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.

Winter Meetings Day 3: Some thoughts on the signings

Aaron Judge

Some thoughts on the signings that occurred on the third and final day of the Winter Meetings:

Aaron Judge, N.Y. Yankees, nine years, $360 million. The reigning American League MVP chose to stay in New York, turning down offers from San Diego and San Francisco, according to reports. I saw one report that said the Padres were willing to go 10 years, $400 million, but ultimately, Judge wanted to remain a Yankee. He did carry New York to the ALCS last season. It's worth noting that Judge turns 31 years old in April. I'm sure he's got some high-level baseball left in him, but nine years? The back end of that deal is likely to be ugly, so Judge needs to help deliver at least one World Series to New York in the next four or five years. Otherwise, he could be subject to boos as a struggling, overpaid 38-year-old seven years from now. If he's a World Series champ, he'll get diplomatic immunity from the Yankees fans.

Willson Contreras, St. Louis, five years, $87.5 million. Remember the Cubs' last home game before the trade deadline? There were hugs and tears as it was presumed the veteran catcher would be traded. He was not traded. He finished the year in Chicago, and during the last home game of the season at Wrigley Field, there was yet another round of emotional, over-the-top, syrupy Cubbie goo as the faithful said goodbye to a longtime favorite. I'm guessing Contreras will get a very different reception next time he visits Wrigley, now that he'll be wearing a St. Louis Cardinals uniform. Contreras replaces Yadier Molina, who finally retired at the end of the 2022 season. This was a necessary move to fill a need by the Cardinals.

Kenley Jansen, Boston, two years, $32 million. This move created a ripple for White Sox fans, because there has been a lot of speculation that Liam Hendriks is a candidate to be traded. Now that Jansen -- an experienced, accomplished closer -- is off the free agent market, the thought is that other teams looking for a closer might be calling the Sox to ask about Hendriks. If the Sox move the veteran right-hander, his 2024 option automatically vests, and the acquiring team would owe him $29 million over the next two seasons. That's actually pretty good value in this market, so the Sox should be able to get a good return, should they be willing to part with Hendriks. The question is, if the Sox are serious about winning in 2023, why would they trade their closer? Perhaps they would fill a hole on their roster with such a trade, but they'd also be creating a hole. Can you tell I'm not on the Reynaldo Lopez for closer bandwagon?

Jose Quintana, N.Y. Mets, two years, $26 million. Good for Quintana. I've always been a fan. The veteran lefty had two seasons of injury struggles in 2020 and 2021, but he bounced back to post a 2.93 ERA in 165.2 combined innings with the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals last season. That earns him one more decent payday entering his age-34 season. I'll be interested to see who ends up providing the greater value: Quintana with the Mets or Mike Clevinger with the White Sox? 

Jameson Taillon, Cubs, four years, $68 million. I remember when only pitchers at the top of the market received contracts such as this. Now, it's the going rate for a mid-rotation starter. If you can make 30 starts and post an ERA around 4.00, you can get yourself $16 million or $17 million a season. Taillon went 14-5 with a 3.91 ERA last season with the Yankees. That was a nice year for him, and now he's cashing in. The Cubs needed to add at least one starting pitcher this offseason, so there's the fit.

Carlos Rodon returns to White Sox on one-year deal

Carlos Rodon

Carlos Rodon had a disastrous relief outing in Game 3 of the playoffs against the Oakland Athletics. The White Sox non-tendered him when the season was over, and at the time, it was reasonable to believe that Rodon had thrown his last pitch for the Sox.

Wrong. On Saturday, the Sox brought him back on a one-year, $3 million contract. 

I'm not sure what the purpose of this move is, but the Sox will probably tell us it is to bolster the depth of the starting rotation. And it's not wrong that the Sox could use more depth in that area.

You can feel pretty confident in the top three pitchers in the rotation: Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel and Lance Lynn. But then you've got the inconsistent and unproven Dylan Cease, the enigmatic Reynaldo Lopez (who was injured in 2020) and Michael Kopech -- who hasn't thrown a competitive pitch since 2018 -- competing for the other two spots.

So, yeah, it makes perfect sense to bolster the depth. But why would any person have confidence that Rodon is the answer? Here are the innings pitched totals for the oft-injured left-hander over the course of his career:

• 2015: 139.1
• 2016: 165.0
• 2017: 69.1
• 2018: 120.2
• 2019: 34.2
• 2020: 7.2

And here are Rodon's ERAs over that same period:

• 2015: 3.75
• 2016: 4.04
• 2017: 4.15
• 2018: 4.18
• 2019: 5.19
• 2020: 8.22

Rodon is getting worse and less reliable all the time. He's had surgeries on both his shoulder and his elbow during his time with the Sox, and while the quick ramp-up during the pandemic-riddled 2020 season certainly did him no favors, it's hard to give Rodon the benefit of the doubt when he's gotten injured every other year, too.

Some people have noted that Rodon's velocity returned in 2020, and that could be a reason for optimism going forward. It's not wrong to say that Rodon was consistently hitting 96 mph with his fastball the last time that we saw him. However, in his last three outings -- a meltdown against Cleveland, a game against the Cubs the last weekend of the regular season, and the aforementioned crapfest in Oakland -- Rodon threw 60 pitches and only got two swings-and-misses.

The velocity is there, but is the stuff? 

And you know, the Sox had other options for rotation depth. If they wanted to stick with somebody they know, Jose Quintana was a free agent this offseason. Sure, Quintana had injures in 2020, as well, but as recently as 2019, he made 31 starts and threw 171 innings -- two benchmarks that Rodon has never reached in his career. 

Alas, Quintana signed a one-year deal worth $8 million with the Los Angeles Angels. 

Left-hander James Paxton remains a free agent and could have been an option for the Sox. Paxton also had injury problems in 2020 that limited him to five starts. But, again, as recently as 2019, Paxton made 29 starts, won 15 games and posted a 3.82 ERA. Rodon has never made 29 starts or won 15 games in a season, and he hasn't had an ERA below 4.00 since 2015. Just sayin'.

Lastly, I don't know why the Sox didn't consider right-hander Garrett Richards, who was hurt for most of 2019, but made 10 credible starts for the San Diego Padres in 2020 -- he went 2-2 with a 4.03 ERA in 51.1 innings.

Richards signed a one-year deal worth $10 million with the Boston Red Sox.

Granted, these pitchers all cost more than the $3 million that Rodon is going to make in 2021, but the Sox tend to get what they pay for when they make these sorts of moves.

If Rodon posts 10 reasonably good starts sometime in 2021, I'd take that right now. I'll be pleasantly surprised if he does. Nothing against the guy -- I think he truly wants to get healthy and turn around the negative narrative of his career -- but in a win-now 2021 season, I can't trust him in any role with the Sox.

Eloy Jimenez's game-winning home run puts crosstown trade back in spotlight

Jose Quintana

It wasn't so much that the White Sox beat the Cubs, 3-1, on Tuesday night. It was the way the Sox beat the Cubs that provoked so much discussion.

Eloy Jimenez, the Sox left fielder and former top Cubs prospect, hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning off Pedro Strop to break a 1-1 tie. Sox closer Alex Colome worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth for his 15th save in as many chances, and that was that.

But Cubs fans are pretty unhappy about this one, with a player that their front office traded away coming back to haunt them while wearing a Sox uniform.

This result has provoked a new round of discontent about the July 13, 2017, trade that saw the Sox send left-handed pitcher Jose Quintana to the North Side in exchange for Jimenez, Dylan Cease, Bryant Flete and Matt Rose.

Cubs fans are feeling their team gave up "too much" for Quintana, whom they perceive as a bottom-of-the-rotation pitcher. I saw one comment on Facebook this morning where someone indicated the Cubs never should have made the deal because "they were not a powerhouse" in 2017.

I think this is all foolish. Quintana has helped the Cubs for the past two years. I don't think they make the playoffs, let alone the National League Championship Series, in 2017 if they don't make the trade. In case we forgot, the Cubs were 43-45 at the time of the deal. They finished that season 93-69 and won the NL Central, with Quintana going 7-3 for them in 14 starts.

Jimenez is a rookie in the major leagues, and a promising one at that. His home run last night was his 12th of the season, and we're not even halfway through the year. Cease is expected to be in the major leagues before 2019 is over. Flete and Rose are no longer in the Sox organization, so forget about them.

Did the Cubs give up too much? Maybe. It depends on the career arc of Jimenez and Cease. Both are still young, and it's not clear just how good they will be.

My assessment: The trade has helped the Cubs and is continuing to help the Cubs. The trade is starting to help the Sox and will continue to help the Sox going forward. I would have said that before Tuesday's game, and I say that now.

In baseball, you can't wildly change your assessment about players and trades based upon one game.

I disagree with the idea that Quintana is a bottom-of-the-rotation pitcher. Line up his numbers with Jon Lester's, and there isn't that much of a difference. (Worth noting, Lester is revered by Cubs fans):

Quintana in 2017: 7-3, 3.74 ERA in 14 starts, 1.103 WHIP, 10.5 K/9, 7.7 H/9, 2.2 BB/9
Lester in 2017: 13-8, 4.33 ERA in 32 starts, 1.323 WHIP, 9.0 K/9, 8.9 H/9, 3.0 BB/9

Quintana in 2018: 13-11, 4.03 ERA in 32 starts, 1.319 WHIP, 8.2 K/9, 8.4 H/9, 3.5 BB/9
Lester in 2018: 18-6, 3.32 ERA in 32 starts, 1.310 WHIP, 7.4 K/9, 8.6 H/9, 3.2 BB/9

Quintana in 2019: 4-6, 3.87 ERA in 14 starts, 1.339 WHIP, 7.7 K/9, 9.1 H/9, 2.9 BB/9
Lester in 2019: 5-5, 4.08 ERA in 13 starts, 1.344 WHIP, 8.8 K/9, 9.9 H/9, 2.2 BB/9

Look at those peripherals, folks. There isn't a big disparity here, and this isn't a small sample size. I'm not sure I understand the contempt for Quintana among many in the North Side fan base.

If Cubs management declines the team option on Quintana this offseason, I'd take him back on the South Side without a second thought. He's clearly better than Ivan Nova and Odrisamer Despaigne, you know? 

White Sox pitchers keep on walking people

Joakim Soria

The White Sox walked the leadoff hitter with a one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth inning Thursday night and got away with it.

Undeterred, they walked the leadoff hitter with a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning, too, and that time the Houston Astros made them pay, rallying for a 4-3 victory.

It capped a night full of walks by Sox pitchers. Carlos Rodon walked six over six innings, and somehow he managed to allow only two runs. Reliever Juan Minaya issued the aforementioned leadoff walk in the eighth, and closer Joakim Soria (0-3) walked two in the ninth and ended up taking the loss.

Walking opposing hitters has become a big part of the Sox's identity, and it's gotten beyond the point of frustration.

Sox pitchers lead the American League with 371 walks as a staff this season, and it's not close. Baltimore ranks a distant second with 308 walks.

This isn't a new problem either: The Sox led the American League with 632 walks issued during the 2017 season -- once again easily outdistancing the Orioles, who issued 579 walks.

Even in 2016, with Chris Sale and Jose Quintana anchoring the top of the rotation, the Sox's walk rate was too high. They were third in the league with 521 walks.

Handing out free baserunners to the opposition is not a recipe for success, especially because the Sox will never be confused with having a good defensive team. Between the walks and errors, self-inflicted wounds have contributed to most of the Sox's 57 losses this season (entering Friday's play).

I'm told that Don Cooper is one of the best pitching coaches in the game. I'm not sure I believe that bit of propaganda at this point, but if Cooper is so great, I call upon him to get the Sox pitching staff back in the strike zone with more frequency.

At the very least, the Sox need to make the opposition earn it more often.

Grinder Bash 2018 at Guaranteed Rate Field -- let's visit the home clubhouse

Grinder Bash, the White Sox's annual party for season-ticket holders, was sparsely attended Saturday, perhaps because this rebuilding team doesn't have many season-ticket holders anymore.

That's fine. More room for us, and for the first time (at least in the years I've attended this event), fans had access to the home clubhouse.

You can see Yoan Moncada's locker right behind me, near the front of the clubhouse. Not surprisingly, Moncada's locker is between those of Hector Santiago and Jose Abreu, whose locker is just out of frame to the right. The Sox obviously want Moncada hanging around a couple of the veteran Latino players who have been there and done that. Let's hope for the sake of the Sox's rebuild that young Yoan gets it going soon. His batting average is down to .221 entering Monday's play; his on-base percentage is down to .289.

Danny Farquhar's locker remain full and intact, even though he hasn't been around the team as much since suffering a life-threatening brain aneurysm during a game April 20 at Guaranteed Rate Field. Notably, Farquhar has a signed Frank Thomas jersey hanging in his locker. That's a pretty cool piece of memorabilia to have. I think the entire baseball community, not just the White Sox organization and its fans, wishes Farquhar well as he continues to recover from one of the scariest situations I've seen happen at a major league ballpark.

I probably found this funnier than it really is, but I got a kick out of seeing a suitcase in Juan Minaya's locker. This guy has been up and down between the Sox and Triple-A Charlotte all season, and I can't help but wonder if that suitcase is there just in case he gets another tap on the shoulder and another plane ticket to North Carolina. Well, actually, with the way Bruce Rondon has been pitching lately, perhaps Minaya's roster spot is safer than it's been at other points during the season.

Off in the corner, here is James Shields' locker. He has nobody to his left, and nobody to his right. Has he really earned all that personal space? Yeah, he's a veteran and all, but his record is 3-9. In the past, perhaps this roomy part of the clubhouse might have belonged to an accomplished Sox player such as, say, Paul Konerko. It seems as though Shields is the guy who currently gets the royal treatment, deserving or not. Or, perhaps they just make him sit in the corner for not being very good at pitching at this stage of his career.

Here's the view from behind home plate. If you ever want to feel small, go down on the field at a major league stadium on a non-game day when the ballpark is empty. You never realize just how big a place it is until you're down at field level.

One other interesting little note: On the wall in the Sox bullpen, the relief corps keeps track of the number of calls received from the dugout. During the 2017 season, there were 888 calls made to the bullpen during the 81 home games. It looks as though the Sox are on pace to exceed that total this season. So far, 502 calls have been made to the bullpen through 43 home games. That's an average of about 11.6 a game. That puts the Sox on pace for 945.6 calls over an 81-game period. Yes, these are rough days. By way of comparison, the calls during the 2013 season only numbered in the 400s. The 2013 Sox were a bad club -- 99 losses -- but starting pitching was the strength: Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, Jake Peavy, the pre-injury Santiago, etc. These days, starting pitching is a weakness, and the bullpen is busy.

The other great thing about Grinder Bash: Free food and drinks, including beer, for those who choose to partake. As I said, the season-ticket base for the Sox is fewer in number than it has ever been, and those of us who have chosen to stick it out through this rebuild have earned a perk such as this.

When all is said and done, it might be one of the more enjoyable days at the ballpark in 2018. After all, we weren't walking back to our cars after a White Sox loss, which has so often been the case during this most trying of seasons.

White Sox add Eloy Jimenez, four others to 40-man roster

Eloy Jimenez

The White Sox on Monday added five prospects to their 40-man roster ahead of the deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 draft.

Among them, of course, is Eloy Jimenez, the prized outfield prospect the Sox acquired in the Jose Quintana deal. The other four additions are first baseman Casey Gillaspie, pitcher Ian Clarkin and outfielders Micker Adolfo and Luis Alexander Basabe.

To make room on the roster, the Sox outrighted right-handed pitchers Chris Beck and Tyler Danish.

I say good riddance to Beck. I'm not a fan; he always reminded me of Mike MacDougal, and he had the 6.40 ERA over 65 innings with the Sox in 2017 to prove it. I won't rehash why I can't stand Beck, because I've made those points before, so I might as well just provide a link.

Danish struggled as a starter in Triple-A Charlotte this year, and he was in a car crash right at the end of the season that injured his non-throwing shoulder. He seems to be slipping down the organizational depth chart more and more with each passing day.

The Sox's roster is now at 39 players. It's a little bit surprising that neither left-handed pitcher Jordan Guerrero nor infield Jake Peter were added to the roster. Both are midtier prospects that are close to major-league ready, and both could be enticing to teams looking to raid some of the Sox's organizational depth in the Rule 5 draft.

White Sox reliever Nate Jones done for the season

Nate Jones

Lost amid all the Jose Quintana trade discussions Thursday was this bit of news: White Sox reliever Nate Jones will miss the rest of the 2017 season after having elbow surgery earlier this week.

Jones is arguably the Sox's best reliever, so this is a big loss. The right-hander was one of the top setup men in the game last season, when he went 5-3 with a 2.71 ERA, 0.892 WHIP and 80 strikeouts over 70.2 innings covering 71 appearances.

The elbow injury, which required nerve repositioning surgery (!?), limited Jones to 11 appearances this season. He hasn't pitched since April 28.

This makes three relief pitchers from the 2015-16 Sox bullpen who are out for the season after elbow surgeries. Zach Putnam and Zach Duke, who is now with the St. Louis Cardinals organization, are the other two. A fourth reliever, Jake Petricka, is on the disabled list with a strained right elbow. I hate to speculate, but I will anyway: You can't help but wonder if Petricka is the next guy on his way to the operating table.

I never agreed with the way former Sox manager Robin Ventura used his bullpen. He was beholden to lefty-righty matchups. He ran his guys into the ground, sometimes using four or five relievers just to get through one inning.

I don't think it's a coincidence that these four men are experiencing elbow problems right now.

2017 White Sox reach season's halfway point

Jose Quintana

The White Sox took two out of three games from the Texas Rangers at Guaranteed Rate Field over the weekend, which puts their record at 36-45 at the halfway point of the season.

Projected out over the full 162 games, they would finish 72-90. That sounds about right given the preseason expectations.

I've always said the 2013 Sox are the worst team I've cheered for in my lifetime -- and that club had the 63-99 record to prove it. This year's team only needs to go 28-53 the second half to top that, and that seems doable, even though some productive veterans are likely to be traded before July is over.

That said, this season has a more painful feel to it than that 2013 campaign, and I think I've finally put my finger on why: The losses this season are as ugly as they come. Perhaps they aren't frequent as they were in 2013, but the brand of baseball is a little bit worse -- especially when it comes to pitching.

You go back and look at the numbers from 2013, and the Sox had three starting pitchers with ERAs below 4 -- Chris Sale (3.07), Jose Quintana (3.51) and Hector Santiago (3.56). The Sox also had Jake Peavy on the team for half the season before he was dealt to the Boston Red Sox, and his ERA (4.28 ERA) was no worse than league average.

So, for most of the year, the 2013 Sox had four men in their rotation who could give you a competitive outing. Now, that team couldn't hit worth a damn; they lost 99 games for a reason. But when you went to the park to watch the 2013 Sox, they would typically lose 4-1 and you'd be outta there in two and a half hours.

This year is a different scene, because starting pitching is the biggest weakness for this club. James Shields, of all people, is the only pitcher with an ERA below 4 (3.98), and he's made only six starts this season. Quintana is having a down year (4.45 ERA), and you've got retread veterans Derek Holland (4.52), Mike Pelfrey (4.13) and Miguel Gonzalez (5.15 ERA) hanging around the rotation.

A typical Sox loss this season is characterized by a short outing from a post-peak veteran starter, followed by a parade of middle relievers who struggle to throw strikes, and are lucky to be in the major leagues. By the end of the day, Sox pitchers have thrown about 200 pitches to get through nine innings, and three and a half hours later, you're walking out of the ballpark with a 10-2 loss or a 10-4 loss.

Linked are the box scores to the past two games I've personally attended. Frankly, I'd rather see some decent pitching and have the Sox get beat in a hurry than watch some of these long, drawn-out messes where five or six relievers are used.

I'm one of those fans who stays to the end no matter what, no matter how painful, so I guess the one positive to blowout losses is I can get out of the parking lot much faster when the game is over. (Most people scram early.) But, I can't say that I'm enjoying the baseball I've been seeing this year.

Here's why David Robertson has plenty of trade value

David Robertson

For all the trade talk swirling around White Sox starting pitcher Jose Quintana, it's possible closer David Robertson will be more coveted by pennant contenders when we hit July's trading deadline.

Robertson, 32, is having a good season that will mostly go unnoticed because he pitches for a losing team. The right-hander is 3-2 with a 3.20 ERA, with 11 saves in 12 opportunities, a 0.868 WHIP and 37 strikeouts in 25.1 innings.

A closer look at Robertson's numbers reveals that he's been at his best in save situations this year. Check out his splits for save situations and non-save situations:

Save situations: 1-0, 1.35 ERA, 21 Ks, 4 BBs, 13.1 IP, opponents slash of .091/.167/.182
Non-save situations: 2-2, 5.25 ERA, 16 Ks, 2 BBs, 12.0 IP, opponents slash of .217/.294/.391

The cliches about closers being much better in save situations seem to apply with Robertson this year. This thought occurred to me when I considered the two appearances Robertson has made in the past week.

He pitched Thursday in a 5-2 Sox win over the Baltimore Orioles, and he was not sharp. He entered with a 5-1 lead in the ninth -- a non-save situation -- gave up a solo home run to Welington Castillo and needed 31 pitches to navigate a laborious inning. Even though Baltimore never got the tying run to the plate, it was somewhat irritating to watch.

Contrast that with Robertson's performance Saturday, when he closed out a 5-2 Sox win over the Toronto Blue Jays. This was a save situation. Toronto's 3-4-5 hitters were due, and Robertson carved them up on 14 pitches. He got Jose Bautista to fly out, struck out Kendrys Morales swinging and struck out Justin Smoak looking.

The Blue Jays had no chance.

I realize that by writing this blog entry, I have likely ensured that Robertson will blow a save the next time he steps on the mound. But in the bigger picture, Robertson has proven this season that he can still shut the door on the opposition in high-leverage spots.

Some team out there has to want a reliever who is holding opponents to an .091 batting average in save situations, right?

Chris Sale vs. Jose Quintana: More batting practice than pitching duel

Chris Sale

The White Sox unexpectedly roughed up their former teammate, Chris Sale, on Tuesday night.

The Boston left-hander had his worst outing of the season, allowing six runs (five earned) on 10 hits with two walks. He needed 111 pitches just to get through five innings.

Yet Sale (6-2) got the win in Boston's 13-7 victory, because Sox left-hander Jose Quintana was even worse.

Quintana failed to get out of the third inning, allowing seven earned runs on 10 hits, including three home runs, over 2.2 innings. Two of the three homers were hit by a complete stiff, Boston No. 9 hitter Deven Marrero.

Marrero, a .194 hitter even after his Tuesday night outburst, had six RBIs through his first 62 plate appearances this season. He had five RBIs in two plate appearances against Quintana.

The Boston third baseman hit Quintana's final pitch of the night -- a sloppy, get-me-over 3-2 curveball -- for a three-run homer in the top of the third inning. The blast gave the Red Sox a 7-3 lead, and it was arguably the most poorly executed pitch I've seen from a Sox pitcher all season.

Just brutal.

Not that the Sox didn't fight back. They got one in the third on an RBI single by Tim Anderson and two in the fourth on a home run by Todd Frazier to cut Boston's lead to 7-6.

However, Dan Jennings failed to take advantage of a lefty-on-lefty matchup in the fifth, as Jackie Bradley took him deep for a three-run homer to put Boston ahead 10-6. The Sox didn't have another comeback in them after that.

Bradley, the No. 8 hitter in the Boston order, is hitting .214 this season. So, yeah, I'd say it was a night where the Sox were insistent on giving up three-run homers to the absolute worst hitters the Red Sox have to offer. It would be one thing if they were getting their brains beat in by Mookie Betts, who did have a solo home run Tuesday, but it was Bradley and Marrero who combined to beat the Sox.

Hard to accept.

And what the hell is wrong with Quintana, you ask? Well, all seven runs he allowed Tuesday night came with two outs. He can't extricate himself from innings; he can't get key outs when he's pitching out of the stretch. It's hard to be successful that way.

This season, opponents have a .316/.385/.611 slash line against Quintana when they have men on base. By way of comparison, opponents slashed .247/.309/.375 against Quintana with men on base last season.

Significant difference, isn't it? That's the crux of the problem: Quintana cannot execute any of his pitches from the stretch right now. His fastball command is off. His curve is hanging, and he's getting hurt -- even by poor hitters.

Jose Quintana, his trade value, and fans' and media perception of it

Jose Quintana

White Sox left-hander Jose Quintana has had his name mentioned in trade rumors for months. And he'll probably continue to have his name mentioned in trade rumors until the day he actually is dealt, whenever that may be.

In the meantime, one of the things that drives me insane about situations such as this is the constant speculation and near-daily fluctuations in what fans and media perceive Quintana's "trade value" to be.

Just last week, Quintana had his best outing of the season. He pitched eight innings of one-hit, one-run ball in an extra-inning victory over the Seattle Mariners. After that performance, Quintana had posted quality starts in five out of six appearances, going 2-2 with a 2.70 ERA over than span.

"Hey, Quintana is on a roll! His trade value is up! The Sox should be able to get a couple good prospects for him at the trade deadline!"

Then, a game such as Wednesday's happens. Quintana retired the first 10 Arizona Diamondbacks he faced. He appeared to be on his way to yet another strong outing. Unfortunately, things turned on a dime, and eight of the second 10 Arizona hitters Quintana faced got hits. He ended up allowing eight earned runs. He got knocked out in the fifth inning, and the Sox lost, 8-6.

"Oh, boy, there goes Quintana's trade value. Nobody's going to want him now that his ERA is up in the high 4s."

This morning, I saw some click bait on the Chicago Tribune's website that Quintana is "Spanish for John Danks" or some such nonsense. I didn't click on it, we're not going to link to it here, and it should be dismissed for the idiocy that it is. However, it's worth bringing up as an example to illustrate how folks -- even media members who should know better -- sway in the wind about a player's "trade value" based upon a very small sample size.

Teams that might interested in acquiring Quintana's services are not going to cross him off their list based upon this one horrible outing against the Diamondbacks, nor were they going to call Rick Hahn and offer all the crown jewels of their farm system for Quintana after his brilliant outing against the Mariners. One game just doesn't make that much of a difference.

Scouts are looking at longer-term trends, what the track record and makeup of the player is, and what kind of stuff he's been featuring as of late. Quintana's fastball command was poor against Arizona, to say the least, but there has been no downturn in velocity or movement. His assortment of offspeed pitches looks the same as it always has.

If Quintana improves his fastball command, and he has a track record of being able to do so, he'll still be a pitcher who is in demand when July rolls around. His ERA might be 4.82 right now, but his career ERA is 3.49. As long as his stuff hasn't fallen off -- and it hasn't -- he's due to trend in a positive direction toward his career norms. An acquiring team may be positioned to take advantage of that trend.

The quality of prospects the Sox would be able to acquire in a Quintana deal remains an open question. Fans and media are not privy to those trade discussions, and you can't believe much of anything you read in the rumor mill.

But it's worth noting that one good game here or one bad game there is not going to have a significant effect on Quintana's worth in the marketplace. As long as he's healthy, he's a pitcher that has value. How much value? Perhaps we'll see in July.

Injury updates: When will Carlos Rodon pitch for the White Sox again?

Carlos Rodon

Forget about the White Sox's 5-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night. Nothing to see there, nothing much to talk about, an inconsequential loss in a season that is expected to be full of them.

The most important news of the day was on the injury front, where left-hander Carlos Rodon met the media for the first time in a long time after throwing 60 pitches in a simulated game against minor leaguers Monday at Chase Field.

Relief pitchers Jake Petricka and Nate Jones also worked during the simulated game, but the big story is Rodon, whose recovery from left bicep bursitis has taken much longer than expected.

For Rodon, this was his fourth simulated game, and he says he considers himself to be on an every-fifth-day schedule at this point. Still, there's no timetable for his return, and general manager Rick Hahn used the phrase "in the coming weeks" when asked when Rodon might return to game action.

“He’s been out there now three or four times throwing to hitters,” Hahn told Sox beat reporters. “Each time has been a little more crisp from what I understand from the previous ones to today. Hopefully here in the coming weeks we are able to announce he’s starting a rehab assignment and we’ll have a better sense of his time frame at that point.”

Let me take an educated guess: Rodon might be back around the All-Star break. Say it's three more weeks until he heads out on a rehab assignment. Realistically, he'll probably need three or four starts in the minors before he's got enough strength and endurance to start in a big league game.

So, maybe we'll see him in July.

Why does this matter so much? For two reasons. One, the 24-year-old is seen as a cornerstone pitcher in the Sox's rebuilding plan. If he cannot get healthy and pitch effectively at some point this season, his status as a building block for the future would have to be called into question.

Secondly, his status affects the Sox's strategy at the trade deadline. With Rodon and James Shields both on the disabled list, the team's organizational pitching depth has been stretched thin. Retread veteran Mike Pelfrey and Rule 5 pick Dylan Covey don't belong in a major league rotation, but they are there because of the injuries, and because the Sox don't want to rush prized pitching prospects such as Reynaldo Lopez and Carson Fulmer into the starting rotation.

A healthy Rodon -- and a healthy Shields, for that matter -- makes it a little easier for Hahn to deal ace Jose Quintana for a package of prospects when July comes around.

If Rodon is not healthy for the second half of the season, and the Sox choose to deal Quintana, they might be faced with having to force-fit a prospect into the big league rotation before they really want to. That's a situation everyone would like to avoid, and it can be avoided if Rodon can take the ball 14 or 15 times before the 2017 season is over.

White Sox recover to take three out of four from Seattle Mariners

Avisail Garcia

Now is the perfect time to have the Seattle Mariners come up on your schedule.

There isn't a team in the American League that has dealt with more key injuries than the Mariners. Seattle's best player, second baseman Robinson Cano (quadriceps), is on the disabled list. Eighty percent of the Mariners' starting rotation  -- Felix Hernandez (shoulder), Hisashi Iwakuma (shoulder), James Paxton (forearm) and Drew Smyly (elbow) -- also is on the disabled list.

Teams don't like to make excuses, and they often say injuries are not an excuse. The reality is a little different: If your best dudes get hurt, chances are you're gonna lose. And the Mariners lost three of four to the White Sox this weekend.

The Sox (20-22) took the final three games of the series, the last two in blowout fashion. Here's our recap of the weekend that was:

Friday, May 19
White Sox 2, Mariners 1 (10 inn.): It's well-known that Sox ace Jose Quintana has suffered from a lack of run support for years, and the same has held true this season. But, Quintana hasn't been pitching up to his capabilities as of late, as his 4.38 ERA coming into this game would attest. So, he's hasn't been quite as sympathetic of a figure as he has been in the past.

That changed in this game. It was back to business as usual for Quintana. He was brilliant over eight innings, allowing one run on only one hit. He struck out seven and walked one -- and got a no-decision. Typical.

Fortunately, while Quintana did not get the win, the Sox did. Melky Cabrera's two-out, RBI double on an 0-2 slider from Seattle's Tony Zych (2-1) plated the winning run in the top of the 10th inning.

Sox closer David Robertson (3-1) retired all six men he faced over two innings to pick up the win, which snapped a four-game losing streak for the Sox.

Saturday, May 20
White Sox 16, Mariners 1: I doubt the Sox will have a more lopsided win than this one all year. They jumped on Seattle starter Yovani Gallardo (2-4) for four runs in the first inning, highlighted by Avisail Garcia's three-run homer on a first-pitch curve ball, and never let up from there.

The South Siders pounded out 19 hits, and while we've still got three-quarters of a season left to play, it's getting harder and harder to overlook Garcia's performance. He became the first Sox player to total 12 bases in a game since Dan Johnson hit three home runs in the same game on the final day of the 2012 season. Garcia homered in each of his first two plate appearances, then added two doubles for good measure, as he finished 4 for 5 with six RBIs.

Garcia leads the Sox with 34 RBIs, and he is tied for the team lead in homers with eight.

Not even Mike Pelfrey (1-4) could lose this game. The erstwhile veteran pitched six innings of one-run ball to earn his first victory in six starts this season. If you get 16 runs of support, hey, you better win. That's about a whole month's worth of runs for Quintana, you know?

Sunday, May 21
White Sox 8, Mariners 1: Seattle called up right-hander Chris Heston to make his first start of the season, and let's just say it didn't go well. He walked the bases loaded in the first inning, and that led to a five-run outburst for the Sox.

The BABIP gods were with the South Siders in this one, as they got a couple solid base hits in the inning -- a two-run single by Yolmer Sanchez and an RBI single by Matt Davidson -- and two really cheap RBI infield singles -- one by Tim Anderson and the other by Kevan Smith.

Heston didn't deserve any luck, of course, because walking the bases loaded in the first inning is not a recipe for success.

Left-hander Derek Holland (4-3) has been the Sox's most consistent starting pitcher this season, and  he capitalized on having a 5-0 lead before he threw a single pitch with another strong outing. He went eight innings, allowing only a solo home run to Nelson Cruz. The veteran pounded the strike zone, throwing 70 of his 105 pitches for strikes, which is precisely what a pitcher should be doing with a big lead. He fanned six, walked only two and lowered his season ERA to 2.47.

Sanchez extended his hitting streak to 12 games with the first-inning single. Anderson added a solo home run in the third, his fifth of the year, and a three-hit performance raised his batting average to .264.

The White Sox's alleged 'refusal' to make trades with the Cubs

Jon Garland -- drafted by the Cubs, won a title with the Sox

It's going to be a long summer for White Sox fans. Our team is not good. We've acknowledged it on this blog countless times. The losing has started, as the Sox have dropped five straight after Thursday's 7-6 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

But it's going to be a long summer in other ways, too. For instance, it's only May 12, and I'm already sick of reading articles and hearing radio talk criticizing the Sox for their alleged "refusal" to make trades with the crosstown Cubs.

I'm not going to link to any articles, because this topic doesn't merit more web hits than it's already getting. But if you've been paying attention, you've no doubt heard the discussion.

Let's clear up one thing: Geographical rivals in Major League Baseball rarely trade with each other. The Yankees don't make a lot of deals with the Mets. The Dodgers don't trade much with the Angels. The Orioles and Nationals don't have each other on speed dial. You think the Rangers are going to be talking trade with the Astros anytime soon?

Me neither.

So, it's true the Sox are unlikely to make any deals with the Cubs this year, or any other year, but this is not a unique situation in the game of baseball. So why is the local media making it out as if Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf invented the concept of not making major trades with a close geographic rival?

Your guess is as good as mine. We can only speculate. There are many legitimate criticisms of Reinsdorf and the Sox. We've made some of those criticisms here on this blog, but not making more trades with the Cubs is not a legitimate gripe.

Let's clear up another misconception: At this time, the Sox and Cubs are not a good match as trading partners.

That's right, I said it.

It is true the Sox are interested in dealing starting pitcher Jose Quintana. It is true the Cubs are off to a slow start this season relative to expectation, and lackluster starting pitching has been the main reason for their struggles.

However, many media types are operating under the myth that the Cubs have a "deep farm system." This is false. Of the two Chicago teams, the Sox actually have the higher-ranked farm system -- they are in the top 10, and in some cases the top 5, in a lot of rankings.

The Cubs, in contrast, are ranked in the middle of the pack, because most of their top prospects have now graduated to the big leagues. The North Siders also paid a high price to acquire relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman at last year's trade deadline. The Cubs sent shortstop Gleyber Torres to the Yankees in that deal. Torres is now the top prospect in the New York system, and many believe the Yankees have the best farm system in baseball.

You look at the Cubs, and they have two really good positional prospects -- outfielder Eloy Jimenez and second baseman Ian Happ. But after that, it thins out significantly. To acquire Quintana, the Cubs would have to part with at least one of those two players, and potentially both. Do you think that's a price they want to pay, given that their system is significantly thinner than it was at this same time last year? I doubt it, especially since their tremendous depth was among the reasons they won the 2016 World Series.

You know who else needs a starting pitcher? The Yankees, and as I mentioned, their farm system is regarded by many as the deepest in the game. Don't be surprised if Quintana ends up there midseason. Even though it's lost on the Chicago media, the Sox and Yankees match up much better as trade partners than the Sox and the Cubs. There is no question New York has more trading chips to entice the Sox than any team in baseball, including the Cubs.

I know, I'm destroying the narrative with logic and facts.

You see, there's tremendous risk for both sides when you trade with a close geographic rival. If you make a bad move, or a lopsided move, it can haunt you for years. We still hear talk of how the Sox traded Sammy Sosa to the Cubs -- that trade has been cited this week, in fact. And it was cited to claim the Sox are reluctant to make a move with the Cubs because they were burned on that one, way back in 1992. There's no arguing the Cubs "won" that Sosa deal, steroids stuff aside.

But, let me fill you in on a little secret: Jon Garland was once a first-round draft choice of the Cubs. He also is the proud owner of a White Sox World Series ring. Garland pitched 13 years in the bigs, and he was a two-time 18-game winner with the Sox, including during the 2005 championship season.

The Sox would not have won that championship without Garland, and they would not have had Garland had the Cubs not foolishly traded him to the South Side.

That logic works both ways, but we rarely hear a levelheaded analysis of it. It's much more convenient to accuse Reinsdorf and the Sox of being petty and refusing to deal with the Cubs. That narrative is fiction, and with this blog entry, I've already given it way more discussion than it's worth. So I'll stop right now. 

Suddenly, the Royals no longer own Jose Quintana

Jose Quintana

White Sox pitcher Jose Quintana has lost 50 games over his five-plus seasons in the major leagues. Nine of those losses are against the Kansas City Royals.

Coming into the 2017 season, Quintana was 1-9 with a 4.32 ERA in 22 starts against Kansas City.

With that information in hand, it's somewhat surprising that the left-hander has won two games against the Royals in the past week. Quintana followed up a 10-strikeout performance in his previous outing with eight shutout innings Tuesday, leading the Sox to a 6-0 win over Kansas City.

Quintana struck out seven in this game and allowed only four hits -- all singles. He didn't walk anybody until the eighth inning, when he walked two, and that was the only inning where the Royals had a runner reach scoring position. Kansas City placed the leadoff batter on only once in eight innings, and that runner was quickly erased on a 5-4-3 double play in the third.

This was a dominant performance for Quintana (2-4) against a Royals team that has been struggling offensively. Kansas City (8-17) has lost 10 out of 11 games and has scored a league-worst 69 runs through its first 25 games. Safe to say, 2.76 runs a game isn't going to cut it in the American League. The Sox have to hope the Kansas City bats remain quiet for two more games before they get out of town.

Quintana's numbers against the Royals this season? 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 14 innings.

Meanwhile, Royals starter Danny Duffy (2-2)  has seen his fortunes against the Sox take a turn for the worse. The hard-throwing lefty has always had success against Chicago. Coming into this season, he was 6-2 with a 3.20 ERA lifetime vs. the Sox.

But Tuesday, he allowed six runs on 10 hits over five innings. Duffy is 0-2 with a 11.17 ERA with only five strikeouts and four walks in 9.2 innings against the Sox this year.

Avisail Garcia continued his hot streak for Chicago, reaching base in all four plate appearances. He was 2 for 2 with a walk, a HBP, two runs scored and an RBI. The Sox also got a three-hit game from Yolmer Sanchez. Geovany Soto added two hits and two RBIs.

Amusingly, the Sox enter Wednesday's action still atop the AL Central, although four teams are within a half-game of each other. The Sox are 14-11, Minnesota is 13-11, and Cleveland and Detroit both are 14-12. No team has distinguished itself so far in the division race.

White Sox pitcher Jose Quintana has his first win of 2017

Jose Quintana

Here's a sentence I did not think I would type at any point this season: The White Sox are tied for first place entering Thursday's games.

The South Siders completed a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals with a 5-2 victory Wednesday, improving their record to 11-9. The Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians also are 11-9, creating a three-way tie atop the AL Central.

Sox left-hander Jose Quintana (1-4) finally got in the win column Wednesday, as he pitched six innings of two-run ball with a season-high 10 strikeouts. It easily was Quintana's best performance so far, as he entered the outing with an uncharacteristic 6.17 ERA and 5.69 FIP in his first four starts.

In fairness to Quintana, the Sox scored only four runs combined for him in those four games, so wins would have been hard to come by even if he had pitched well.

But Wednesday, the Sox handed him a 2-0 lead on RBI doubles from Jose Abreu and Todd Frazier in the first inning. The lead eventually slipped away as the Royals nicked Quintana for single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. With the scored tied at 2, it looked as if Quintana might be destined for a no-decision.

Alas, the Royals (7-14) are in a deep slump right now -- seven losses in a row -- and they seem to be inventing ways to lose games. A really, really bad pitch by Kansas City starter Nate Karns (0-2) allowed the Sox to grab the lead back in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Karns had been fooling the Sox's right-handed hitters all day with breaking balls in the dirt. Avisail Garcia was retired on pitches down and out of the zone in each of his first two at-bats Wednesday, and in his third at-bat, he swung and missed badly at a Karns breaking pitch that was down, outside and well out of the zone to open the sequence.

You got the feeling that Karns would retire Garcia again if he just stayed with his offspeed pitch. Instead, on the 0-1 count, he thought he'd go ahead and try to sneak a middle-in fastball past Garcia. The Sox right fielder was ready, and he clubbed the pitch 451 feet to center field for a two-run homer that put Chicago ahead, 4-2. Horrible pitch selection by Karns, and even worse execution.

Quintana's day was done after six innings, but he was then in line for the win. Leury Garcia's solo home run in the seventh made it 5-2, and four Sox relievers combined to throw three scoreless innings to put away the game.

David Robertson worked the ninth inning to earn his fifth save in five chances. His ERA is down to 1.17, for all those clubs out there who are in need of bullpen help. (I'm looking at you, Washington Nationals.)

The Sox probably won't stay in first for long. Thursday is an off day, while Detroit and Cleveland are both in action. At least one of them likely will win and drop the Sox down the standings, but it's nice to be at the top -- if only for a day -- during a rebuilding season.