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Jake Eder

Angels Acquire Andrew Chafin, Luis García

By Darragh McDonald | July 30, 2025 at 1:15pm CDT

The Angels have acquired left-hander Andrew Chafin and right-hander Luis García from the Nationals, per announcements from both clubs. The Nats receive left-hander Jake Eder and minor league first baseman Sam Brown in return. The Halos designated left-hander José Quijada for assignment to open a 40-man spot. Eder was on the 40-man, so his departure opened another.

Chafin, 35, started the year with the Tigers on a minor league deal. He opted out of that deal and signed a major league pact with the Nats at the start of May. He was been with the Nats since then, apart from a brief IL stint for a hamstring strain. He has thrown 20 big league innings this year, allowing 2.70 earned runs per nine, though with less impressive metrics under the hood. His 42.1% ground ball rate is around league average but his 20.5% strikeout rate and 13.6% walk rate are both subpar.

His longer track record is more impressive. He has 528 1/3 big league innings with a 3.39 ERA, 25.7% strikeout rate, 10.2% walk rate and 47.8% ground ball rate. As recently as last year with the Tigers and Rangers, he was able to post a 3.51 ERA with a 28.5% strikeout rate, though also a high walk rate of 12.6%.

García, 38, signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers in the offseason. He made that club’s Opening Day roster but was released in early July and landed with the Nats. Between the two clubs, he has a 4.10 ERA, 19.5% strikeout rate, 11.3% walk rate and 54.6% ground ball rate.

Like Chafin, he has a long major league track record. García has thrown 565 1/3 innings in his career with a 4.14 ERA, 21.3% strikeout rate, 10% walk rate and 54.5% ground ball rate. He’s been with the Angels before, having pitched for them in 2019 and the first half of 2024.

Neither pitcher is likely to be a huge difference maker. Both of them were available as free agents during the season. Still, it perhaps suggests the Angels are at least doing a soft buy. The Halos are four games out of a playoff spot, which is a tough spot to be in terms of making a buy/sell decision. But the club generally prefers to go for it when they are close and they haven’t made the playoffs since 2014. Franchise icon Mike Trout is about to turn 34 years old and increasingly injury prone. He’s hitting well this year but mostly limited to designated hitter duties.

It’s somewhat understandable that the club may want to do right by Trout and make an effort to get him back to the postseason for the first time in over a decade. The odds are against them, however. FanGraphs currently gives them just a 5.3% chance of making it in. Baseball Prospectus is even more pessimistic, putting the Halos at 2.4%.

Adding Chafin and García won’t increase those odds very much but the club does have a poor bullpen. Overall, the club’s relievers have a 4.96 ERA, which is better than just three other major league clubs.

It’s also theoretically possible that the Angels are going to flip other players, such as Kenley Jansen or Reid Detmers, with Chafin and García having been brought in to backfill the bullpen with veteran arms. Though the most straightforward read on the Angels right now is that they are looking to make some buy-side moves without really harming themselves in the long run.

Neither Eder nor Brown is a massive price to pay. Eder was once a notable prospect but his stock has fallen in recent years. He underwent Tommy John surgery in August of 2021 and hasn’t really been able to get on track since then. He has 20 1/3 big league innings with a 4.87 ERA, 18.4% strikeout rate and 11.5% walk rate. He has a 6.41 ERA in 229 minor league innings since the start of 2023. The Angels got him in a cash deal earlier this year after he had been designated for assignment by the White Sox.

Brown was a 12th-round pick in 2023, who is about to turn 24 years old. In 92 Double-A games this year, he has a .244/.350/.358 batting line and 117 wRC+. He’s not listed among the club’s top 30 prospects at Baseball America or MLB Pipeline.

It’s a perfectly sensible move for the Nats. Chafin and García were midseason pickups who are impending free agents. It makes sense to cash them in for whatever they can get. There’s no harm in taking fliers on Eder and Brown to see what happens.

For the Angels, they are apparently attempting to bolster the club. Perhaps more moves will follow before tomorrow’s deadline. For now, they haven’t given up anything of significance. In a sense, that won’t really hurt them if they fall short of the playoffs again. On the other hand, they could be passing up an opportunity to add talent to the system.

In the past, they turned down opportunities to sell notable players. Shohei Ohtani was the most notable example. Instead of trading him for a prospect haul in 2023, they held and also added players. They flipped Edgar Quero and Ky Bush for Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López. The club then faded and put Giolito and López on waivers in August. This move doesn’t rise to that level but it’s possible the Angels are yet again betting on a team that’s not quite good enough. They have reportedly drawn trade interest in Taylor Ward and Jo Adell. They could have shopped Jansen, Detmers, Tyler Anderson, Yoán Moncada and others. It seems unlikely that they are taking that path. Time will tell what their full deadline approach is.

Jeff Passan of ESPN reported that García was going to the Angels and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first had Chafin. Passan added that Eder was one of the players going to the Nats in return. Rosenthal then added Brown’s inclusion.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

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Los Angeles Angels Transactions Washington Nationals Andrew Chafin Jake Eder Jose Quijada Luis Garcia Sam Brown

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Angels Select José Quijada

By Darragh McDonald | July 24, 2025 at 5:00pm CDT

The Angels announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander José Quijada. Fellow lefty Jake Eder has been optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake as the corresponding active roster move. Righty Robert Stephenson has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot.

The Halos did a bullpen game yesterday, with Eder mopping up six innings, throwing 98 pitches in the process. They optioned Jack Kochanowicz prior to the All-Star break and haven’t found a permanent solution for that rotation hole yet. Eder wasn’t going to be available for a few days, so the club will bring in a fresh arm. They have Yusei Kikuchi, José Soriano, Tyler Anderson and Kyle Hendricks to start the next four games but will need to figure out something for Monday’s game. Perhaps some pre-deadline moves will shake up the roster or they will simply recall Kochanowicz. An optional assignment for a pitcher comes with a 15-day minimum. He was optioned on July 11th, so he’ll be eligible to be recalled in a few days.

Quijada, 29, designated for assignment just prior to Opening Day and outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake. He didn’t pitch anywhere through the middle of May. He was added to the roster of the Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas on May 10th. Per Chris Harris of MiLB.com, he had been on the development list prior to that. He told members of the media today, including Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com, that he changed his diet at the club’s Arizona complex and has lost 30 pounds since spring training.

He has been putting up good numbers in Double-A since joining the Trash Pandas. He has logged 26 1/3 innings, allowing 2.73 earned runs per nine. He struck out a huge 37.1% of batters faced, while his 8.6% walk rate and 42.6% ground ball rate were around average.

Those numbers and the improved conditioning are perhaps encouraging, though getting major league hitters out is obviously different than Double-A opponents. He had a decent run with the Angels in 2021 and 2022, tossing 66 1/3 innings over those two seasons with a 4.21 ERA. His 12.9% walk rate was high but he struck out 32.3% of batters faced. The two subsequent years were mostly wiped out by Tommy John surgery.

He will give the Halos a fresh arm for now but is out of options, so he can’t be easily sent back to the farm. That was part of the reason why he was designated for assignment earlier this year. His service clock is between three and five years, which means he has the right to reject outright assignments but has to forfeit his remaining salary commitments when exercising that right. Since he’s making $1.075MM this year, he naturally accepted. If he were bumped off the roster again, it’s possible the same sequence of events would play out.

As for Stephenson, this shouldn’t impact his timeline. The 60-day count is retroactive to his initial placement on the 15-day IL, which was on May 31st due to right biceps inflammation, though he later said it’s due to a stretched nerve. It’s been almost 60 days already, so he’ll eligible for reinstatement once he’s healthy.

Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images

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Los Angeles Angels Transactions Jake Eder Jose Quijada Robert Stephenson

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Angels Designate Tim Anderson For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | May 28, 2025 at 5:15pm CDT

The Angels announced a series of roster moves today. They have selected the contract of infielder Scott Kingery and reinstated right-hander Robert Stephenson from the 60-day injured list. To make room for those two on the active roster, left-hander Jake Eder has been optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake and infielder Tim Anderson has been designated for assignment. To open another 40-man spot, catcher Chuckie Robinson has been designated for assignment.

Anderson, 32 next month, signed a minor league deal with the Angels in the offseason. A former All-Star and batting champion, Anderson’s production tailed off in 2023 and 2024, which is why he had to settle for a minor league pact. Injuries to infielders like Zach Neto, Anthony Rendon and Yoán Moncada opened a path for him to crack the roster but he hasn’t done much with the opportunity.

Across 31 games, Anderson stepped to the plate 90 times for the Halos. His 3.3% walk rate was very low but that’s always been his style. Unfortunately, his 32.2% strikeout rate was way above both his personal track record and the league average. He had only three extra-base hits, which were all doubles. It all added up to a .205/.258/.241 line and 42 wRC+.

As mentioned, Anderson was once an All-Star and batting champion. He slashed .318/.347/.473 for a 123 wRC+ from 2019 through 2022. But from the start of 2023 to the present, he has 855 plate appearances with a .232/.269/.270 line and 49 wRC+. With other players getting healthy and/or performing better than Anderson, he’s been squeezed off the roster. He will likely be placed on waivers in the coming days but probably won’t find much interest, given his ongoing struggles. If he is passed through waivers unclaimed, he’ll have the right to elect free agency.

His playing time will seemingly be going to Kingery, who was acquired from the Phillies in the offseason but then outrighted off the 40-man. He has been excelling at Triple-A Salt Lake this year, with a .373/.418/.578 line, though those numbers need to be taken with some grains from that lake. The Bees play in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and Kingery also has a massive .433 batting average on balls in play that he won’t be able to sustain.

Still, it’s understandable to consider him a better bet than Anderson. Kingery’s major league track record isn’t strong but he had a solid .268/.316/.488 slash and 103 wRC+ for the Phillies’ Triple-A club last year. He also stole 25 bases while playing second base, shortstop and center field. Given how bad Anderson has been struggling, Kingery doesn’t need to be a star to be an upgrade.

The return of Stephenson is a notable moment for the Angels. They signed him to a three-year, $33MM deal going into 2024 but he still hasn’t made his team debut. Some elbow issues plagued him at the start of last year and he ultimately required Tommy John surgery at the end of April. He has been rehabbing from that procedure for just over a year now.

His track record is mixed, with a 4.64 earned run average in his career, but the Angels made a bet that he had broken out just prior to the signing. A former first-round pick and top prospect, he couldn’t stick in a rotation and eventually moved to a relief role. He occasionally showed flashes of promise there before putting together an elite run in 2023.

He started that year with the Pirates and had an uninspiring 5.14 ERA when he was traded to the Rays. With Tampa, he reeled off 38 1/3 innings with a 2.35 ERA, 42.9% strikeout rate and 5.7% walk rate. In short, he was one of the best relievers on the planet for a few months.

The Angels haven’t yet received any return on their investment but Stephenson’s return could be a massive boost, as their bullpen is one of the worst in the league. Their relievers have a collective 6.31 ERA, dead last in the majors, slightly behind Washington’s 6.22 mark. Even if Stephenson doesn’t fully return to his dominant form from the second half of 2023, he should be a nice upgrade to the group. Kenley Jansen will perhaps continue in the closer’s role but Stephenson should be in line for meaningful innings one way or another.

Robinson, 30, was acquired from the White Sox in the offseason. He has been serving as Triple-A depth so far this season, hitting .272/.315/.388 for the Bees. He’ll head into DFA limbo alongside Anderson. He still has options and could perhaps appeal to a club in need of catching depth. He generally hasn’t hit much but has a decent defensive reputation. The Angels are now down to just two catchers on their 40-man roster in Logan O’Hoppe and Travis d’Arnaud.

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Hui, Imagn Images

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Los Angeles Angels Transactions Chuckie Robinson Jake Eder Robert Stephenson Scott Kingery Tim Anderson

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Angels Select Touki Toussaint

By Nick Deeds | May 3, 2025 at 7:13pm CDT

The Angels announced a series of roster moves this evening, highlighted by the club’s decision to select the contract of right-hander Touki Toussaint. They also recalled right-hander Michael Darrell-Hicks to the majors. In corresponding moves, southpaw Jake Eder was optioned to Triple-A and left-hander Garrett McDaniels was placed on the 15-day injured list with left biceps tendinitis.

Touissant, 29 next month, signed a minor league deal with the Angels just before Opening Day. Once a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport with Atlanta after being selected in the first round of the 2014 draft by the Diamondbacks, Toussaint showed some promise in 2018 with a a 4.03 ERA and 3.78 FIP in his first 29-inning cup of coffee. In the six years since then, things have only gone downhill for Toussaint. The right-hander has spent his twenties bouncing between the Braves, Angels, Guardians, and White Sox organizations with well below average results at every stop along the way.

Since the end of that solid rookie season, he’s pitched to a lackluster 5.55 ERA with a 5.34 FIP. He’s struck out 22.7% of batters faced during that time but has combined that decent strikeout rate with a brutal 13.8% walk rate. More advanced metrics are equally skeptical of Toussaint’s abilities as a big leaguer, as shown by his career 4.88 SIERA. His most recent stint in the majors came last season with the White Sox, for whom Toussaint posted an eye-popping 7.43 ERA while walking 15.4% of his opponents. His stint in Chicago last year wound up lasting only 23 innings, but now he’s poised to return to the majors for a second stint in Anaheim.

Toussaint’s return to the majors comes at a time when the Angels have lost 15 of their last 19 games, skidding from a promising start early in the season to the second-worst record in the American League. Much of those struggles can be attributed to the pitching staff, which is bottom-three in ERA (5.22) and dead last in FIP (5.09). Toussaint figures to be tasked with helping out in a long relief capacity. While the right-hander has been lackluster all throughout his major league career, improving on the Halos’ current 6.60 bullpen ERA should be a fairly easy task for Toussaint to accomplish.

He’ll be joined in that effort by Darrell-Hicks, a 27-year-old who made his MLB debut with the Angels earlier this year. Darrell-Hicks already has a 6.75 ERA in 5 2/3 innings of work from his first five-appearance cup of coffee with the club in April. That actually matches his 6.75 ERA in 10 2/3 frames at Triple-A this year. Despite his lackluster performance in 2025, Darrell-Hicks turned in a fantastic season between Double- and Triple-A last year, with a 2.60 ERA and a 26.4% strikeout rate across 62 1/3 innings. The right-hander could be more of an asset in his latest call-up if he can pitch more like he did last season, though that’s of course no guarantee.

Departing the roster to make room for the new additions are Eder and McDaniels. Eder, once a well-regarded prospect in the Marlins system who went on to get traded to the White Sox in the Jake Burger deal before being dealt to Anaheim for cash, has a 7.71 ERA in three appearances for the Angels this year. McDaniels, meanwhile, made his MLB debut earlier this year and so far has a 5.91 ERA in ten appearances. McDaniels will be down for at least the next two weeks, while Eder heads to the minors to wait for his next big league opportunity.

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Los Angeles Angels Transactions Garrett McDaniels Jake Eder Michael Darrell-Hicks Touki Toussaint

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Angels Designate Carl Edwards Jr., Select Jose Fermin

By Mark Polishuk | April 26, 2025 at 12:28pm CDT

The Angels announced four roster moves Saturday, including the news that right-hander Carl Edwards Jr. has been designated for assignment.  Right-hander Jose Fermin had his contract selected from Triple-A Salt Lake and southpaw Jake Eder was called up from Triple-A, while righty Victor Mederos was optioned to Salt Lake.

Edwards’ minors contract was only selected to the Halos’ roster on Wednesday, and he allowed three earned runs over three innings and two appearances during what might be a brief stint in the organization.  If Edwards clears waivers, he has enough MLB service time to reject any outright assignment in favor of free agency, though it wouldn’t be surprising to see Edwards quickly re-sign with the Angels on a fresh minors deal, or he might accept an outright assignment to Triple-A if he is comfortable in his current situation.

Now a veteran of 11 Major League seasons, Edwards has made seven or fewer appearances in five of those seasons, including a single-game cameo with the Padres in 2024.  Best known for his time in the Cubs bullpen during their last run of success and their World Series run in 2016, Edwards’ production fell off sharply from 2019-21 before he rediscovered some of his old form while pitching out of the Nationals’ bullpen in 2022-23.  A stress fracture in his shoulder prematurely ended Edwards’ 2023 campaign, and he has just the three MLB appearances in the last two years, though obviously there’s a ton of time left in the 2025 season for the veteran righty to find some more playing time.

Not to be confused with the Cardinals infielder of the same name, the Angels’ Jose Fermin is a 23-year-old righty who will be making his Major League debut whenever he appears in a game.  An international signing in 2023, Fermin isn’t considered one of Los Angeles’ top 30 prospects, but his relatively quick path to the majors does continue the Angels’ trend of rapidly promoting prospects.  Fermin is making the jump from Double-A to the Show without even any Triple-A experience, and Fermin’s Double-A tenure consists of just 10 innings over the last two seasons.

It could be that Fermin is just being called up for a cup of coffee and to give the Angels another fresh arm in the pen, yet the reliever will surely want to make a good impression even in what might be a brief stint in the big leagues.  Over 73 2/3 innings in the minors, Fermin has a 2.93 ERA, 10.33% walk rate, and a very impressive 35.33% strikeout rate, working exclusively as a relief pitcher.  As Baseball America’s Taylor Ward wrote in January, Fermin quickly put himself on the team’s radar with his strong work in 2024, and the righty’s arsenal includes an upper-90s fastball that can touch 99mph, and an outstanding slider with “double-plus potential.”

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Los Angeles Angels Transactions Carl Edwards Jr. Jake Eder Jose Fermin (born 2001) Victor Mederos

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Angels Acquire Jake Eder, Designate Michael Petersen For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | March 31, 2025 at 2:15pm CDT

Left-hander Jake Eder has been traded from the White Sox to the Angels for cash considerations, per announcements from both clubs. The Halos have optioned Eder to Triple-A Salt Lake. The Sox had designated him for assignment last week. To open a 40-man spot, the Angels designated right-hander Michael Petersen for assignment.

Eder, 26, was a notable prospect a few years ago but his stock is down. The Marlins took him in the fourth-round of the 2020 draft. In 2021, he made 15 Double-A starts with a 1.77 earned run average. He struck out 34.5% of opponents, gave out walks at a 9.4% rate and also got ground balls on 50.3% of balls in play.

That got him onto the prospect radar but Tommy John surgery late in 2021 put that on pause. He missed the entire 2022 season while recovering and his results since getting back on the mound haven’t been inspiring. He has thrown 165 2/3 minor league innings since that surgery, getting flipped to the White Sox for Jake Burger at the 2023 deadline. In that time, he has a 6.52 ERA, 25% strikeout rate and 12.3% walk rate.

The southpaw still has two option seasons left and could have been stashed in Triple-A. But even the White Sox, one of the few rebuilding clubs in the league, seemingly didn’t have much faith in him getting the train back on the tracks.

The Angels, a club seemingly always in need of more pitching depth, will give him a roster spot for now to see if he can get over his recent struggles. They currently have a rotation mix of Yusei Kikuchi, José Soriano, Jack Kochanowicz, Tyler Anderson and Kyle Hendricks, with Reid Detmers in a long relief role. Eder will join guys like Caden Dana, Sam Aldegheri and Chase Silseth as optionable rotation arms looking to battle for starts later in the year.

To add Eder into that mix, the Angels are potentially losing Petersen, whom they claimed off waivers from the Blue Jays last month. The right-hander is 30 years old, turning 31 in May. He made his major league debut last year, tossing 19 2/3 innings for the Dodgers and Marlins with a 5.95 ERA. Since that season ended, he bounced to the Jays and Angels via waiver claims but has now lost his roster spot again.

The big league numbers are such a small sample size that it’s hard to glean much from. But in the minors last year, he tossed 33 innings with a 1.64 ERA, 35.2% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate. He still has a couple of options and could perhaps attract attention from clubs looking for some extra bullpen depth. The Angels will have a week of DFA limbo to figure out what’s next, but the waiver process takes 48 hours, so any potential trade talks would need to come together in the next five days.

Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images

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Chicago White Sox Los Angeles Angels Transactions Jake Eder Michael Petersen

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White Sox Designate Jake Eder, Dominic Fletcher For Assignment

By Steve Adams | March 27, 2025 at 10:53am CDT

The White Sox announced this morning that they’ve designated left-hander Jake Eder and outfielder Dominic Fletcher for assignment. They’ve also placed righty Drew Thorpe on the 60-day injured list while he recovers from Tommy John surgery. That trio of moves clears the way for righty Mike Clevinger, infielder Nick Maton and outfielder Travis Jankowski to be selected to the big league roster. (Maton and Jankowski were already known to have made the club.) All three had been non-roster invitees in camp this spring.

Eder, 26, was a fourth-round pick by the Marlins out of Vanderbilt back in 2020. He was considered one of the best prospects in Miami’s system when the Sox acquired him in a straight-up swap for slugger Jake Burger back at the 2023 trade deadline. Prior to Eder requiring Tommy John surgery late in the 2021 season, he’d even begun to garner some attention on midseason iterations of top-100 prospect rankings at Baseball America (No. 68) and MLB.com (No. 81).

At the time of the trade, Eder was just making his way back from that UCL repair. He’d pitched 39 1/3 innings in the Marlins’ minor league system and showed well. He was rocked in five starts with the White Sox’ Double-A club following the swap, but for a then-24-year-old just returning from major surgery, it wasn’t necessarily a shock to see him fade down the stretch.

Eder’s 2024 struggles, however, were more concerning. The left-hander split last season between Double-A and Triple-A, working to a combined 6.61 earned run average with glaring command troubles. Eder fanned a quality 24.4% of his opponents but also walked 11.6% of the batters he faced — including a sky-high 16.1% of his opponents in nine Triple-A starts. He also plunked five hitters and was charged with 10 wild pitches. His spring work wasn’t any better; Eder faced 13 hitters in 2 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on a pair of hits and three walks with four strikeouts.

Fletcher, 27, came over from the D-backs last offseason in a one-for-one swap that sent pitching prospect Cristian Mena to Arizona. He got a decent look in the South Siders’ outfield but turned in only a .206/.252/.256 slash in 241 trips to the plate. He’d been coming off a strong 2023 showing that saw him hit .291/.399/.500 in Triple-A and .301/.350/.441 in 102 plate appearances during his MLB debut.

Fletcher not only struggled in the majors, however, but also hit poorly in the minors. He clearly fell out of favor, as the Sox instead signed both Mike Tauchman and Michael A. Taylor to big league deals, pushing Fletcher down the depth chart. Even with Tauchman opening the season on the injured list due to a right hamstring strain, Fletcher didn’t make the cut and now is off the 40-man roster entirely.

The Sox will have the next five days to trade Eder and/or Fletcher. If no deal is reached by then, the pair would be placed on waivers, which is another 48-hour process. Either could be waived before that point, but the maximum length of their DFA window will seven days. Eder still has two minor league option years remaining. Fletcher has one.

As for Clevinger, he’ll return for a third stint with the ChiSox, this time in a bullpen role. The 34-year-old fired six shutout innings as a reliever during camp, fanning eight of 21 opponents (38.1%) against just one walk (4.8%). He’s far and away the most experienced pitcher in Chicago’s bullpen and could find his way to late-inning work early on, given the youth of the Sox’ bullpen. Clevinger, Bryse Wilson and Penn Murfee are the only Sox relievers with even a year of major league service (and much of Murfee’s MLB service has been spent on the 60-day IL).

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Chicago White Sox Transactions Dominic Fletcher Drew Thorpe Jake Eder Mike Clevinger Nick Maton Travis Jankowski

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White Sox Promote Jake Eder

By Darragh McDonald | July 10, 2024 at 12:43pm CDT

The White Sox announced that left-hander Jake Eder will be their 27th player for today’s double-header against the Twins. He was already on the 40-man roster but will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

Eder, 25, was a fourth-round pick of the Marlins in 2020. He was quickly sent to Double-A in 2021 and made 15 strong starts there with a 1.77 earned run average, 34.5% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and 50.3% ground ball rate. Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery in August of that year, which forced him to miss the remainder of that season and all of 2022.

He returned to the mound in 2023 but was then traded to the White Sox at that year’s deadline, going in a straight one-for-one deal with Jake Burger going the other way. He seemed to struggle a bit with his control in his return to the mound. Between the two organizations, he tossed 56 2/3 innings last year with a 6.35 ERA. His 26.2% strikeout rate was still strong but he gave out walks to 13.5% of batters faced. The free passes continued to be an issue in the Arizona Fall League, as he walked 15 opponents in 17 2/3 innings there.

Nonetheless, he remained a significant part of the future plans for the White Sox. He was added to the club’s 40-man roster in November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. Now further removed from his surgery, the control seems to be coming back to him. He has made 15 Double-A starts this year with a 9.3% walk rate and 25.9% strikeout rate. The 5.09 ERA isn’t pretty but a .368 batting average on balls in play is possibly inflating that, which is why his FIP is 3.82.

It’s possible that this is just a one-day stint for Eder with the club needing an extra arm for the twin bill. James Fegan of Sox Machine suggests on X that Eder could be bumped to Triple-A after today, a level he has not yet pitched at. But it seems the Sox are fairly committed to having him make his major league debut before the day is done. Per Vinnie Duber of CHGO Sports on X, manager Pedro Grifol said there’s “a good chance” he’ll call on Eder at some point. “If I get the opportunity to put him in, I’m putting him in there. I’m not going to hesitate at all. I have confidence in him, we all do. That’s why he’s here. It’ll be nice to see him. He’s a big part of the future.”

The Sox have a fairly wide open rotation, with Garrett Crochet and Erick Fedde perhaps slated to be traded elsewhere in the coming weeks while Chris Flexen and Mike Clevinger are impending free agents. Eder is in the mix for future starting roles alongside guys like Drew Thorpe, Jonathan Cannon, Nick Nastrini, Jared Shuster, Jesse Scholtens, Davis Martin and others, with deadline deals likely to add more names into that mix. How that plays out remains to be seen but Eder will seemingly get a little taste of the majors today.

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Chicago White Sox Jake Eder

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White Sox Select Jake Eder, Cristian Mena

By Steve Adams | November 14, 2023 at 2:33pm CDT

The White Sox have selected the contracts of lefty Jake Eder and right-hander Cristian Mena, per a team announcement. Both are now protected from next month’s Rule 5 Draft. Chicago’s 40-man roster is now up to 37 players.

Eder, 25, is one of the organization’s top pitching prospects. The Sox picked up the former fourth-round pick from the Marlins in the deadline swap that sent corner infielder Jake Burger from Chicago to Miami. Eder, in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, pitched to a 3.94 ERA with a 30.6% strikeout rate in 29 1/3 Double-A frames prior to the swap but perhaps began to wear down late in the season after a lengthy layoff from pitching. He walked 15 hitters in 17 1/3 innings with the Sox following the trade and issued another 15 free passes in 17 2/3 innings of Arizona Fall League play.

Despite the shaky finish to the season, there’s little doubting Eder would’ve been selected in the Rule 5 Draft had he remained unprotected. The lefty ranked as baseball’s No. 62 overall prospect at FanGraphs in 2022 after pitching 71 1/3 innings of 1.77 ERA ball as a 22-year-old in Double-A. He’ll either return to Double-A to begin the 2024 season or jump up to Triple-A — and either way that’ll put him within general proximity of reaching the big leagues.

Mena, 20, has had a meteoric rise through the White Sox’ system, splitting the 2023 season between Double-A and Triple-A. After working to a 3.80 ERA across three levels as a 19-year-old in 2022, he posted a combined 4.85 ERA in 133 2/3 innings this year. While the earned run average certainly doesn’t jump out, Mena was four years younger than the average age of his Double-A opposition and nearly seven years younger than his average opponent in Triple-A. Despite that youth and lack of experience, he managed a 26.9% strikeout rate. His 11% walk rate speaks to a need to hone his command, but Mena has a heater that reaches 96 mph and a curveball that Baseball America (who ranks him sixth among Chicago prospects) touts as a plus pitch.

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Chicago White Sox Transactions Cristian Mena Jake Eder

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Big Hype Prospects: Eder, Herz, Rincones, Montgomery, Schwartz

By Brad Johnson | October 23, 2023 at 12:10pm CDT

After another week of action, a spate of strikeouts has cost Jakob Marsee his spot atop the hitter leaderboards. James Triantos has slipped in above him. Top pitcher status is harder to judge. Braden Nett, Davis Daniel, Ricky Tiedemann, and Jackson Jobe all have a case.
Let’s see who else merits a look.

Five Big Hype Prospects

Jake Eder, 25, SP, CWS
(A/AA) 56.2 IP, 11.1 K/9, 5.7 BB/9, 6.99 ERA

A southpaw pitching prospect who was once as blue chip as they come, Eder hasn’t recovered well from Tommy John surgery. While his elbow is healthy, he’s lost velocity, movement, and command since his prospect peak. The White Sox dealt Jake Burger for Eder at the trade deadline and likely wish they could ctrl-z that decision. Following the swap, Eder coughed up an 11.42 ERA in five starts for the Sox Double-A affiliate.

On a positive note, Eder has a 3.24 ERA in 8.1 AFL innings – good for ninth-best in the league. He’s coughed up a pair of home runs to go with eight walks and 10 strikeouts. The book isn’t closed on Eder, but he needs to take an active role in writing the next chapter. The current chapter is titled TINSTAAPP.

DJ Herz, 22, SP/RP, WSH
(AA) 94.1 IP, 12.7 K/9, 5.4 BB/9, 4.01 ERA

Another southpaw traded at the deadline, Herz is widely seen as a future reliever due to a below-average fastball and breaking ball. His command is also poor. Where he stands out is his changeup. It’s a carrying pitch that should yield a Major League future. Herz continues to work as a starter in the AFL where he’s posted 18 strikeouts in 11 innings. Alas, his command woes (six walks) continue to limit his ability to pitch deep into outings. We await to see if his stuff plays up out of the bullpen.

Gabriel Rincones Jr., 22, OF, PHI
(A/A+) 533 PA, 15 HR, 32 SB, .248/.351/.427

A third-rounder in the 2022 draft, Rincones Jr. is best known for high-caliber exit velocities. He’s expected to wind up at first base due to suspect corner outfield defense and poor speed. Despite a lack of wheels, Rincones has shown aptitude on the bases – a trait that can sometimes portend a gamer’s mentality. His bat should carry him to the Majors without any major adjustments. At the very highest levels, he might prove too susceptible to breaking stuff. With players of this profile, breaking ball recognition is usually the difference between a big leaguer and a Quad-A guy. Rincones is among the top 10 AFL hitters with a .327/.462/.577 triple-slash.

Benny Montgomery, 21, OF, COL
(A+) 497 PA, 10 HR, 18 SB, .251/.336/.370

A former eighth-overall pick, Montgomery has seen his prospect status rapidly erode since draft day. Speed remains his best trait, though he also demonstrates above-average power. His contact is held back by funky mechanics. Most organizations – the Rockies among them – aren’t adept at developing players with a non-standard approach. They’re often left to sink or swim on their own. Encouragingly, Montgomery has cut down on his swinging strike rate at every level. He needs to continue that growth while doing something about the extreme 62.6 percent ground ball rate he posted this season. He also needs to improve his outfield defense where his double-plus speed helps him to recover from poor jumps and routes. He’s slashing .373/.468/.510 in the AFL, albeit with 17 strikeouts in 60 plate appearances.

JT Schwartz, 23, 1B, NYM
(AA) 277 PA, 4 HR, 4 SB, .302/.383/.437

Schwartz doesn’t have much of a shot with the Mets. He’s likely in the AFL to showcase him in front of other teams. He has the look of a future big leaguer – the sort who helps rebuilding teams trudge through another season. While Schwartz has the physical size to hit for power, his current approach is built around batting average and OBP. He’d draw more attention in the pre-Moneyball era. In 45 plate appearances, he has six doubles and two home runs along with a 1.011 OPS.

Three More

Liam Hicks, TEX (24): Hicks has low-key paced the league on the hitting side including a six-hit day. Despite the heady results, he’s not particularly impactful with the bat. His catching is of the third-string variety – he’s struggled to control the running game throughout his entire career. Other aspects of his defense draw critiques. Without an obvious position, Hicks looks like a ‘tweener whose plus discipline and contact rate could hide his shortcomings.

Kyle Manzardo, CLE (23): Manzardo, who we’ve already discussed ad nauseam in past episodes, leads the league with five home runs and 11 extra base hits. The power adjustment he showed upon joining the Guardians remains in evidence.

Oliver Dunn, PHI (26): A Rule 5-eligible second baseman, Dunn is making a case for consideration. He popped 21 home runs with 16 steals this summer while showing plus plate discipline. He’s strikeout-prone, but the power breakout renders that more forgivable. In 46 AFL plate appearances, he’s swiped nine bases to go with a 1.076 OPS, three doubles, three triples, and a dinger.

Did I miss a detail or nuance? DM me on Twitter @BaseballATeam to suggest corrections.

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Big Hype Prospects MLBTR Originals Benny Montgomery DJ Herz Gabriel Rincones JT Schwartz Jake Eder

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