Jimenez, however, the current structure of service time and free agency delays his path to his most significant potential payday, while the fans are asked to accept that their team won’t bring the 25 best players in camp north to open the season. It’s a system in which there’s arguably no true winner, as the even White Sox’ front office will surely face a negative wave of backlash from fans and onlookers.

For the time being, Jimenez will be asked to continue honing his skills in the minors. Perhaps the Sox will opt not to call him up on the very first day on which he’d fall a year shy of big league service, using the delay as a means of further claiming that the move was a developmental decision rather than one driven by service time. It’s likely that they’ll point to Jimenez’s .154/.154/.346 slash in Spring Training as justification of the move, though few would find it plausible that 26 spring plate appearances are more indicative of MLB readiness than the 456 PAs during which Jimenez laid waste to minor league pitching in 2018. Furthermore, the move would surely have happened regardless of his performance; the White Sox, after all, declined to give Jimenez a September call-up in 2018 despite his aforementioned mastery of minor league pitching and despite the fact that he was already on the 40-man roster.

Regardless of the specific timing, it seems quite likely that Jimenez will  be in the Majors very early in the 2019 campaign. Cease and the others who were sent out aren’t as far along in their development and will be on a more uncertain timeline to the big leagues.

To be fair to the White Sox, they’re far from the only club to take this route. The Braves held back Ronald Acuna’s promotion to the Majors last season under similarly dubious circumstances, while others who’ve been subject to this form of service time manipulation include Kris Bryant and Maikel Franco (among many others). It was a foregone conclusion that the Blue Jays would send Vladimir Guerrero Jr. down to the minors in the exact same fashion, though Guerrero’s recent oblique injury actually gave the Toronto organization a legitimate reason to do so.

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