Carlos Rodon joining Yankees on 6-year contract

Carlos Rodon

Former White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon on Thursday agreed to a six-year, $162 million contract with the New York Yankees.

My first thought was, "Didn't Rodon always pitch well against the Yankees?"

The answer to that is, yes, he did, especially at Yankee Stadium. As pointed out by Chris Kamka on Twitter, Rodon has made four career starts in the Bronx. He's 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA.

But perhaps his most memorable outing was his no-decision, which came on May 21, 2021. Rodon went six shutout innings, allowing only two hits. He struck out 13(!) and walked none. Of course, the Sox found a way to lose that game, 2-1, because neither Michael Kopech nor Evan Marshall pitched well in relief.

That particular game served notice that Rodon was healthy and operating at his peak power, and he's been mostly good ever since. His one season in San Francisco turned out well -- 14-8 with a 2.88 ERA in a career-high 31 starts. He finished sixth in the 2022 NL Cy Young voting.

Of course, health will always be the question with Rodon. When he pitches, he's good. However, he's probably a bad bet to make it through a six-year contract without landing on the injured list a few times.

That said, if Rodon makes it to October 2023 in one piece, the Yankees finally have a legitimate No. 2 starter to pair with Gerrit Cole. That increases their odds of finally getting past the Houston Astros in the American League playoffs.

I would call this move "high-risk, high-reward" for the Yankees, but given their position, it's the right gamble to take.

White Sox make flurry of roster moves

Craig Kimbrel

White Sox general manager Rick Hahn finally met the media Friday for his season-ending press conference, and I'll have some reactions and takeaways from that before the weekend is over.

But first, let's go over the roster moves that were announced:

Pitchers Evan Marshall, Jimmy Cordero and Jace Fry were outrighted to Triple-A Charlotte. All three become free agents.

Marshall hasn't pitched since June 29 and will need Tommy John surgery in the offseason. There's some chance the Sox will bring him back on a one-year deal with a club option, if they think he can help them in 2023. The veteran right-hander faces an uncertain future.

Cordero missed all of 2021 after having Tommy John surgery. The hard-throwing reliever was famously overused by former manager Rick Renteria during the 2020 season, and no one was surprised when he ended up injured. It wouldn't be a shock to see the Sox sign him to a minor league deal and take a look at him in spring training.

Fry has never been able to throw enough strikes to stick in the major leagues. I would not expect him back with the Sox in 2022 under any circumstance.

Left-hander Anderson Severino, 27, was added to the 40-man roster before he became a minor league free agent. Severino split his 2021 season between Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte. He struck out 53 batters over 45.2 innings combined at the two levels. In effect, he replaces Fry as the left-handed reliever who could get called up from Charlotte in the event of a bullpen injury.

Outfielder Brian Goodwin was outrighted to Triple-A Charlotte. He is a free agent. He batted .221/.319/.374 with eight home runs and 29 RBIs in 72 games for the 2021 Sox. Goodwin's production dried up the second half of the season, and a back injury kept him off the playoff roster. He likely does not figure in the 2022 plans.

In an expected move, the Sox declined the $6 million contract option on second baseman Cesar Hernandez. After being acquired in a midseason trade with the Cleveland Indians, Hernandez struggled both with the bat and with the glove. In 53 games with the Sox, he batted .232/.309/.299 with three home runs and 15 RBIs.

Hernandez fell out of favor with manager Tony La Russa to the point that he did not start either of the first two games of the playoffs. That was a clear indicator that he would not be asked back for 2022.

Finally, the first part of the Craig Kimbrel debate is over. His $16 million contract option has been exercised for 2022. The veteran reliever, who was acquired midseason in a deal with the crosstown Cubs, was a huge disappointment with the Sox.

He had a 5.09 ERA in 24 regular-season games on the South Side, and a 9.00 ERA in his three playoff appearances. The poor performance came after Kimbrel posted a dominant first half of the season on the North Side, where he had a 0.49 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 39 games and 36.2 innings.

Does that mean Kimbrel is part of the 2022 Sox bullpen? Don't count on it. He's likely to be shopped in the offseason, with the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Angels among the teams who could be interested.

This series of moves leaves the Sox's 40-man roster at 33 players.

When the White Sox hit home runs, they win

Yoan Moncada

When the White Sox hit at least one home run in a game, they typically win. When they do not homer, they typically lose.

I guess that makes them typical of baseball in 2021, right?

The Sox are now 30-6 when they hit a home run after they hit four solo shots Thursday in a 4-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

Yoan Moncada got the Sox on the board in the bottom of the first inning with his fifth home run of the season. It was a good piece of hitting from Moncada -- Detroit starter Casey Mize (3-4) threw a splitter at the knees on the outside corner, and the Sox third baseman went with the pitch and hit it into the left-field bullpen.

Jake Lamb made it 2-0 in the bottom of the second when he hit a Mize fastball to Goose Island in right field. For Lamb, it was his fourth home run of the season. Lamb is now batting .265 with a .931 OPS. He might be in line for some more playing time against right-handed pitchers.

The Sox took a 2-1 lead into the seventh inning, when Yasmani Grandal connected against Mize for a 457-foot homer to right-center field that left the ballpark traveling at 110 mph. It was Grandal's seventh home run of the season. The Sox catcher continues to have the most bizarre season of any player in baseball. His season slash line is .137/.384/.363. Obviously, Grandal has the lowest batting average of any Sox regular, but he also has the second-highest on-base percentage, behind only Moncada (.426).

Tim Anderson hadn't homered since May 13, but he broke that drought in the bottom of the eighth with a solo shot to dead center off Detroit reliever Daniel Norris. It was Anderson's sixth home run of the season, and that capped the scoring.

For the record, the Sox are 4-16 this season when they do not hit a home run.

The power barrage helped right-hander Lance Lynn improve to 7-1 on the season. Lynn worked six innings, allowing a run on four hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

Relievers Aaron Bummer, Evan Marshall and Liam Hendriks each worked a scoreless inning in relief. Hendriks earned his 14th save in 16 chances.

It was good to see Marshall collect two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 eighth inning. The Sox need either Marshall or Codi Heuer to step up in high-leverage relief in the seventh and eighth innings. In this game, Marshall got it done, as he made quick work of the top three hitters in the Detroit batting order.

Heading into Friday's action, the Sox are 34-22 and have a three-game lead over the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central. Thursday's game was the first of four against Detroit.

Shane Bieber is just a little bit better than Lucas Giolito

Shane Bieber

The heavyweight pitching matchup lived up to the hype. Neither Cleveland Indians ace Shane Bieber nor White Sox ace Lucas Giolito gave up a run Tuesday night.

These two high-end pitchers have matched up three times since the start of the 2020 season. All three times, Cleveland has won, and Bieber came away with a 2-0, 10-inning victory in this latest showdown.

Here are the final lines for both pitchers:

Bieber: 9 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 11 Ks, 1 BB, 113 pitches, 85 strikes

Giolito: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 8 Ks, 2 BBs, 107 pitches, 75 strikes

Nothing against Giolito, who is a strong pitcher for the Sox, and he was excellent in this game. However, while Giolito is a top-10 pitcher in the American League, Bieber might be the very best.

The Cleveland right-hander was absolutely dominant through eight innings. He allowed only three men to reach base, and not a single Sox base runner reached second until the bottom of the ninth. And, he was efficient with his pitches -- I believe he only had 67 pitches through six innings. That's how you hang around through the ninth.

Bieber was not vulnerable until the ninth. With the score still 0-0, Adam Eaton singled with one out, and Jose Abreu walked with two outs. That put runners on first and second for Yoan Moncada, who had a chance to win the game, but he struck out swinging, flailing helplessly at Bieber's knuckle curve.

That ended Bieber's night, and when Cleveland scored two in the 10th, he got the win.

As for Giolito, he was strong through seven, but with his pitch count elevated, he walked Roberto Perez to lead off the top of the eighth, and his night was over.

Evan Marshall was effective for the second straight night, stranding that inherited runner and retiring all three men he faced in the eighth. Liam Hendriks also did his job for the Sox, working a 1-2-3 top of the ninth.

But when extra innings began, the Sox had already used two of their best relievers, because Giolito didn't go as deep in the game as Bieber.

Garrett Crochet (0-2) came out to work the 10th, and with his diminished velocity, he was bad. He couldn't field his position. We all know the man-on-second-to-start-the-inning rule was in effect, and Crochet flubbed a comebacker off the bat of Josh Naylor. Just like that, Cleveland had runners on the corners, and there was real trouble coming.

After Yu Chang flew out to shallow right, Roberto Perez had an RBI infield single, and Amed Rosario added an RBI double to make it 2-0 Cleveland.

It could have been worse. The Indians had runners at second and third with only one out when Matt Foster relieved Crochet. The Sox right-hander stranded those runners to give his team a fighting chance.

Moncada started the inning as the automatic runner at second base, and he would not score. Nick Williams, batting in the fifth spot for some reason, struck out against James Karinchak. Yasmani Grandal grounded out, and Jake Lamb flew out to the wall in right field, narrowly missing a game-tying homer, to end the game.

Tough loss for the Sox, who are 5-6, but have yet to have a starting pitcher suffer a loss. In the 60-game 2020 season, the Sox bullpen took 10 losses. In the first 11 games of 2021, the Sox bullpen has lost six times.

I'm thinking maybe they should use a more veteran guy when they get to extra innings. Crochet has been called on in that situation twice. The rookie has lost twice.

Evan Marshall stabilizes White Sox bullpen by escaping sixth-inning jam

Evan Marshall

The White Sox scored a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-3, on Monday night. The run was scored on a throwing error, and the Sox will take it, but the most importance sequence of the game came in the top of the sixth inning.

The Sox were leading, 3-2, when starter Dallas Keuchel fell apart. He walked the No. 9 hitter to start the inning, then gave up a single and a walk to load the bases with nobody out.

Worse, Cleveland's best player, Jose Ramirez, was the next batter up. If you're playing the Indians, you want to avoid putting yourself in a situation where Ramirez can hurt you. This was the opposite of that. Keuchel boxed the Sox into a corner where they had no choice but to pitch to Ramirez.

Manager Tony La Russa summoned Evan Marshall from the bullpen. Marshall had struggled in his previous outings this season, but he did a masterful job in this case against the 3-4-5 hitters in the Cleveland batting order.

After falling behind 2-0 on Ramirez, he rallied to strike him out on a fastball up and out of the zone. Franmil Reyes managed a sacrifice fly to tie the game, and then Eddie Rosario -- who had homered earlier off Keuchel -- flied out weakly to left field for the third out.

You could not have asked for better from Marshall in that sequence. Sure, the lead was lost, but given the hitters that were due up, only one inherited runner scoring out of bases-loaded, no-outs situation is excellent work.

Marshall, Aaron Bummer and Codi Heuer kept the Indians off the board the last three innings. Heuer worked 2.1 innings, retiring seven of the eight batters he faced with four strikeouts. He earned the win.

The Sox offense failed to score after loading the bases with no outs in the sixth, after Yermin Mercedes struck out and Yasmani Grandal hit into a 3-6-1 double play.

But, those two players redeemed themselves in the ninth. Mercedes reached on an infield single with one out. Grandal walked, advancing pinch runner Nick Madrigal to second base.

Nick Williams followed with a chopper to Cleveland first baseman Yu Chang, who tried to get Grandal at second for the force. But, his errant throw hit Grandal in the helmet and bounded away. Madrigal raced around third to score the winning run on the play.

The Sox broke a six-game losing streak against the Indians dating back to last season, and evened their season record at 5-5. The Indians are now 5-4.

Should be an interesting game Tuesday night, with Sox ace Lucas Giolito going up against the reigning Cy Young award winner in the American League, Cleveland's Shane Bieber.

Remember when we thought the White Sox bullpen was a strength?

Liam Hendriks

So, the White Sox are 4-5 after nine games. Not good, not terrible, just kind of middling.

And if I'm being honest, mediocrity was my expectation for the season. I had this team going 86-76 -- before the Eloy Jimenez injury -- so now I'm thinking 83-79.

But the shape of this 4-5 start has been interesting. The Sox haven't lost in a normal way yet. It's been a bunch of bullpen meltdowns, and that's the surprising part. You would have thought the bullpen would be a strength, with the investment in Liam Hendriks, the return of a healthy Aaron Bummer, plus Michael Kopech and Garrett Crochet.

First off, let's absolve Kopech of any blame. He's been awesome. In Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals, he retired all seven batters he faced. So far this season, Kopech has worked 6.1 innings in three appearances. He hasn't given up a run. In fact, he's only given up one hit. Just terrific.

Too bad everyone else sucks, including Hendriks, who gave up a game-tying home run to Carlos Santana in the ninth Sunday. The Royals scored the winning run in the 10th on a throwing error by Crochet. Not terrific.

All five of those losses have been credited to relievers. We've seen one blown lead in the ninth (Hendriks), two blown leads in the eighth (Bummer, Evan Marshall), a seven-run meltdown in a sixth inning that turned a 4-1 lead into an 8-4 loss (Matt Foster), and a game that was tied in the ninth turn into a three-run loss (Foster).

In each of the Sox's four victories, they took at least a six-run lead into the ninth inning. You can't expect to blow teams out every day. Sooner or later, you have to lock up one- and two-run leads and win these close games.

Those games are the difference between 90 wins and 80 wins, or, say, 86 wins and 76 wins, as the case may be with this group.

White Sox, Evan Marshall agree on one-year contract, avoiding arbitration

Evan Marshall

Holiday weekend roster news: Right-handed relief pitcher Evan Marshall and the White Sox agreed on a one-year, $2 million contract, avoiding arbitration.

Marshall has worked out of the Sox's bullpen the past two seasons, and they've pretty much been the two best years of his career. Combining his 2019 and 2020 numbers, Marshall has gone 6-3 with a 2.45 ERA in 78 appearances.

The 30-year-old struck out a career-best 11.9 batters per nine innings in 2020 and limited opponents to a .198 batting average. Thanks to Marshall's outstanding changeup, left-handed batters managed only five hits in 42 at-bats against him last season.

The Sox have now signed three of their five arbitration-eligible players: Marshall, Adam Engel and Jace Fry. The remaining two are starting pitchers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez.

The bullpen is one area of the Sox's roster that figures to be stable going into the 2021 season. Here's the projected relief corps right now:

Right-handers: Marshall, Codi Heuer, Jimmy Cordero, Matt Foster

Left-handers: Fry, Aaron Bummer, Garrett Crochet

That's seven guys out of a projected eight-man bullpen. Alex Colome remains a free agent. You figure the Sox will add one more veteran relief arm this offseason, whether it's bringing back Colome or signing someone else.

White Sox non-tender Carlos Rodon, Nomar Mazara

Carlos Rodon

Teams had to decide which arbitration-eligible players to offer contracts to by 7 p.m. Wednesday. Right fielder Nomar Mazara and pitcher Carlos Rodon will not be receiving offers from the White Sox, according to a post on the team's Twitter account.

The Sox also announced that left-handed relief pitcher Jace Fry avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $862,500 contract. All other unsigned players on the 40-man roster were tendered contracts.

This means that pitchers Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Evan Marshall, and outfielder Adam Engel, have received contract offers from the Sox. 

Mazara and Rodon become free agents, meaning the Sox's 40-man roster now stands at 38 players.

The subtractions of both Mazara and Rodon were expected. Mazara was projected to receive about $6 million in arbitration, an unacceptably high salary for a supposed power hitter who slugged .294 during the 2020 season and managed only one home run in 149 plate appearances. 

Mazara's 2020 OPS of .589 was, umm, slightly below his previous career low of .745. The Sox apparently thought they could unlock Mazara's talent when they acquired him from Texas last offseason. Instead, they found out why the Rangers were willing to give up on him. Mazara turned out to be not even as good as he was in Texas, where he was profoundly mediocre.

Rodon, the team's first-round pick in 2014, simply cannot stay healthy. 

Here are Rodon's innings totals over the past four seasons: 69.1, 120.2, 34.2 and 7.2.

Here are Rodon's ERAs over the past four seasons: 4.15, 4.18, 5.19, 8.22.

Rodon's projected arbitration number is $4.5 million. Given the lack of innings, the injuries and the declining performance, there are better ways to spend $4.5 million -- especially during these financially challenging times associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sox general manager Rick Hahn said the team will stay "in contact" with both Mazara and Rodon, leaving open the possibility that they could be brought back for lesser money.

Frankly, I'd move on from Mazara no matter what. Rodon, I'd be willing to give him a minor-league deal, look at him in spring training and see if he can be turned into a reliever, but I wouldn't consider him for a job in the starting rotation. If Rodon still wants to be a starting pitcher, I'd shake his hand and wish him luck elsewhere. It's time for the Sox to move on.

Among the players tendered contracts by the Sox, Lopez was the only question mark. Giolito, Marshall and Engel all did their jobs in 2020 and earned their offers.

Lopez struggled with injuries and underperformance. He made only eight starts and went 1-3 with a 6.49 ERA. However, his projected arbitration number is only $2 million, and his upside is still greater than a lot of the mediocre retreads you'll find on the free agent market this offseason.

Given the price and the overall landscape, it's not a bad play to see if new pitching coach Ethan Katz has an answer to get Lopez on track. If it doesn't work out in 2021, then it will be time to move on from Lopez, as well, but I'm willing to give him one more kick at the can. Apparently, so are the Sox.

White Sox tumble to No. 7 seed, will play Oakland in first round

Luis Robert

2-6. 

That's all the White Sox needed to do in their last eight games in order to secure an American League Central Division championship.

Of course, they went 1-7. 

The Minnesota Twins are the division champions with a record of 36-24. They have the No. 3 seed in the AL playoffs and will get a favorable matchup against the sixth-seeded Houston Astros (29-31).

That spot could have belonged to the Sox, but they lost to the Cubs, 10-8, on Sunday and finished tied with the Cleveland Indians for second place. Both Chicago and Cleveland are 35-25, one game behind the Twins in the division.

The Indians hold the tiebreaker over the Sox by virtue of their 8-2 record in head-to-head matchups, so they get the 4 seed as the top second-place team and will host the No. 5 seed New York Yankees.

Come to think of it, I don't envy the Indians, because New York is probably better than its 33-27 record indicates.

That leaves the No. 7 seed for the Sox, and they will go on the road to face the No. 2 seed Oakland Athletics. The best-of-three series starts Tuesday night. The A's (36-24) are the only winning team in the AL West, and they coasted to the division title by seven games over Houston.

It was a real ugly finish for the Sox. After getting swept in Cleveland, they lost 10-0 to the Cubs on Friday. The Sox won, 9-5, on Saturday, but they fell behind 10-1 on Sunday before a furious rally in the last two innings to make the game look more competitive than it actually was.

However, what's done is done, and the Sox have to look ahead to Oakland. A few positives:

• Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel were both effective in their last starts of the season, and after taking the weekend against the Cubs off, they should be rested and ready for Games 1 and 2.
• Aaron Bummer and Evan Marshall are healthy, fortifying the Sox's bullpen.
• Rookie Garrett Crochet is unscored upon through the first six innings of his pro career. He tossed two scoreless innings in the win Saturday.
• With Bummer, Marshall, Crochet, Matt Foster, Codi Heuer and Alex Colome all healthy and ready, the Sox have SIX relievers they can use in high-leverage spots. This weekend, the Cubs scored ZERO runs against those six men. That's saying something, given that the Cubs scored 25 runs in the series.
• The Cubs did the Sox a favor by blowing up Reynaldo Lopez on Sunday. The right-hander allowed six runs in 1.1. innings, showing that he is not qualified to make a playoff start for the Sox. It's better that we all discover that now than, say, next Thursday in a winner-take-all Game 3 against the A's.
• Luis Robert went 5 for 11 against the Cubs, showing signs that he's breaking out of an extended slump.
• Yoan Moncada, too. He was 3 for 8 with homer and two walks in his past two games.
• Even after being held hitless Sunday, Jose Abreu is still as good as he's ever been. His bases-loaded double put the Sox ahead to stay Saturday night. He totaled 60 RBIs in a 60-game season. He had 19 homers, a .317 average and a .987 OPS.

That's what we got. I think the Sox have two good starting pitchers and six good relief pitchers. As long as that group of eight does most of the pitching, the Sox should at least have a puncher's chance of upsetting the A's.

White Sox manager Rick Renteria is burning up his bullpen unnecessarily

Rick Renteria

The White Sox entered Tuesday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 99.6% chance of qualifying for the postseason.

So why is manager Rick Renteria treating every game as if it is the seventh game of the World Series?

The Sox lost, 5-4, to the last-place Pirates, but the way they got there was more concerning than the loss itself. Was it really necessary to burn through five relief pitchers to try to win this game? Not in my world.

Starter Dylan Cease got a quick hook after throwing only 79 pitches. He took a 3-2 lead into the sixth inning, and he gave up a leadoff single. That would be all. Not sure why.

Codi Heuer, pitching for the third time in the past five days, was able to finish the inning without giving up the lead.

Enter Matt Foster, who worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning. Foster was pitching for "only" the third time in the past six days, so I thought he might have another inning in him.

Nah.

Renteria needed to go to Evan Marshall, who was pitching for the fourth time in the past five games, for the eighth inning. Marshall gave up two runs to surrender a 4-2 lead and couldn't finish the inning. Ross Detwiler entered and managed to strand the go-ahead run on third base.

But Detwiler gave up two singles to start the bottom of the ninth. Enter Jimmy Cordero, who has appeared NINE TIMES in the past 12 games. A passed ball, an intentional walk and an error later, the Sox were in the loss column.

Good thing Renteria pulled Cease early to make sure the Sox won this one, huh?

The Sox have played 42 games, and Cordero has already made 21 appearances. Marshall has pitched 20 times, and Steve Cishek has pitched 18 times. All three of these men have more appearances than they do innings pitched.

And that doesn't even get into the 40-pitch outing Alex Colome had in Friday's win over Kansas City. Colome was then asked to save the game Saturday night, too, which he did, but at some point he might wear out as well.

Would it kill Renteria to let guys pitch more than one inning? Would it kill him to let a young pitcher like Cease work his way out of his own trouble for once?

The Sox are in really good shape to make the playoffs. But will the bullpen have anything left for October with this kind of usage, or overusage, as the case may be?

Forget about October. Who is going to pitch in relief Wednesday? Probably at least one or two guys who pitched Tuesday night, and that's a problem.

It's time for Renteria to back off the throttle a little bit. He's got to stop micromanaging so much, even if it means losing a few more games.

White Sox avoid arbitration with five players

Alex Colome

The White Sox on Friday announced that they reached agreements with each of their remaining five arbitration-eligible players. Here's how the contracts break down for the 2020 season:

RHP Alex Colome: $10,532,500
RF Nomar Mazara: $5.56M
LHP Carlos Rodon: $4.45M
UTIL Leury Garcia: $3.25M
RHP Evan Marshall: $1.1M

It's always good to avoid going to court with arbitration-eligible players. Those hearings are never fun, because they require the club to highlight why a player isn't worth the money he's asking for. That creates animosity and bad feelings that can last throughout a season.

So, it's just best to come to an agreeable number and move forward. That's what the Sox have done with these five players.

Encarnacion deal becomes official

The Sox also officially announced the signing of veteran designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion to a one-year, $12 million contract.

One other note on Encarnacion: According to the latest addition of Baseball Digest, he hit the second-most home runs of any Major League player during the decade spanning 2010-19 with 335. Only Nelson Cruz (346 home runs), currently with the Minnesota Twins, hit more.

Encarnacion also ranked third over the past decade with 956 RBIs. Albert Pujols of the Los Angeles Angels led all hitters with 963 RBIs, while Cruz ranked second with 961.

Hopefully, the 37-year-old Encarnacion still has some homers and RBIs left in him.

Medeiros outrighted

To make room on the roster for Encarnacion, the Sox designated left-handed pitcher Kodi Medeiros for assignment. Medeiros was acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers in the middle of the 2018 season in exchange for reliever Joakim Soria.

Medeiros cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Charlotte.

The Sox's 40-man roster is at maximum capacity, and someone else will have to be dropped when the signing of relief pitcher Steve Cishek becomes official.

White Sox sign relief pitcher Steve Cishek to one-year deal

Steve Cishek

The White Sox on Tuesday moved to increase their bullpen depth by signing veteran relief pitcher Steve Cishek to a one-year, $6 million contract.

Cishek, 33, will earn $5.25 million in 2020. The deal includes an option for 2021 worth $6.75 million, with a $750,000 buyout -- thus the $6 million guaranteed.

The right-hander spent the past two seasons with the Cubs. He appeared in 70 games in 2019, going 4-6 with a 2.95 ERA and seven saves. He struck out 57 and walked 29 with a 1.203 WHIP over 64 innings pitched.

Let's discuss the pluses and minuses of this signing in 3-up, 3-down format.

3 up

1. An ERA below 3.00 for four consecutive seasons. That 2.95 ERA in 2019 represents the *worst* season Cishek has had in recent memory. Over the past four years, his ERAs have been 2.81, 2.01, 2.18 and 2.95, respectively. Even if he regresses, he has a higher floor that some of the other candidates for the Sox bullpen, such as Carson Fulmer and Jose Ruiz.

2. Experience. Cishek is a veteran of 10 MLB seasons, and he's appeared in 572 games. His career ERA is 2.69, and while he likely won't be asked to close for the Sox, he has 132 saves lifetime. This is somebody who has been in his share of high-leverage situations. There's no reason he can't be placed in a seventh- or eighth-inning role.

3. Rubber arm. Cishek appeared in 150 games over the past two seasons, including a ridiculous 80 appearances in 2018. He's pitched in 60 or more games six times during his career. That reliability has to be respected.

3 down

1. A declining strikeout rate. Cishek struck out 10.0 batters per nine innings with the Cubs in 2018, but that declined to 8.0 batters per nine innings last season. His career mark is 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings, so he performed below his norms in 2019. There may be a little less swing-and-miss in his game going forward.

2. Overuse. I don't care who you are, 150 appearances is a ton over two years. In a way, it's a testament to Cishek that his former manager, Joe Maddon, trusted him that often. But sooner or later, that kind of usage has to take its toll. Perhaps that concern is among the reasons Cishek is only getting one year guaranteed on the open market.

3. An increasing home run rate. Cishek gave up 1.0 home runs per nine innings in 2019, which was the second-highest rate of his career. His career mark is 0.6 home runs per nine innings, which is the exact figure he was at during the 2018 season. Of course, to be fair, the ball was juiced last summer, so a lot of pitchers around the league saw an increase in their home run rate.

With the addition of Cishek, I think we can take a good guess at seven of the eight spots in the Sox bullpen. Here's how it most likely looks today:

Left-handers: Aaron Bummer, Jace Fry
Right-handers: Alex Colome, Kelvin Herrera, Cishek, Evan Marshall, Jimmy Cordero, ??????

Here are some candidates to fill in those question marks: Fulmer, Ruiz, Dylan Covey, Zack Burdi, Matt Foster and Ian Hamilton.

White Sox sign James McCann to one-year deal, clear more roster space

James McCann

The White Sox on Monday agreed to terms with catcher James McCann on a one-year, $5.4 million contract.

McCann, 29, had the best season of his career with the Sox in 2019. He batted .273/.328/.460 with 26 doubles, 18 home runs, 60 RBIs and 62 runs scored in 118 games. McCann made the All-Star Game for the first time in his career, and Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito credited McCann's leadership and game preparation in helping him have a breakout season on the mound.

While McCann played well, that didn't stop Sox management from signing Yasmani Grandal to a four-year, $73 million contract last month. With the addition of Grandal, the Sox are guarding against any regression that McCann may have in 2020 -- McCann is a lifetime .247/.328/.460 batter.

With this move, you figure the Sox are set at catcher. For the first time in a long time, they have two competent players ready to man the position.

McCann will become a free agent when the 2020 season ends.

Here are the tender/non-tender decisions

The Sox on Monday also tendered contracts to utility player Leury Garcia and pitchers Carlos Rodon, Alex Colome and Evan Marshall.

Second baseman Yolmer Sanchez and pitchers Caleb Frare and Ryan Burr were non-tendered. Pitcher Thyago Vieira was granted his release, so that he can pursue an opportunity to play in Japan.

These moves reduce the Sox's roster from 40 to 36, and hopefully, a couple of those spots will be used on free agent starting pitchers in the weeks to come.

When you have five relievers, you have no relievers

In a different sport, commentators sometimes say, "When you have two quarterbacks, you really have no quarterbacks." The thinking is, if either of your quarterbacks were actually good, he would be playing, and the lesser guy would be sitting on the bench. There wouldn't be a need to toggle back and forth between players.

Likewise, if the White Sox had a reliever available they could trust Sunday, maybe they wouldn't have needed to use five of them in the eighth inning of a ghastly 11-10 loss to the Seattle Mariners.

You see, the Sox's reliable relievers -- Alex Colome, Aaron Bummer and, to a lesser extent, Evan Marshall -- were not available Sunday.

That left the rest of the bullpen to protect a 10-5 lead in the eighth inning. It should have been doable. Hector Santiago had done much of the heavy lifting. He replaced a struggling Ivan Nova in the fourth inning, and he tossed up zeroes in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

But Santiago tired in the eighth, allowing a two singles and a walk to start the inning. But the veteran lefty left the mound with the Sox still in decent shape, leading 10-6.

Unfortunately, Kelvin Herrera gave up a three-run homer to Kyle Lewis. 10-9. Then Jace Fry came in and walked the only batter he faced. (Surprise, surprise.) Then Jimmy Cordero faced one batter and struck him out.

Maybe Cordero should have been left in ... nah, why do that when we can go with some more stupid lefty-righty matchups?

Josh Osich entered and finished the eighth inning, but not before walking another batter and surrendering a game-tying single to Mallex Smith. The lefty-on-lefty stuff didn't work there, did it? 10-10 after eight.

The Sox had a pathetic offensive inning in the top of the ninth. Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada and Jose Abreu all swung for the fences. All of them struck out on pitches out of the zone against Austin Adams (2-2). Great discipline, guys.

Jose Ruiz (1-3) became the sixth reliever used in less than two innings in the ninth. Long story short, Anderson and Ryan Cordell made defensive mistakes behind him, an intentional walk was issued to load the bases, and then Ruiz walked in the winning run.

Good job, good effort.

The Sox dropped two out of three in the weekend series to the mighty Mariners (62-88). That means the South Siders have now lost three consecutive series, all to losing teams -- the Angels, Royals and Mariners.

And we're told we should be excited about 2020. Well, you know, you have to have more than four people who can get opposing batters out on your pitching staff in order to contend.

The Sox are now 65-84 on the season. There's a ton of work to be done over the winter to get anywhere near contention, and team brass has no track record as far as signing the right free agents.

They will have to sign the right free agents, because there are no internal solutions here. Colome and Bummer have had good seasons, but two pitchers does not make a bullpen.

White Sox take three out of four from Texas Rangers

Yoan Moncada

The White Sox need two victories this week to clinch a winning month, as they improved to 14-11 in August by taking three games out of four from the Texas Rangers over the weekend at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The series featured Yoan Moncada's return to the Sox lineup -- and effective starting pitching from Sox hurlers not named Lucas Giolito, whose turn in the rotation did not come up.

The Sox (60-70) will have an off day Monday before continuing the homestand Tuesday, when they open a three-game series against the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins. But here's a look back at the Texas series:

Thursday, Aug. 22
White Sox 6, Rangers 1: Moncada rejoined the Sox and went 2 for 4 with a two-run homer and a double. The home run highlighted a four-run third inning, which also featured a solo shot by James McCann and a RBI single by Tim Anderson.

Left-hander Ross Detwiler (2-3) had his best outing as a member of the Sox, if not the best outing of his career. He struck out a career-high eight over six innings, allowing only one run on three hits. He did not walk a batter. Sox relievers Jimmy Cordero and Kelvin Herrera combined for three innings of hitless, scoreless relief.

It was a weird night for Texas starter Ariel Jurado (6-10), who tossed a complete game but also got knocked around for six runs on 10 hits.

Friday, Aug. 23
White Sox 8, Rangers 3: Will we look back on this as the night when Dylan Cease turned the corner? We can only hope. Cease (3-6) got off to a terrible start, giving up a 3-run homer to Willie Calhoun in the first inning. But the Sox rookie gave up nothing after that. He pitched six innings, striking out nine and walking only one.

The Sox got to Lance Lynn (14-9), who has been one of the better pitchers in the league -- just not on this night. Lynn surrendered seven runs on 11 hits over 5.2 innings. He did strike out 10, but he took the loss.

Moncada once again was 2 for 4 with a two-run homer and a double. Anderson, Leury Garcia and Jon Jay also had multi-hit games. Eight of the nine players in the Sox lineup had at least one hit.

The Sox bullpen, again, was spotless over three innings. Evan Marshall, Aaron Bummer and Alex Colome combined for four strikeouts and no hits or walks allowed.

Saturday, Aug. 24
Rangers 4, White Sox 0: This is the Sox, so there has got to be one clunker in every bunch, right?

Sox starter Ivan Nova (9-10) cruised through five innings, but Anderson booted a grounder off the bat of Elvis Andrus with one out in the sixth, and moments later, Calhoun homered into the right-field stands to put the Rangers up 2-0. Danny Santana added a two-run homer off Cordero in the seventh, and that was that.

The Sox managed eight hits off Kolby Allard (2-0) and two Texas relievers, but seven of them were singles. Ryan Goins doubled with two outs in the ninth for the Sox's lone extra-base hit of the game.

Sox batters finished 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

Sunday, Aug. 25
White Sox 2, Rangers 0: It's too bad Reynaldo Lopez (8-11) had to leave this game after five innings with dehydration and flu-like symptoms. He allowed no hits and struck out six while tossing 80 pitches during his outing.

Fortunately, the Sox bullpen covered four innings and finished off a one-hitter. Bummer, Marshall, Jace Fry and Colome each worked a scoreless inning, with Colome earning his 25th save in 26 chances.

Jose Abreu reached 100 RBIs for the fifth time in his six seasons with the Sox. He knocked in both Chicago runs, one with an RBI single in the third, and the other on a fielder's choice in the seventh.

Sox batters couldn't do much with Texas rookie left-hander Brock Burke (0-1), who allowed only one run over six innings. But much like Nova on Saturday night, Burke forgot to throw a shutout and ended up getting beat.

Kelvin Herrera: Quietly a bad offseason acquisition

Kelvin Herrera

Throughout the years, it feels as though the White Sox have had trouble getting much out of veterans they acquire in trades or sign as free agents during the offseason.

This year's crop of veterans is a mixed bag. Catcher James McCann looked like a poor signing at the time it was made, but McCann has surprised with an All-Star-caliber season. Alex Colome, acquired from the Seattle Mariners in a trade for catcher Omar Narvaez, has been a success. He's converted all 16 of his save opportunities entering Tuesday's play.

All that said, Yonder Alonso and Ivan Nova have been unqualified disasters. Fans are calling for Alonso to be designated for assignment, and based upon his .579 OPS as a first baseman and a designated hitter, rightfully so. People are unhappy with Nova, but they generally realize the team is stuck with him because injuries and poor performance have eroded what little starting pitching depth existed in the organization coming into the season.

The horrible play by Alonso and Nova has obscured what has been a disappointing season for right-handed reliever Kelvin Herrera, who signed a two-year, $18 million contract with the Sox as a free agent this past offseason.

Herrera was coming off a foot injury, so there was some risk in the signing. But hey, it wasn't an arm injury, and Herrera is only 29. He's got a World Series ring from the Kansas City Royals on his finger, and he was an integral part of the bullpen on some successful Royals teams.

There was no reason to believe that signing would be a disaster, but it hasn't been good. Herrera coughed up the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning Monday in a game the Sox eventually lost to Boston, 6-5. Herrera was summoned to protect a 5-4 lead and couldn't hold it.

This is the continuation of a trend we've seen since May 1. Perhaps Herrera has escaped some criticism because he had a good month of April. Sometimes, first impressions are lasting impressions. However, things have gone to hell since that point. Check out his monthly splits:

April: 0-0, 2.51 ERA in 14 games, 0.977 WHIP
May: 2-3, 17.18 ERA in 9 games, 3.136 WHIP
June: 1-0, 4.91 ERA in 9 games, 1.500 WHIP

Add it all up, and Herrera is 3-3 with a 6.83 ERA. He's allowing 11.5 hits per nine innings and has a 1.655 WHIP, which is terrible for a short reliever. Those June numbers are mediocre, I suppose, and they represent a bit of a bounce back from an atrocious May. But I don't think Herrera has earned the right to be trusted in the eighth inning, on the road, in a one-run game, against a quality lineup such as the Red Sox.

Right now, Sox manager Rick Renteria is going to have to ride right-hander Evan Marshall and left-hander Aaron Bummer in the setup roles for Colome. If one or both of those guys aren't available, the Sox need to turn to ... gulp ... Juan Minaya for the time being. He's the next best reliever on the Sox, with his 2.42 ERA and 1.299 WHIP.

Colome and Herrera both have a year of team control after this season. If you're thinking trade, somebody's going to want Colome. The Sox are likely stuck with Herrera for next season. It's unlikely has value will be recouped before the July 31 trade deadline.