New York Mets continue to spend money in free agency

It feels as though not a day goes by without the New York Mets signing another free agent.

The Mets added to their starting rotation on Friday by signing right-hander Kodai Senga to a five-year deal worth $75 million. For those not familiar with Senga, he's a 29-year-old who has pitched 11 seasons in the Nippon Professional Baseball league, going 104-51 with a 2.42 ERA over 275 starts.

Earlier this offseason, the Mets signed AL Cy Young award winner Justin Verlander and veteran left-hander Jose Quintana. With ace Max Scherzer and right-hander Carlos Carrasco also in the rotation, New York seems set on the starting pitching front -- even though Jacob deGrom is now a member of the Texas Rangers.

This offseason, the Mets have also retained outfielder Brandon Nimmo on a eight-year, $162 million deal, and closer Edwin Diaz on a five-year, $102 million deal. They also added veteran reliever David Robertson for one year and $10 million.

New York's estimated payroll is now about $345 million, which would be an all-time high if they don't shed salaries in trades between now and the start of the 2023 season. If the payroll holds, Mets owner Steve Cohen will have to pay $76.2 million in luxury tax penalties. With the way that team is spending, it seems as though he doesn't care.

Must be nice as a fan.

In case you were wondering, the biggest free agent contract the White Sox have ever handed out was to catcher Yasmani Grandal, who is entering the fourth and final year of a $73 million contract.

In other words, Cohen could pay more in luxury tax penalties in 2023 than Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf has ever paid to a free agent.

2 trades that helped the Cleveland Guardians win the AL Central

Francisco Lindor

Monday night's Game 5 of the American League Division Series between the Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees was postponed because of inclement weather in New York.

The game will be played at 3 o'clock CDT Tuesday. The winner will travel to Houston to face the Astros in Game 1 of the AL Championship Series on Wednesday.

That's a quick turnaround, so the big winner in this postponement would appear to be the Astros.

Regardless, I've been thinking lately about how the Guardians managed to win 92 games and basically blow the White Sox and Minnesota Twins out of the water in the AL Central this season. 

Hell, Cleveland was picked to finish third or fourth in a lot of preseason magazines, which is only proof that one never knows.

Two trades that Cleveland made in the recent past come to mind:

Aug. 31, 2020: Cleveland traded Mike Clevinger, Greg Allen and a player to be named later to the San Diego Padres for Josh Naylor, Owen Miller, Austin Hedges, Cal Quantrill, Gabriel Arias and Joey Cantillo.

Jan. 7, 2021: Cleveland traded Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco to the New York Mets for Andres Gimenez, Amed Rosario, Isaiah Greene and Josh Wolf.

Look at that return that Cleveland got in that Clevinger deal. Is that about half their roster? 

Naylor is their cleanup hitter and second-best run producer. Miller appeared in 130 games for the Guardians this season as an all-purpose player. Hedges can't hit a lick, but he's Cleveland's primary catcher because of his outstanding defensive work at a premium position. 

Quantrill went 15-5 in 32 starts this season as Cleveland's No. 3 starter. Arias is a 22-year-old who appeared in only 16 regular season games for the Guardians, but hey, he was in the lineup for Game 4 against the Yankees.

Of those six guys in the Clevinger deal, five of them are helping the Guardians right now.

And Clevinger? He missed all of 2021 with an injury. Since the trade, the 31-year-old right-hander has posted a 4.12 ERA and 4.60 FIP over 27 appearances. 

Yes, I think the Guardians are happy with that trade.

I remember when Lindor was traded in January 2021, and many people -- including me -- thought Cleveland got fleeced. We were wrong.

Sure, Lindor is still a good player. He bounced back from a lackluster 2021 to post 26 homers, 107 RBIs and a 125 OPS+ for the New York Mets this season. And Carrasco provided New York with 29 decent starts in 2022 -- he was 15-7 with a 3.97 ERA.

However, I don't think the Guardians are disappointed in the return they got for those two players -- Gimenez and Rosario now are starting middle infielders for them on a playoff team.

Gimenez had a 7.2 WAR and made the All-Star team in his age-23 season this year. He batted .297 with 17 homers, 69 RBIs, an .837 OPS and a 141 OPS+. And oh yeah, he's the likely Gold Glove winner at second base in the American League this season.

That 7.2 WAR equals the best season Lindor had in a Cleveland uniform -- that coming in 2018.

The 26-year-old Rosario isn't quite as good Gimenez, but I don't think Cleveland fans are disappointed in the 4.1-WAR season they have received from their shortstop. Rosario batted .283 with 11 homers, 18 steals, 71 RBIs, a .715 OPS and a 106 OPS+ in 2022. That's not All-Star level, but it's certainly above league average.

So, how did Cleveland get this good? There are a few different reasons. Shane Bieber is an elite, reliable starting pitcher. Triston McKenzie has made strides to join him at the top of the rotation. Emmanuel Clase is the best closer in the AL, and he has two good relievers setting him up in James Karinchak and Trevor Stephan.

But when you're telling the story of this Cleveland Guardians team, you have to look at these two trades, which netted them three-quarters of their starting infield -- including one All-Star -- a starting catcher and a starting pitcher, plus two other players who are at least helping on the margins.

While the Guardians did move three decent-to-great players in those deals, they absolutely got quality coming the other way.

Indians trade Francisco Lindor, Carlos Carrasco to Mets

Francisco Lindor

The complexion of the 2021 American League Central race was altered Thursday as the Cleveland Indians traded the face of their franchise, plus a starting pitcher, to the New York Mets.

Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco are on their way to New York, and in return, the Indians received two middle infielders -- Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez -- and two prospects -- pitcher Josh Wolf and outfielder Isaiah Greene.

A trade of Lindor has long been rumored, and with him entering the last season of his contract, the Indians finally swung a deal. In doing so, their chances of winning the AL Central are greatly diminished. 

In truth, Cleveland has been subtracting talent for a while. In recent times, we've seen the Indians trade Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer and Mike Clevinger. They also cut ties with reliable closer Brad Hand because of money. 

In 2020, most of the Cleveland offense came from four guys: Lindor, Jose Ramirez, Carlos Santana and Franmil Reyes. Santana is gone, having signed a free-agent deal with the Kansas City Royals, and now the perennial All-Star Lindor is out the door as well.

Ramirez is a great player, arguably as good as Lindor, but now he's going to have to carry the Indians' lineup by himself. I'd be pitching around him a lot in 2021. 

Cleveland's starting rotation will not be crap, even with the subtraction of Carrasco -- a respected 11-year veteran who is 15 games over .500 in his career. The Indians still have the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner in Shane Bieber, plus Zach Plesac, Triston McKenzie and Aaron Civale.

There's enough there to stay competitive most nights, but now it would be a surprise if the Indians are able to hang with the Minnesota Twins and White Sox all season in the AL Central.

That said, I can't say the Indians did poorly in this deal. Everyone knew they had to trade Lindor, so it was unlikely they were going to get a king's ransom in return. What they did get is two players who will start for them immediately. Rosario figures to be their shortstop. Gimenez will likely play second, with free agent Cesar Hernandez unlikely to return.

Wolf was a second-round draft pick of the Mets in 2019. Greene was a second-rounder in 2020.

The return could have been worse for Cleveland, but I'm sure that's of little consequence to their fans, who have to be saddened to see two solid performers walking out the door -- one of which has been the franchise cornerstone through some very good years.

White Sox finish 6-1 on homestand vs. Royals, Indians

Jose Abreu

The White Sox finished 6-1 on their just-completed seven-game homestand against the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians. They haven't had a homestand this successful since 2010.

After sweeping Kansas City, the Sox (29-30) took three out of four games from the Indians (29-30) to move into a second-place tie. In doing so, they overcame a couple of pitching matchups that didn't look too promising coming into the series.

Here's a look back at the weekend that was:

Thursday, May 30
White Sox 10, Indians 4: Cleveland right-hander Carlos Carrasco had made two previous starts against the Sox this season, and he won them both. In fact, he was unscored upon in 12 innings. So, it didn't look too good for the Sox with Carrasco starting against left-hander Manny Banuelos.

Surprise! The Sox cuffed Carrasco around for six runs on 10 hits over 6.1 innings, then blew the game open with four more runs off reliever Dan Otero.

Jose Abreu and Yonder Alonso both homered, and Leury Garcia and Eloy Jimenez each had three-hit games. Jimenez's two-run double in the second inning started the Sox's scoring. Alonso's two-run homer in the third put them ahead to stay.

Banuelos (3-4) was good enough. He allowed three runs on five hits over 5.1 innings. For a guy with a 7.36 ERA, you take that.

Friday, May 31
White Sox 6, Indians 1: Once again, the starting pitching matchup didn't look favorable. The Indians were throwing their best healthy pitcher in Trevor Bauer, while the Sox were countering with the winless Dylan Covey.

Surprise! Covey (1-4) isn't winless anymore. He gave up a leadoff homer to Francisco Lindor in the first inning, but no other runs over six innings pitched. He allowed eight hits, but managed to pitch around them.

Meanwhile, Cleveland committed four errors, causing Bauer to give up four unearned runs (and two additional earned runs) over seven innings.

Charlie Tilson paced the Sox offense with two hits, including a two-run double in the bottom of the third that put the South Siders ahead to stay.

Saturday, June 1
Indians 5, White Sox 2: There has to be a rotten apple in every bunch, right? Sox starter Ivan Nova (3-5) wasn't terrible, but a couple home runs by left-handed hitters hurt him. Carlos Santana broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning with a solo home run, and Leonys Martin added a two-run shot in the seventh for a 4-1 Indians lead.

The Sox could not overcome that deficit as they managed only four hits against a hodgepodge of six Cleveland pitchers. Reliever Oliver Perez (1-0) retired all five batters he faced in the fifth inning and at the start of the sixth inning to get the win for the Tribe. Brad Hand worked an easy ninth for his 16th save.

Jimenez had two hits for the Sox, including a double, but not much else was going on.

Sunday, June 2
White Sox 2, Indians 0: Lucas Giolito (8-1) did it again, improving to 6-0 with a 1.03 ERA over his past six starts. He went 7.1 innings, allowing only five hits and no walks. He struck out nine. Aaron Bummer got a double play ball to end the eighth inning, and Alex Colome worked around a leadoff double by Lindor in the ninth to earn his 12th save of the season.

It wasn't easy for Giolito, as he pitched with no margin for error thanks to a strong start by Cleveland rookie Zach Plesac (0-1), who tossed seven innings of one-run ball.

That one run was a 429-foot homer by Tim Anderson, his ninth of the season, in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Sox added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on Anderson's two-out RBI double, which scored Yolmer Sanchez.

The satisfying win should make for a pleasant off day Monday for the Sox, who just completed a busy stretch of 36 games in 37 days. They have a brief two-game series in Washington against the Nationals on Tuesday and Wednesday, before another off day on Thursday.

Weird schedule this season, huh?

White Sox split two-game series with Cleveland Indians

It's a good thing the White Sox won Monday. There was no reason to be optimistic about Tuesday's matchup with Carlos Carrasco pitching for the Cleveland Indians and the hapless Manny Banuelos pitching for the Sox. That game went as expected.

So, the Sox (19-22) split this brief two-game home series against Cleveland and now are 4-4 against the Indians (22-19) this season.

Let's take a look back at the series.

Monday, May 13
White Sox 5, Indians 2: The game started ominously for Reynaldo Lopez, as Cleveland leadoff man Francisco Lindor hit a 435-foot home run off him on his third pitch of the night.

However, that was the only earned run Lopez (3-4) allowed over 7.2 innings, the longest outing by a Sox starter so far this season.The right-hander limited the Indians to only two hits while striking out six and walking two.

The Sox hit four solo home runs, two of them by third baseman Yoan Moncada, who now has nine homers for the season. It was good night all around for Moncada, who went 3 for 4 to raise his average to .289. That .877 OPS looks pretty good. I would like to see that stick for the whole season.

Jose Abreu also homered -- his team-high 10th -- and Welington Castillo hit his third home run of the season. Castillo also doubled and scored on a double by Yolmer Sanchez in the seventh.

Aaron Bummer got the final out of the eighth in relief of Lopez, and Alex Colome worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his eighth save in as many chances. Good win.

Tuesday, May 14
Indians 9, White Sox 0: The Sox have been outscored 29-2 in the past three games that Banuelos (2-3) has started. The meager two runs scored are not Banuelos' fault. The 29 runs allowed very much are his fault.

The left-hander left in the fifth inning with some sort of shoulder ailment, but not before he gave up five earned runs, including three homers. This guy just isn't rotation material, and I'm still aggravated that the Sox came into the season believing he could help them. That 7.26 ERA says otherwise.

Now, Banuelos might need to go on the injured list, so the Sox will need a replacement for the replacement. Honestly, I couldn't tell you what direction they are going to go, assuming they are going to stick to their guns and not call up Dylan Cease. Jordan Stephens is on the 40-man roster, but he has a 9.48 ERA at Triple-A Charlotte this season. No, he's not a viable option.

Offensively, the Sox were quiet against Carrasco, who tossed seven shutout innings. Same as it ever was.

The Sox have a day off Wednesday in advance of this weekend's four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays. The rest is probably coming at a good time.

When 'settling for a split' feels like the best possible outcome ...

Jose Ramirez

If you read or listen to recaps of this week's four-game series between the White Sox and the Cleveland Indians, someone may note that the Sox "settled for a split."

The phrase is commonly used when a team wins the first two games of a series, only to lose the last two. And that's precisely what the Sox did in this case.

Jose Ramirez hit a two-run homer off Kelvin Herrera in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday, lifting the Indians to a 5-3 win. Cleveland also won Thursday, 5-0, in a game that was shortened to five innings by rain.

Truthfully, the rain was a blessing for the Sox. Their bullpen didn't get have to pitch another three innings in a game that was a lost cause. Sox hitters, as is their custom, could do nothing with Carlos Carrasco. And Manny Banuelos is a long reliever (at best) being asked to be a starting pitcher on this team.

Predictable results ensue.

And that's pretty much the problem here. If you had asked me Sunday night if I would take a Sox split of this four-game series, I would have said, "You bet."

We've reached a point of hopelessness to where two wins out of four games is considered a rousing success. Let's not pretend the Indians are a juggernaut -- they are 20-16; they aren't going to win 102 games like they did two seasons ago.

It shouldn't be completely implausible for the Sox to take three out of four from this Cleveland team, and while they had two opportunities to do so, there was never any real feeling that they'd actually pull it off.

That's a reason why I refer to Sox fandom as being like a second job these days. The absolute best you can hope for is for the team to not embarrass itself. The Sox didn't embarrass themselves in Cleveland, so we gleefully "settle for the split" and get ready to watch a weekend series against Toronto.

White Sox outfielder Daniel Palka making his ninth inning hits count

White Sox outfielder Daniel Palka has started to establish a reputation as the team's best clutch hitter.

Palka has had a good (and surprising) season overall. He didn't make the Sox's roster coming out of spring training and mostly was an afterthought. But injuries to incumbent outfielders gave him an opportunity in April, and he has taken advantage, leading the team with 27 home runs and ranking second with 66 RBIs in 119 games.

Although Palka's overall slash line of .239/.291/.491 isn't overly impressive, a .782 OPS isn't bad for a rookie, and fans are starting to feel as though they want Palka at the plate with the game on the line.

His latest signature moment came Wednesday. With runners on second and third and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Sox trailing, 4-3, Palka shot a base hit through the infield to score both runs and lift the South Siders to a 5-4 win over the Cleveland Indians.

It was a little surprising that Indians manager Terry Francona let Carlos Carrasco face Palka with first base open. He could have brought in left-handed closer Brad Hand to possibly neutralize Palka, or he could have issued an intentional walk to set up a possible double play and a right-on-right matchup between Carrasco and Avisail Garcia.

But, the Tribe chose to let Carrasco pitch to Palka, and they lost.

But amid all this, would you believe that Palka is only 10 for 48 with 16 strikeouts in his ninth inning at-bats this season? That will pencil out to a .208/.255/.625 slash line.

Oh, yeah, that .625 slugging percentage. Palka has made those 10 hits count. Six of them are home runs -- he leads the league in ninth inning homers. And those 10 hits have produced 12 RBIs, including the two to win the game Wednesday.

So, Palka does not have a high number of hits in the ninth inning, but most Sox fans view him as a clutch performer because the hits he has had sure have counted.

Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco suddenly owns the White Sox

Carlos Carrasco

Carlos Carrasco's career numbers against the White Sox aren't particularly impressive.

The 31-year-old veteran has made 21 career starts against the South Siders, going 7-9 with a 4.27 ERA.

Pretty mediocre, right?

But if you do a deeper dive into the numbers, you will find there was a time when the Sox owned Carrasco. From 2011 to 2016, Carrasco made 16 starts against Chicago and lost nine of 12 decisions, posting a terrible 5.60 ERA.

During that era, a Sox fan could feel good about his team facing the Cleveland right-hander.

Those days are gone.

Since the start of the 2017 season, Carrasco has made five starts against the Sox, and he's 4-0 with a 0.99 ERA. That is mastery.

Carrasco continued his dominance Monday night, throwing seven innings of shutout ball in a 4-0 Cleveland victory. He allowed only two hits and struck out 11. The Sox never had a chance.

Obviously, the mix of players has changed significantly for the Sox over the past two seasons. It's apparent the current group has no idea what to do against Carrasco. I cringe now when I see him listed as Cleveland's probable starter.

Reynaldo Lopez was good; the rest of the White Sox were bad

Carlos Carrasco

The White Sox are 54-84 with 24 games remaining. That's a lot of losses, and it's hard to say any one single game is the worst I've seen this team play this season.

However, Wednesday's 5-1 loss to the Cleveland Indians has to be on the short list.

Yes, the Indians are good. They've won 14 in a row for a reason. And Carlos Carrasco is a good pitcher. He's 14-6 this season for a reason.

But there were some pretty pathetic at-bats turned in by Sox hitters Wednesday, as Carrasco needed only 97 pitches to sail through a complete-game, three-hitter. The Cleveland right-hander was one out away from a shutout, and he faced the minimum 26 batters through 8.2 innings. Adam Engel hit a meaningless solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to save the Sox from complete disgrace.

As bad as the Sox offense was, their defense was even worse. Rookie right-hander Reynaldo Lopez (0-3) has three quality starts in his four outings with the Sox, and this performance was probably the best of the bunch. He deserves a handshake for making it through six innings and allowing only one run to the red-hot Indians, especially given the horrible play behind him.

In the first inning, first baseman Matt Davidson booted a grounder that should have been an inning-ending 3-6-3 double play. Lopez bailed him out by getting Edwin Encarnacion to pop out and Carlos Santana to fly out. No runs allowed.

Shortstop Tyler Saladino kicked a ball that should have been a double play in the second inning. The official scorer inexplicably ruled it a "double." Lopez faced a second-and-third, one-out situation for the second inning in a row, and he again escaped with a strikeout and a popout.

In the fourth inning, the Indians loaded the bases with nobody out on a walk and two "singles." One glanced off the glove of Nick Delmonico after the rookie left fielder took a bad route to the ball. The other "single" should have been turned into an out by second baseman Alen Hanson but was not. Lopez was forced to get five outs in the inning. He allowed a sacrifice fly and nothing more, and that was a good job of pitching.

When Lopez left the game, the Sox trailed 1-0 in a game that could have easily been 5-0 or 6-0. The Indians broke it open late against the Chicago bullpen, and the Sox received a well-deserved loss, even though Lopez deserved a better fate.

The Sox are outmanned against the Indians, so to some extent you can live with losses to this Cleveland team. But there was a sloppiness to Wednesday's game that cannot sit well.

Carlos Rodon will get his shot at ending the Cleveland winning streak Thursday night, and with his stuff, he always has a puncher's chance against any lineup. But he's going to need his teammates to catch the ball for him. The Indians have their ace, Corey Kluber (14-4), scheduled to pitch, so Cleveland has good reason to like its chances of extending this win streak to 15. If the Indians are successful, it will be a new franchise record.

Blue Jays better start scoring some runs against the Indians' starting pitchers

Jose Bautista

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista believes "circumstances" are favoring the Cleveland Indians thus far in the ALCS.

The Indians have taken each of the first two games, by scores of 2-0 and 2-1, and the Toronto hitters apparently are getting frustrated.

“All you gotta do is look at the video and count how many times (Cleveland pitchers) throw pitches over the heart of the plate,” Bautista said Sunday, as reported by Mike Vorkunov. “They’ve been able to do that because of the circumstances -- that I’m not trying to talk about because I can’t. That’s for you guys to do, but you guys don’t really want to talk about that either.”

It sounds as if Bautista believes the umpiring is going against Toronto, and perhaps he's trying to get some calls to go his way and his teammates' way in Monday night's Game 3. Some have suggested the Blue Jays believe the series is "rigged" in favor of the Indians. That's a reach.

I personally don't think MLB rigs games, and I don't buy into the notion of curses or conspiracies. What motivation would MLB have to tell umpires to make calls favoring the Indians? Cleveland is a small-market team, and it isn't like the league stands to get a big ratings bump if the Indians advance.

All of this is foolishness, and the only circumstance working against the Blue Jays right now is their inability to hit the quality pitching being run out there by the Indians. Toronto is a dead fastball hitting team, and Cleveland has a bunch of pitchers -- both starters and relievers -- who can make quality pitches with their breaking balls.

The Indians' bullpen has been nothing short of spectacular. As a group, they've allowed just two earned runs in 16.1 IP this postseason, and they've been facing good offenses, too -- Boston and now Toronto. That will pencil out to a 1.10 ERA. And, oh, Cleveland relievers have struck out 27 men in those 16-plus innings.

Left-hander Andrew Miller, of course, has been the main reason for that. He's struck out 17 and is unscored upon in 7.2 postseason innings this season. He's formed an unhittable bridge between the Cleveland starters and closer Cody Allen, who has pitched four scoreless innings in the playoffs.

Manager Terry Francona has shown he's not afraid to go to Miller as early as the fifth or sixth inning. He can do that because he has another dominant option in Allen, and two other pretty good middle relief options in Bryan Shaw and Dan Otero. Cleveland has the deepest bullpen of the remaining four teams, for sure.

As we've mentioned before, the Indians' shortcoming is the injuries to their starting pitchers. Corey Kluber is the ace, and he's been tremendous: He's allowed nothing in the postseason. But with Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco sidelined, Cleveland is forced to rely more upon Josh Tomlin and Trevor Bauer than it would like.

But Tomlin was really good in Game 2, allowing just one run in 5.2 innings. He's a breaking ball pitcher, and he used that pitch effectively against the Toronto hitters. He's not overpowering, and he sure as heck wasn't going to give Toronto too many fastballs to hit. Smart pitching.

The Blue Jays will face Bauer in Game 3, and I'd recommend they think less about the umpiring and figure out a way to score early -- before Miller, Shaw and Allen, et al., become involved in the game. Wouldn't hurt, either, if someone from that lineup could do some damage against a curve ball or a slider. The Indians are going to keep throwing them until the Blue Jays show they can hit them.

White Sox score in every inning for first time since 1949

Carlos Carrasco

The White Sox offense was shut out on two hits Sunday against Kansas City, so naturally, they came back Monday and pounded out 16 hits and scored in every inning during an 11-4 victory over the first-place Cleveland Indians.

It was only the 20th time in major league history that a team scored at least one run in every inning -- and the second time the Sox have done that -- the other time was May 11, 1949, during a 12-8 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

I talk a lot about AL Central players who own the White Sox, so in fairness, let's note that the South Siders own Cleveland right-hander Carlos Carrasco.

Carrasco (11-8) lasted only 3.2 innings Monday night, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits. His lifetime record against Chicago falls to 3-9 with a 5.63 ERA in 17 games (16 starts). His career ERA at U.S. Cellular Field spikes to 6.50.

Avisail Garcia's leadoff homer in the bottom of the fourth inning gave the Sox the lead for good. The right fielder finished 4 for 5 with three runs scored. Adam Eaton and Todd Frazier also homered as part of the onslaught. Jose Abreu went 2 for 4 and increased his team-leading RBI total to 92. He still has a chance for a third consecutive 100-RBI season.

Miguel Gonzalez (4-6) recovered from a three-run second inning to earn his second straight victory since returning from the disabled list. He went 6.2 innings and allowed nothing more after the Indians got him for three early runs. The right-hander is now 4-0 lifetime with a 3.26 ERA in five games (4 starts) against the Tribe.

At this point, one would have to believe Gonzalez is pitching to earn a spot in the 2017 Sox rotation, and he's doing a good job of it. You can do a lot worse than a 3.82 ERA from a back-of-the-rotation pitcher, and Gonzalez has posted a quality start in nine of his past 10 appearances. The only exception was an Aug. 11 start in Kansas City, where he left in the second inning because of injury.

Really, that's the only thing that gives you pause about Gonzalez: Can he stay healthy? When he's been on the mound, he's been an effective pitcher for the Sox.