Twins To Acquire Yoendrys Gómez
The Twins are going to acquire right-hander Yoendrys Gómez from the Rays, reports Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. It’s unclear what Tampa, who designated Gómez for assignment a few days ago, will receive in return. The Twins have a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move to make this official. He will also need an active roster spot whenever he reports to the team.
Gómez, 26, wa once a notable prospect with the Yankees but he hasn’t been able to click in the majors yet. He exhausted his final option season in 2024, which has pushed him into fringe roster territory. He pitched for the Yankees, Dodgers and White Sox last year. He was traded to the Rays in November and began this season with them.
On the whole, Gómez has thrown 93 1/3 big league innings spread over the past four seasons. He has has allowed 5.11 earned runs per nine. His 20.2% strikeout rate, 10.5% walk rate and 32.7% ground ball rate are all subpar. There’s more potential to be seen in his minor league numbers. In 130 Triple-A innings, he has a 3.12 ERA and 28.9% strikeout rate. His 11% walk rate is still too high but the punchouts are enticing.
He has mostly worked as a starter in the minors but has largely been kept in a long relief role in the majors. The Twins will probably put him in that role as well. Simeon Woods Richardson is scheduled to start Thursday’s game. He has a 6.49 ERA on the year and has only gone longer than five innings in one of his seven starts. Connor Prielipp is scheduled to make just his fourth career big league start on Friday. On Saturday, Joe Ryan is scheduled to pitch despite departing his last start due to elbow soreness after just two batters.
There’s a decent chance of needing a long man at some point in that stretch, which is perhaps part of the appeal in adding Gómez. Due to his out-of-options status, he’ll need to be removed from the 40-man if the Twins want to bump him off the active roster at any point in the future.
Photo courtesy of Michael McLoone, Imagn Images
Rays Designate Yoendrys Gomez, Activate Garrett Cleavinger
The Rays have designated right-hander Yoendrys Gomez for assignment, the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin writes. The move opens up a space on the 40-man roster to be used at a later date, and also creates 26-man roster space for Garrett Cleavinger‘s activation from the 15-day injured list.
Gomez is out of minor league options, and the Rays had to DFA the righty and expose him to waivers before they could potentially send him down to Triple-A via an outright assignment. Because Gomez has previously been outrighted in his career, however, he has the ability to reject any other outrights and become a free agent, so it is possible today’s move could mark the end of his time in a Tampa uniform.
Tampa Bay just acquired Gomez from the White Sox last November, as Gomez and Steven Wilson were brought into the fold in exchange for Everson Pereira and Tanner Murray. The trade hasn’t helped the Rays much to date, as Wilson is on the 60-day IL due to back problems and Gomez posted a 6.23 ERA over 17 1/3 relief innings.
Gomez’s 15.9% strikeout rate isn’t much higher than his 12.2% walk rate, and control has been an issue for the right-hander throughout his time in the minors and majors. Once a notable pitching prospect in the Yankees’ farm system, Gomez hasn’t yet turned that promise into results at the MLB level, as he has a 5.11 ERA over 93 1/3 innings with the Rays, White Sox, Dodgers, and Yankees over parts of the last four seasons.
Another team might have interest in Gomez’s ability to work as a multi-inning reliever, or could still see him as a late breakout candidate. This could mean Gomez is claimed off waivers, or Gomez could test the market directly by opting for free agency.
Cleavinger had an ugly 7.71 ERA over his first 2 1/3 innings and three games of the 2026 campaign, but the southpaw has been a reliable member of Tampa’s bullpen since the 2022 season. Cleavinger will now step back into his former role as the top left-handed option in the Rays’ bullpen, with the struggling Ian Seymour still in the mix as the other lefty.
Rays To Place Ryan Pepiot On Injured List; Carson Williams To Break Camp At Shortstop
The Rays will place right-hander Ryan Pepiot on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his right hip, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He’s not expected to be out long. With Pepiot sidelined, fellow righty Joe Boyle will be brought back after previously being optioned to Triple-A Durham. Boyle will begin the year in the rotation. Topkin adds that top shortstop prospect Carson Williams, who’d previously been optioned, will now open the season as the Rays’ shortstop after Taylor Walls hit the injured list. That was the expected outcome, though the Rays were at least open to the idea of bringing in some outside help.
Pepiot, 28, has been a solid mid-rotation arm for Tampa Bay for the past two seasons after coming to the Rays in the trade that sent Tyler Glasnow to Los Angeles. He’s pitched a total of 297 2/3 innings with a 3.75 ERA, a 25.4% strikeout rate and an 8.9% walk rate. Pepiot missed time in 2024 after taking a comebacker off his leg and later developing an infection in his right knee — the two weren’t related — but tossed a career-high 167 2/3 innings in a career-high 31 starts in 2025. Since all IL stints can be backdated up to three days (if the player hasn’t been in a game in those three days), Pepiot is only guaranteed to miss the first 12 days of the season.
Boyle, 26, is one of the game’s tallest and hardest-throwing pitchers. Listed at a massive 6’8″ and 250 pounds, he averaged 98.5 mph on his heater last season even while working primarily as a starter. He joined the Rays as part of the return in the trade sending Jeffrey Springs to the Athletics. In 52 innings last year, Boyle logged a 4.67 ERA, 25.7% strikeout rate and 12.4% walk rate. He was dominant in the minors, yielding only a 1.88 ERA in 86 Triple-A frames. This spring, Boyle turned in a solid 3.72 ERA with a huge 34% strikeout rate but a troublesome 17% walk rate. Boyle will now start the second game of the Rays’ season, Topkin notes; righty Nick Martinez, who signed a one-year deal worth $13MM this winter, will be pushed back a couple games to a minor hamstring issue.
As for Williams, he’ll hope to take this unexpected opportunity and run with it. There’s little doubt about the former first-round pick’s defensive acumen or raw power. Scouts laud him as a plus defender at shortstop, and he belted 28 home runs in 557 plate appearances between Triple-A and a brief major league debut last year. He’s generally considered one of the sport’s top 100 prospects, due in no small part to the relatively high floor created by his glove and plus power.
The question regarding Williams is whether he’ll make enough contact to emerge as an above-average starter or be more of a low-end regular or even a power-and-defense utility option. He fanned in a massive 41.5% of his 106 major league plate appearances last year. That alone wouldn’t be terribly alarming for a small-sample set of plate appearances by a 22-year-old, but Williams also went down on strikes in 34% of his Triple-A plate appearances. He punched out at a 28.5% clip in Double-A in 2024 and a 31.4% clip across three levels in 2023.
Williams has taken a total of 2217 professional plate appearances since being drafted 28th overall in 2021 and has struck out in 32% of them. He’s highly unlikely to ever hit for a high average, but Williams has also walked in 11.4% of his professional plate appearances. If he can continue to walk in more than 10% of his plate appearances, hit for power and play defense, than a batting average in the .210 to .230 range won’t necessarily be a dealbreaker. With Walls down for several weeks due to an oblique strain, Williams will get the chance to solidify himself in manager Kevin Cash‘s infield.
Tampa Bay also finalized its bullpen, per Topkin. Right-hander Hunter Bigge was optioned to Triple-A, leaving lefty Ian Seymour and righties Mason Englert, Yoendrys Gómez, Kevin Kelly and Cole Sulser to claim the final five spots behind veterans Griffin Jax, Bryan Baker and Garrett Cleavinger. Righty Edwin Uceta is already known to be starting the season on the injured list due to shoulder troubles.
Meanwhile, righty Jake Woodford triggered the upward mobility clause in his minor league deal with Tampa Bay. It’s not yet clear whether he’ll be added by another club or if the Rays will keep him as depth to keep on hand in Durham. Woodford had a strong spring (one run, 5-to-2 K/BB ratio, 45.5% grounder rate in 7 1/3 innings) and has pitched in each of the past six big league seasons. He has a 5.10 ERA inn 256 big league frames and has worked as both a starter and long reliever in his career.
Rays Bullpen Notes: Uceta, Gómez, Rock
The Rays have had a fairly uneventful camp so far. They haven’t lost anyone to what appear to be major injuries. Their expected rotation is on schedule, while the majority of their projected starting lineup has been locked in since the beginning of camp.
The bullpen is the one area of the roster that’s more in flux. They announced a couple weeks ago that middle reliever Steven Wilson will begin the season on the injured list with a back issue. Meanwhile, righty Edwin Uceta has yet to pitch this spring after being delayed by shoulder inflammation.
Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times unsurprisingly writes that Uceta is not expected to be ready by Opening Day. The 28-year-old doesn’t appear to be facing a long-term absence, however. Uceta has been playing catch without issue. It’s not clear if he’ll make it into an exhibition game before camp closes. He shouldn’t need a ton of time to build up for regular season game readiness after that.
A season-opening injured list stint for Uceta would open another middle relief spot. Tampa Bay has three locks for high-leverage relief roles: Garrett Cleavinger, Griffin Jax and Bryan Baker. No one else is firmly locked into the Opening Day mix. Righties Cole Sulser and Yoendrys Gómez are out of minor league options. They need to break camp or be exposed to waivers.
Gómez was an offseason trade pickup alongside Wilson in a deal that sent outfielder Everson Pereira to the White Sox. The Rays wouldn’t have made that trade if they didn’t expect Gómez to have a strong chance of breaking camp. His case for a roster spot is bolstered by his ability to work multiple innings.
Topkin writes that the Rays plan to carry multiple long relievers to begin the season. That’ll give them some cover for starters Shane McClanahan and Steven Matz. McClanahan hasn’t thrown an MLB pitch since 2023 because of various injuries. Matz is building back to rotation work after pitching out of the bullpen for the Cardinals and Red Sox last year. He only threw 76 2/3 innings. They’ll be in the rotation, but the Rays will exercise caution with their workloads early on.
Gómez made nine starts in 21 appearances a season ago, tossing 62 2/3 innings overall. He threw five innings of two-run ball over his first four appearances this spring. Gómez stepped away from the team to pitch for Venezuela during pool play of the World Baseball Classic. He tossed two scoreless innings with three strikeouts against Nicaragua on Monday.
Although Venezuela qualified for the quarterfinals, Gómez returned to Rays camp this week as he tries to nail down a roster spot. Ian Seymour and Joe Boyle are also capable of shouldering multiple innings out of the bullpen or working as rotation depth at Triple-A Durham.
Left-hander Joe Rock worked as a multi-inning depth arm last season. The 25-year-old tossed 7 2/3 innings of two-run ball over his first three big league appearances. He had shakier numbers in Triple-A, where he allowed a 5.21 earned run average across 96 2/3 innings.
Rock will begin this season back in Durham after being optioned out of MLB camp this afternoon. He’ll do so in a different role, as Adam Berry of MLB.com writes that the Rays are converting the former second-round pick to short relief. Rock worked exactly one frame in each of his five Spring Training appearances. He struck out nine and only allowed three hits and one run, though he walked six of the 23 hitters he faced.
Rays, White Sox Complete Four-Player Trade
The Rays and White Sox announced a four-player trade sending middle reliever Steven Wilson and swingman Yoendrys Gómez to Tampa Bay for outfielder Everson Pereira and minor league infielder Tanner Murray.
Wilson is the most established of the group. The 31-year-old righty landed in Chicago as part of the Dylan Cease trade during the 2023-24 offseason. Wilson had posted a 3.48 ERA over his first two MLB seasons with the Padres. His numbers tanked during his first year with the Sox, leading them to run him through waivers last winter. Wilson pitched his way back to the big leagues by the middle of April and turned in a quietly solid year.
Over a career-high 55 1/3 innings, Wilson pitched to a 3.42 earned run average. He punched out 21.1% of opposing hitters against a personal-low 9.1% walk rate. Wilson leans heavily on his slider and sits in the 93-94 MPH range with his fastball. He came up just shy of four years of service and is under arbitration control for the next three seasons. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $1.5MM salary. Wilson has a full slate of options, so the Rays could send him between Tampa Bay and Triple-A Durham for the foreseeable future.
Gómez, 26, got a late-season look in the Sox’s rotation. He started nine of 12 appearances overall and turned in a 4.84 ERA through 48 1/3 innings. A former Yankees prospect, Gómez has bounced around the league on waivers. He’s out of options, which spurred the roster shuffling. Gómez sits in the 93-94 MPH range and has a deep arsenal but has never had pristine control. He’ll compete for a rotation or long relief role and will either need to break camp or again be designated for assignment.
The Sox swap Gómez for one of his former teammates coming through the Yankees’ system. Pereira, a righty-hitting outfielder, was once a notable international signee and solid prospect. The 24-year-old native of Venezuela has a career .271/.362/.519 batting line over three Triple-A seasons. Pereira’s solid power-speed combination has been undercut by strikeout concerns, though. He punched out at a 29% clip in the minors this year and struck out 28 more times in 73 big league plate appearances after the Rays acquired him from the Yankees at the deadline for José Caballero.
Pereira is also out of options. He’ll need to crack Chicago’s Opening Day roster or be designated for assignment. The Sox parting with a useful middle reliever for him suggests they’re likely to carry him in the big leagues. Pereira would slot behind Luis Robert Jr., Mike Tauchman and Andrew Benintendi as a fourth outfielder if the Sox keep all three of those players over the winter.
Murray, a 26-year-old non-roster utility player, rounds out the return. A fourth-round pick in 2020, Murray has gone unselected in the Rule 5 draft a few times. He’ll be eligible again this offseason unless the White Sox put him on the 40-man roster. He hit 18 homers but struck out at a 24.1% clip this past season with Tampa Bay’s Triple-A affiliate. He hit a below-average .241/.299/.400 across 572 plate appearances overall. The Sox figure to have him open the year with their top farm team in Charlotte.
Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase first reported that Gómez was being traded to Tampa Bay in a deal sending Pereira to Chicago. James Fegan of Sox Machine had the two-for-two swap. Respective images courtesy of Gary Vasquez and Kim Klement, Imagn Images.
White Sox Designate Corey Julks For Assignment, Select Yoendrys Gómez
The White Sox announced a series of roster moves today. Infielder/outfielder Miguel Vargas has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list and right-hander Yoendrys Gómez has been selected to the roster. In corresponding moves, the club optioned right-hander Elvis Peguero to Triple-A Charlotte and designated outfielder Corey Julks for assignment.
The Sox selected Julks to their roster at the start of the month. They had traded Austin Slater to the Yankees ahead of the deadline, opening some outfield playing time. It seems they never really had Julks in their plans. They have given him just eight plate appearances this month. He could hardly have done much more with that small sample of playing time, as he produced a .375/.375/.625 line. Now that he’s quickly being bumped off the roster, it seems the Sox were only viewing him as a temporary stopgap.
He now heads into DFA limbo. With the trade deadline having passed, the Sox will have to put him on waivers. Despite that aforementioned hot run, his major league results have not been great on the whole. He now has a .236/.290/.340 line and 76 wRC+ in 520 big league plate appearances.
His minor league track record is better. Dating back to the start of 2022, he has 1,258 Triple-A plate appearances with a .275/.364/.485 line and 119 wRC+. That includes a .295/.373/.470 line and 117 wRC+ this year. He’s also usually good for double-digits steals in most years, with 13 Triple-A steals so far in 2025.
He has one option year remaining and hasn’t yet burned it here in 2025. It’s therefore possible for a club to put in a claim, keep Julks in the majors for most of what remains of 2025, thereby keeping that option year intact for 2026. It’s also possible for a club to claim him and stash him in the minors for the stretch run, even if that would burn his final option. However, Julks was also passed through waivers in the offseason, so it’s possible that happens again. If he clears this time, it would be his second career outright, meaning he would have the right to elect free agency.
As for Gómez, it’s possible he’s getting a more meaningful audition, as he’s listed as tonight’s starter for the White Sox. The club recently optioned Jonathan Cannon, opening a rotation spot. The Sox did a bullpen game yesterday, with Tyler Alexander covering the bulk role by throwing 4 1/3 innings. Perhaps Gómez will get a few turns to show his bonafides.
Coming into 2025, he had posted intriguing minor league numbers as a starter in the Yankees’ system. But he hadn’t yet done much in the majors and was out of options. That left him stuck in a long relief role to begin the year and eventually got him pushed off the roster. He went to the Dodgers and then the White Sox via the waiver wire. The Sox eventually pushed him through unclaimed towards the end of May.
While no player wants to lose his spot in the big leagues, getting outrighted to Triple-A at least gave Gómez a chance to get stretched back out as a starter and the results have been good. Since clearing waivers, he has tossed 46 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 2.12 earned run average, 32% strikeout rate and 10.5% walk rate.
The Sox are playing out the string on another losing season, so they should be able to give Gómez a little audition the rest of the way. If he’s able to post decent results and hold a roster spot into next year, he can be controlled for six full seasons after this one.
Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images
White Sox Outright Yoendrys Gómez
The White Sox announced to reporters, including Scott Merkin of MLB.com, that right-hander Yoendrys Gómez has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Charlotte. He had been designated for assignment earlier this week.
While no player wants to be booted out of the major leagues, it’s possible that this is the best result for Gómez in the short term. He came into 2025 out of options, which has led to him bouncing around the league in a long relief role. He started the year with the Yankees but was designated for assignment about three weeks into the season. He was claimed off waivers by the Dodgers but lasted a little over a week with that club. The Sox then claimed him on May 10th and he was DFA’d on the 20th.
Around those transactions, he logged 17 2/3 innings over 12 long relief outings, posting a 6.62 earned run average in the process. But now that he has cleared waivers, perhaps the Sox will let him get stretched back out as a starter in Charlotte.
That’s a role in which he has shown some promise in the past. Though he made his professional debut in 2017, the canceled 2020 season and a Tommy John surgery in 2021 kept him from climbing too high on the minor league ladder. He went into 2022 without having pitched any higher than Single-A.
Over the 2022 through 2024 seasons, he went through High-A, Double-A, Triple-A and the majors. He logged 195 2/3 innings on the farm over those three seasons with a 3.36 ERA. His 11.6% walk rate in that time was certainly high but he also punched out 27.2% of batters faced. Baseball America considered him one of the top 30 Yankee prospects in each season from 2019 to 2024.
But as mentioned, his out-of-options status has had him in a sort of holding pattern for this year. He hasn’t shown enough for a proper big league rotation job, with a 5.23 ERA in 31 big league innings over three seasons. He has been bouncing around to various clubs in a mop-up role.
While losing his roster spot probably isn’t fun, it might at least be a chance to get back into a groove as a starter. The White Sox have a fairly inexperienced rotation, so there could be opportunities available later in the year. Adrian Houser was just signed but he’s on a one-year deal and should be traded this summer if he’s throwing well. Davis Martin, Jonathan Cannon, Sean Burke and Shane Smith all came into this season with less than a year of service time. Injuries are also fairly inevitable, with the Sox having already lost Drew Thorpe and Ky Bush to Tommy John surgery this year.
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Hui, Imagn Images
White Sox Designate Yoendrys Gomez For Assignment
The White Sox announced Tuesday that right-hander Yoendrys Gomez has been designated for assignment. His spot on the roster goes to veteran righty Adrian Houser, whose previously reported major league deal with the South Siders has now been formally announced. Chicago had just claimed Gomez off waivers from the Dodgers ten days ago.
The Sox were Gomez’s third team of the still-young season. A former top prospect in the Yankees’ system, he’s bounced from the Bronx to L.A. to Chicago’s South Side. Along the way, he’s totaled 17 2/3 innings and allowed 13 runs (6.62 ERA) on 20 hits and 13 walks with 13 strikeouts. He tossed 3 1/3 innings with Chicago and allowed three runs on five hits, two walks and a hit batter. Gomez has now pitched 31 innings in the majors and yielded a 5.23 ERA.
Lackluster major league track record notwithstanding, Gomez sports near-identical ERAs of 3.64 and 3.67 in Double-A and Triple-A, respectively. Those have come in samples of 83 1/3 innings and 81 2/3 frames. Gomez has fanned 27% of his opponents in Triple-A against an 11.3% walk rate, and his Double-A rates (28.3% and 12.6%) are again quite similar.
Any team that claims or acquires Gomez will have to plug him right onto the MLB roster. He’s out of minor league options and can’t be sent down without first clearing waivers. The once-promising righty’s development has been slowed by the canceled 2020 minor league season and a Tommy John procedure that wiped out most of his 2021-22 campaigns. He could potentially benefit from some additional time in the upper minors, but it’s not a luxury teams can pursue until he passes through waivers. If Gomez goes unclaimed this time around, he’ll stick with the Sox as a depth option; he lacks the major league service time or the prior outright assignment needed to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.
White Sox Sign Adrian Houser
May 20: The Sox announced today that they have signed Houser to a one-year, $1.35MM deal. Assuming that’s prorated, Houser will get about $950K. James Fox of FutureSox previously reported that Houser was expected to start tonight’s game for the Sox, indicating it would be a big league deal. The Sox designated right-hander Yoendrys Gómez for assignment as the corresponding move.
May 19: The White Sox are nearing an agreement with free agent righty Adrian Houser, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. It’s not clear if he’ll jump right onto the big league roster or head to Triple-A Charlotte. Houser, a client of BBI Sports Group, was granted his release from a minor league contract with Texas last week.
Houser signed with the Rangers during the offseason. He has worked out of the rotation at Triple-A Round Rock, tallying 39 1/3 innings across nine appearances. While his 5.03 earned run average is pedestrian, that’s not all that uncommon in the Pacific Coast League. Houser has stronger peripherals. He struck out a decent 22.8% of opponents while running an excellent 57.3% grounder rate.
Ground balls are Houser’s speciality. He has gotten grounders at a near-52% clip over parts of eight seasons in the majors. That was up in the 58-59% range during his best seasons with Milwaukee but has been down to a more normal 46-48% mark over the past few years. That caught up to him last year, as he allowed 5.84 earned runs per nine across 69 1/3 frames with the Mets. Houser had begun the season in New York’s rotation but was kicked to the bullpen after seven starts. His results in relief were much better. He carried an ERA north of 8.00 as a starting pitcher but turned in a 3.28 mark across 35 2/3 relief innings.
Texas signed him as rotation depth, which seems likely to be his role in Chicago (assuming the deal is finalized). The rebuilding White Sox have baseball’s least experienced rotation. Bryse Wilson is the only member of the current starting staff who entered the season with even one year of MLB service. Wilson, who had begun the year in the bullpen, stepped into the starting five after Martín Pérez suffered a forearm injury. He has allowed a 6.62 ERA with nearly as many walks as strikeouts over four starts.
Rule 5 pick Shane Smith has been the team’s best pitcher, turning in a sterling 2.05 ERA with average strikeout and walk numbers over his first nine MLB starts. Davis Martin and Jonathan Cannon have each been a little worse than average. Opening Day starter Sean Burke has struggled, though he’d been better this month until giving up six runs to the Cubs on Saturday. If Houser jumps right onto the MLB roster, he could nudge Burke or Wilson from the rotation. Burke still has a full slate of minor league options. Wilson is out of options and would need to be designated for assignment for the Sox to take him off the big league roster.
White Sox Claim Yoendrys Gomez, Release Greg Jones
The White Sox announced that they have claimed right-hander Yoendrys Gomez off waivers from the Dodgers. Outfielder Greg Jones was released to open up a 40-man roster space.
After spending the majority of his pro career in the Yankees farm system, Gomez is now joining his third different organization in the last three weeks. New York designated Gomez for assignment in late April and the Dodgers claimed him off waivers, only to themselves DFA Gomez earlier this week. Gomez has seen some big league time with both of his 2025 teams, posting a 2.70 ERA in 10 relief innings for the Yankees and a whopping 14.54 ERA over 4 1/3 innings and three appearances with Los Angeles.
This workload makes it 27 2/3 career MLB innings for Gomez since he made his debut during the 2023 season, with a 4.88 ERA for his time in the Show. Since the start of the 2021 season, Gomez has thrown only 246 2/3 total innings in the majors and minors, as a Tommy John surgery drastically cut into his availability in 2021-22.
Gomez still posted some pretty solid numbers in the minors, including a 3.67 ERA and 27% strikeout rate over 83 1/3 frames at the Triple-A level. However, Gomez’s walk rate has also crept upwards as he has worked his way up the minor league ladder. While he has worked almost exclusively as a starter in the minors, he has worked only as a reliever in his brief MLB tenure, albeit usually throwing multiple innings in his appearances.
Since Gomez is out of minor league options, the White Sox will need to keep him on their active roster unless they’re willing to expose him to waivers again in an effort to outright him off the 40-man roster and send Gomez down to Triple-A. The pitching-needy Sox should be able to make use of a multi-inning reliever who may yet have some utility as a depth starter, so this latest move could give the 25-year-old Gomez a clearer path to big league playing time than he would’ve likely found with the Yankees or Dodgers.
Jones was a waiver claim himself in late March, as the White Sox plucked him away from the Rockies just prior to Opening Day. Jones appeared in just three MLB games with Chicago, after making his debut in the Show last season and playing in six games with Colorado. In a nod to his speed and defense, Jones has been a late-game sub in all but one of his nine career games in the majors, and he has one hit (a home run) in eight plate appearances.
Known as one of the fastest players in baseball, Jones has stolen 167 bases (out of 192 attempts) during six minor league seasons. This speed and multi-positional defensive ability drew some top-100 prospect attention from MLB Pipeline in 2022 when Jones was in the Rays’ farm system, though he has also struck out in 567 of his 1662 career PA at the minor league level. He had posted solid Triple-A numbers before his production drastically fell off with Triple-A Charlotte this season, and thus the Sox have decided to move on in the form of a proper release.
Jones is still only 27, and his speed is the type of premium ability that usually intrigues teams. It wouldn’t be surprising to see another club scoop Jones up as at least a depth piece, with an eye towards possibly unlocking something at the plate that can turn Jones into more of a functional asset at the MLB level.