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Josimar Cousin

Mexican League’s Bravos De León Sign Jay Jackson

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The Bravos de León of the Mexican League announced last week that they’ve signed veteran reliever Jay Jackson. The Bravos also announced a deal with righty Josimar Cousin, who spent some time on the White Sox’s 40-man roster last year. Francys Romero first reported the Cousin deal.

Jackson, a Nello Gamberdino client, has pitched in parts of six big league seasons. He reached the majors in each of the past four years, including a 20-game stint with the Twins last season. Jackson struggled to a 7.52 earned run average over 26 1/3 frames for Minnesota. He had a solid strikeout and walk profile (25.4% and 7.9%, respectively) but gave up seven home runs in his relatively small sample of work.

The 37-year-old righty is only a year removed from posting much better numbers with Toronto. Jackson provided the Jays 29 2/3 innings of 2.12 ERA ball in 2023. His velocity was down slightly last year. His four-seam fastball sat at 91.9 MPH; he’d averaged a bit above 93 MPH two seasons ago. If he recaptures his previous velocity and/or misses bats in Mexico, he could pitch his way back to affiliated ball on a midseason minor league deal.

Cousin, 27, is a Cuban-born hurler who hasn’t pitched in the majors. The White Sox selected his contract in 2023 but outrighted back off the 40-man roster last April. He combined for a 2.80 ERA in 35 1/3 innings between the top two minor league levels. Cousin qualified for minor league free agency at season’s end.

White Sox Outright Josimar Cousin

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April 20: The White Sox announced today that they’ve assigned Cousin outright to Double-A Birmingham. Cousin cannot reject the assignment as he has neither been outrighted previously in his career nor the requisite service time to do so. As such, he’ll remain with the White Sox going forward as a non-roster depth option for the club as he continues working to establish himself in stateside baseball.

April 16: The White Sox announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Jonathan Cannon, a move that was reported yesterday. In corresponding moves, they optioned left-hander Jared Shuster to Triple-A Charlotte and designated right-hander Josimar Cousin for assignment.

Cousin, now 26, is from Cuba and played six seasons in that country’s Serie Nacional de Béisbol. He appeared in 88 games in that league, 68 starts, with a 4.80 earned run average. He struck out 15% of batters faced while walking 9.3%. The Sox signed him to a minor league deal in May, per reporter Francys Romero, with a $100K bonus.

He then tossed 55 innings in the minors last year, going from the Complex League to High-A and Double-A. He had a combined 5.56 ERA in that time as well as a 19.6% strikeout rate and 6.3% walk rate.

The Sox added him to their 40-man roster in mid-December, though the timing was unusual as it had nothing to do with minor league free agency or the Rule 5 cutoff. Speculatively speaking, it’s possible that Cousin had some kind of opt-out in his contract or maybe an overseas opportunity that the Sox wanted to prevent him from pursuing.

Cousin was optioned to Double-A Birmingham but hasn’t pitched yet this year. According to his transactions tracker at MiLB.com, he was on the minor league injured list from April 5 to April 12. The Sox will now have one week to trade him or pass him through waivers.

White Sox Designate Luis Patiño For Assignment

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The White Sox announced they have selected the contract of right-hander Josimar Cousin, with fellow righty Luis Patiño designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Patiño, now 24, was once a top 100 prospect but hasn’t yet delivered on that hype as a major leaguer. He came up with the Padres and then went to the Rays in the December 2020 Blake Snell deal. But he struggled to establish himself in Tampa and was flipped to the White Sox just ahead of this year’s deadline.

Between those three clubs, he has 136 1/3 major league innings of experience to this point with a 5.02 earned run average. His 20.2% strikeout rate and 11.4% walk rate are both below typical league averages. He also has struggled at the Triple-A level, with a 5.12 ERA in 123 innings there in his career.

The righty exhausted his final option year in 2023, meaning he could no longer be sent to the minors without being exposed to waivers. With that diminished roster flexibility, it was going to be a challenge for him to hang onto a roster spot, given his poor results of late. The Sox will now have a week to try to work out a trade or pass him through waivers.

Cousin, 26 in February, was born in Cuba and signed a minor league deal with the Sox in May. He spent time at three different minor league levels this year, going from the Complex League to High-A and then Double-A. He posted a combined 5.56 ERA in 55 innings, striking out 19.6% of opponents and walking 6.3%. It’s unclear why he was added to the roster today but it’s possible there was some sort of opt-out in his deal or he was offered an opportunity overseas.

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