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.

Just too much bad pitching on the White Sox

Odrisamer Despaigne

One more thought before I take a break from this for a couple of days -- I'm actually going to the White Sox game on Thursday when they play the New York Yankees, so I won't have time to blog.

It wasn't Odrisamer Despaigne's fault that the Sox got beat, 12-1, by the Washington Nationals on Monday night. The 32-year-old journeyman was making his first start for the South Siders, and he did a credible job.

He went six innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits. He struck out two and walked two. It was a quality start, and that's good enough to win sometimes.

The front end of the bullpen -- Jose Ruiz, Josh Osich, Thyago Vieira and Juan Minaya -- gave up nine runs over the last three innings and caused the Sox to get humiliated.

That being said, it's frustrating that Despaigne is on this team in Year 3 of the rebuild. This is the sort of pitcher who makes starts for you in the first year of a rebuild -- see Derek Holland and Mike Pelfrey in 2017. These are all pitchers of similar quality.

And the relief pitchers listed above, with the possible exception of Ruiz, also are nothing more than roster filler, to put it charitably. Less charitably, they are cannon fodder. Minaya has had plenty of chances. Vieira can't find the plate. Osich has tried and failed with other organizations.

By now, wouldn't you like to think more interesting pitchers would be around in the organization and available to take these innings? Alas, it isn't to be. Manny Banuelos is starting Tuesday against the Nationals, and he's another guy who you'd expect to see in a first-year rebuild.

Year 3, and there are still mornings when I wake up and say, "The Sox are in trouble today." It's so frustrating to watch this bad pitching, especially when there are position players who are decent and making progress on this team.

Thyago Vieira, Aaron Bummer and Dylan Covey, oh my!

I mentioned the Eloy Jimenez injury in my previous blog post. The White Sox's rookie left fielder has a high ankle sprain and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

What I didn't mention: Nate Jones and Ryan Burr also have been sent to the injured list. Jones has elbow inflammation; Burr has shoulder inflammation.

The Sox's bullpen wasn't very good with Jones and Burr in it, so imagine it now.

Who is taking these three roster spots, you ask? Well, Thyago Vieira, Aaron Bummer and Dylan Covey, of course. Three pitchers who have received opportunities in the past and didn't do much with them.

All three are available as the Sox open a series against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday night.

This 2019 roster is starting to remind me a little too much of the 2018 roster, you know?

Some rare positivity: Dylan Cease pitches well in Triple-A debut

Let's preface by saying this: Dylan Cease should not be called up to the White Sox until he is ready to pitch in the major leagues. There still are things he can improve upon at the Triple-A level.

That said, it's possible Cease is the best starting pitcher in the organization right now. The Sox's best healthy pitching prospect made his Triple-A season debut Tuesday in Game 1 of a doubleheader and tossed five shutout innings in a 4-0 Charlotte victory over Norfolk.

Cease struck out five, allowed three hits, issued no walks (!) and threw 47 of his 73 pitches for strikes. His fastball sat at 96 mph, and he retired the final 10 batters he faced.

Good start.

Now, it is possible Norfolk isn't swinging the bats very well. The Knights won the second game of the doubleheader, 3-0, with Dylan Covey, Zach Thompson and Thyago Vieira combining on a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts.

I mention this only to put things in proper context. It is only one outing for Cease, but as Sox fans, we are starved for some good news on the pitching front these days.

At the major league level Wednesday, Reynaldo Lopez got his rear handed to him again as the Sox lost, 9-1, to the Tampa Bay Rays. 

Lopez lasted 4.1 innings, allowing eight earned runs on 10 hits. He struck out five, walked four and gave up three home runs. His season ERA swelled to 12.15.

It's concerning. Lopez's 2018 peripherals suggested maybe he wasn't as good as his 3.91 ERA, and a reasonable person shouldn't be surprised by some regression from the right-hander this season. But there's regression, and then there's falling off a cliff.

This is falling off a cliff. Lopez has given up an alarming six home runs in 13.1 innings this season.

The Sox (3-8) did not get a single quality start on the six-game homestand. Sox starters have posted a 14.91 ERA over the past six games. It's a miracle they won one.

As a Sox fan, I've praying to see some credible run prevention on the field. At this point, I don't care if they lose 2-1. I just want to see somebody pitch well, and see some players catch the damn ball and make smart plays on defense.

Lack of right-handed relief options at issue for White Sox

Rick Renteria

Sometimes I feel as though White Sox manager Rick Renteria trusts mediocre, right-handed relief pitcher Juan Minaya way more than he should.

But, every time I feel that way, I stop myself and say, "Well, if not Minaya, then who?"

In fairness to Minaya, let's first point out that he got his job done in Monday's 6-2 victory over the New York Yankees. Minaya relieved Carlos Rodon, who pitched another strong game and earned the win, in the eighth inning and retired five of the six hitters he faced.

Minaya threw 16 of his 23 pitches for strikes Monday. He allowed only a harmless single and never made you feel as though the Sox's lead was in jeopardy. Xavier Cedeno ended up getting the last out of the game, in what was a good night for the bullpen and the Sox as a whole.

Fast-forward to Tuesday night in New York. The Sox had the lead, 4-2, going into the bottom of the eighth inning. Minaya, once again, was summoned from the bullpen.

I cringed, knowing that Minaya had a multi-inning outing the night before, and I figured his stuff would not be the same.

It was not.

Minaya faced two batters. He gave up a rope of a single to Giancarlo Stanton and a long home run to Aaron Hicks. Bye-bye lead, 4-4 tie.

The Yankees won, 5-4, on a home run by Neil Walker off Dylan Covey (4-12) in the bottom of the ninth.

I'd like to blame Minaya for this loss, but he is who he is. He's an inconsistent reliever with a 4.18 season ERA. He's dominant at times, but horrible at others, and he shouldn't be considered the best right-handed relief option on a team. Really, he should be pitching in the sixth or seventh inning, not the eighth or ninth.

I'd like to blame Renteria, too, but what other right-handed relief options does he have?

Jeanmar Gomez is a veteran, but his 4.50 ERA and 1.429 WHIP do not inspire confidence. Thyago Vieira and Ryan Burr have a combined 11 big league appearances between them. Are they ready to pitch in a high-leverage situation at Yankee Stadium? Not really. Then there's Covey, who was used Tuesday in a big spot, and he lost the game, so there's that.

It was a tough loss to take Tuesday, because the Sox led, 4-0, as late as the sixth inning. However, their weaknesses in the bullpen showed up while playing a superior team. What can you do? You just have to grin and bear it for 30 more games, hope the good Minaya shows up more than the bad Minaya and hope the front office gives Renteria a deeper stable of relief arms for the 2019 season.

White Sox take three out of four from Detroit Tigers

Kevan Smith (left) catching during a game in 2017.

The White Sox have won three in a row and nine out of 12 after they took three games out of four in a weekend series against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.

This sets the Sox (51-79) up to possibly have their first winning month of the season. They are 14-10 in August with five days before the calendar turns, so they only need to win one game between now and Friday to clinch a winning August.

Granted, that will not be easy. The next three games are in New York against the Yankees (83-47). Then the Sox come home Thursday to face the American League-best Boston Red Sox (90-42). With this schedule, a six- or seven-game losing streak could be lurking just around the corner, but for now, we can say the Sox are playing their best baseball of the season.

Aside from August, their best month this season has been June, when they went 12-17. That's not very good, so recent games have been more watchable and a welcome change.

Here's a look back at the Detroit series:

Thursday, Aug. 23
Tigers 7, White Sox 2: It's been baffling to hear James Shields mentioned as a possible waiver trade candidate. Is there a contending team out there that would see Shields as an upgrade for the back end of their starting rotation?

Not in my estimation.

Shields (5-15) still has a chance to reach 20 losses after he got hit hard in the opener in Detroit. He allowed seven runs on 10 hits -- including three home runs in the sixth inning -- to a light-hitting Tigers team in this loss.

At least Shields pitched 6.2 innings. That meant only Ryan Burr had to pitch in relief. The rookie right-hander retired all four men he faced to mercifully bring the game to a quick end.

Jose Rondon's fourth home run of the season accounted for the two Sox runs.

Friday, Aug. 24
White Sox 6, Tigers 3: This was a dead performance for the Sox through seven innings. They trailed, 3-0, going into the eighth, and then they scored six runs off Detroit's two best relievers, Joe Jimenez and Shane Greene.

Greene has 27 saves this season, but this was his fourth blown save as he did not retire a Sox batter when he was summoned with one out in the eighth inning.

Yoan Moncada's two-run double with the bases loaded put the Sox on the board and knocked Jimenez out of the game. Avisail Garcia's game-tying single greeted Greene. Daniel Palka doubled to put the Sox ahead, 4-3, and Tim Anderson capped the rally with a two-run double.

Thyago Vieira pitched to one batter in the bottom of the seventh inning. He retired him and picked up his first major-league win in easy fashion.

Saturday, Aug. 25
White Sox 6, Tigers 1: This might have been Lucas Giolito's best game of the season. The right-hander had both his good velocity (94-95 mph) and command of his fastball, and his curve and changeup both were effective, as well.

That resulted in a third straight win for Giolito (10-9), who tossed seven innings, allowing only one run on three hits. He struck out six and walked one. He allowed a solo home run to Mikie Mahtook in the second inning, but he was never in trouble at any other point.

The Sox scored five runs in the first three innings off Detroit starter Ryan Carpenter. The highlight was Kevan Smith's two-run homer in the second inning, his first of the season.

It was an emotional moment for Smith, who was wearing former teammate Daniel Webb's nickname on his back for MLB's Players' Weekend. Webb, you may recall, is the Sox relief pitcher who tragically died in an ATV accident Oct. 14.

You can watch a video about Smith and Webb's friendship here. And here is a video featuring Smith's postgame comments after Saturday's win. Cool stuff.

Sunday, Aug. 26
White Sox 7, Tigers 2: Oh yeah, Michael Kopech pitched and earned his first major league victory.

The rookie right-hander didn't have his best stuff in his second start, but he got through six innings, allowing only one run on seven hits. He struck out four and, most importantly, walked nobody.

Kopech has not issued a walk in his first eight major league innings. That is a recipe for success. He worked out of two bases-loaded jams, one in the fourth and one in the sixth.

The Tigers did score their lone run in the sixth, but they threatened for more with the bags full, one out and a 3-0 count on shortstop Ronny Rodriguez. Kopech grabbed strike one, and then induced an inning-ending, 6-4-3 double play on the 3-1 pitch to escape the inning.

A combination of four relievers closed out the win, with Jace Fry retiring two batters with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to earn his third save.

A four-run third inning keyed the Sox offense. Palka's 19th home run of the season highlighted an 11-hit attack. Anderson, Garcia, Omar Narvaez and Adam Engel all had two-hit games in what was a solid overall game for the Sox.

Now it's on to New York, where the Sox will face a superior team. We'll see if they can hold their own.

Awaiting word on White Sox roster moves; Lucas Giolito back to .500

Matt Davidson

In case you haven't heard, Michael Kopech is pitching for the White Sox on Tuesday. That means he needs to be added to the 40-man roster -- a nonissue, the Sox's roster currently sits at 38 -- and somebody needs to be subtracted from the 25-man roster.

Not sure who that someone is just yet.

I'm also wondering if Leury Garcia is headed back to the disabled list after he reinjured his left hamstring Monday in an 8-5 win over the Minnesota Twins.

Speaking of that victory in Minnesota, Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito earned the win to improve to 9-9.

The right-hander threw a season-high 111 pitches in what was pretty much a league-average sort of outing. He went six innings, allowing three runs on five hits. He struck out six and walked two, but he never relinquished the lead after the Sox scored four runs for him in the top of the second inning.

A lot of observers, including me, predicted at the start of the season that Giolito would lead the Sox in wins. He is, in fact, doing that. With nine wins, he has four more than any other pitcher on the team. (James Shields has five wins.) We just didn't expect Giolito's wins to be coupled with a 6.08 ERA, but hopefully he's better for this experience when the 2019 season begins.

Matt Davidson on Monday went 2 for 5 with his 18th home run of the season and three RBIs, and Jose Abreu added two hits and two RBIs -- including a two-run double that highlighted the four-run second inning.

Juan Minaya had a good outing out of the bullpen. He struck out five of the six Minnesota batters he faced in two perfect innings of relief.

Thyago Vieira, however, continued to struggle. His season ERA is now 7.56 after he allowed two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but hey, that's why you bring him in when the score is 8-3. If he does have a rough time, you still win 8-5.

The Sox now have won five of their past six games. A market correction is due soon, of course, but at 47-77, they at least have a chance of reaching the 60-win plateau. At one point in time, I was worried they might lose 110 or 115 games. It's unlikely it's going to get that bad.

White Sox beat Rays, earn first sweep of 2018 season

Hector Santiago

Guaranteed Rate has a promotion going on where it will pay one month's mortgage for a White Sox fan every time the team sweeps a series. 

I didn't enter, figuring the Sox (41-70) were so terrible that they'd never be able to sweep an opponent this season.

Well, I'll be damned if the Sox didn't sweep the Tampa Bay Rays this weekend. The South Siders picked up three one-run victories in St. Petersburg, Florida, all of them coming in the last at-bat.

In fact, the Sox have won a season-high four games in a row, with each victory coming in their last at-bat. This marks the first time the Sox have swept a road series since they took three in a row from the Toronto Blue Jays in April 2016.

That's a good season and a half, so it's been a long time.

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

Friday, Aug 3
White Sox 3, Rays 2 (10 innings): Second baseman Yoan Moncada is hitting only .167 with a .515 OPS against left-handed pitching this season, but his RBI double while batting right-handed with two outs in the top of the 10th made the difference in this game.

It's too bad Lucas Giolito did not get the win because he pitched well. The right-hander took a one-hitter into the eighth inning, during which he was removed after giving up a leadoff double. Naturally, the struggling Sox bullpen failed to protect a 2-0 lead -- the Rays got two runs in the eighth to force extra innings.

Giolito's final line: 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 6 Ks, 3 BBs

His ERA is 5.97, the first time it's been below 6 since April.

After Moncada's double put the Sox ahead, Hector Santiago worked a scoreless bottom of the 10th for his first save since 2012. Tyler Danish (1-0) got the win after recording the final out of the bottom of the ninth.

Saturday, Aug. 4
White Sox 2, Rays 1: With the score tied at 1, Tim Anderson led off the top of the ninth inning with a double. He scored from second with Rays third baseman Matt Duffy made a two-base throwing error on a sacrifice bunt by Leury Garcia.

The lead held up as rookie right-hander Thyago Vieira worked around a two-out walk and a wild pitch to earn his first career save in his third appearance with the Sox. Vieira struck out Willy Adames with a high fastball for the third out and excessively celebrated the achievement by pounding his own chest with his fist multiple times, but hey, we can't tell him to act as though he had done it before, because he hadn't.

The Sox got the win despite an erratic outing from Carlos Rodon, who walked five and struck out four over six innings. Rodon allowed only three hits, however, and that allowed him to put mostly zeroes on the board. The one run he allowed was unearned because of a passed ball by Omar Narvaez.

Jose Abreu homered for the second straight game, his 19th homer of the season, this one coming off Tampa Bay ace Blake Snell.

Sunday, Aug. 5
White Sox 8, Rays 7: The Sox were down 3-1. Then they tied it at 3. Then they went ahead 5-3. Tampa Bay made it 5-4. Then it was 6-4 Sox after Avisail Garcia's second home run of the game. The Rays tied it at 6 with two runs in the seventh.

This seesaw affair took three hours, 38 minutes to play, but it ended happily thanks to a two-out Sox rally in the ninth inning.

Abreu singled and scored when Daniel Palka smashed a first-pitch homer over the batter's eye in center field for an 8-6 Sox lead. Palka's 439-foot blast off Diego Castillo was his 17th of the season and fifth in his past 10 games.

Santiago (4-3), who had got the final out of the bottom of the eighth inning, wobbled in the bottom of the ninth, giving up two doubles and a walk to make it 8-7. But with runners on first and second and one out, he induced a game-ending double play off the bat of Tampa Bay's Jesus Sucre.

One bit of bad news from this game: Leury Garcia strained his left hamstring making a shoestring grab in center field. He has been placed on the 10-day disabled list. The Sox on Monday recalled outfielder Ryan LaMarre from Triple-A Charlotte to take Leury Garcia's place on the 25-man roster.

The Sox open a six-game homestand Monday night, featuring three games with the New York Yankees and three games with the Cleveland Indians.

Gulp.

Might be a tough week against two playoff contenders. 

Charlie Tilson among first round of White Sox roster cuts

Adam Engel

Charlie Tilson will not be the Opening Day center fielder for the White Sox.

The Sox made eight roster moves Tuesday, and Tilson was among the players optioned to Triple-A Charlotte.

It's somewhat surprising to see Tilson sent out the second week of March, as he was believed to be a contender for a starting job in center field, along with Adam Engel, Leury Garcia and Ryan Cordell.

But after a 3-for-18 performance in eight spring games, the club obviously has decided Tilson needs more at-bats in the minor leagues. General manager Rick Hahn foreshadowed this possibility at SoxFest, when he noted that both Tilson and Cordell have missed significant time because of injuries.

Cordell has shown well this spring -- he's 4 for 13 in six games with four walks and no strikeouts -- but he soon might join Tilson in Triple-A just because he didn't play at all the second half of last season.

That leaves Engel and Garcia in the mix, and we know the Sox like Engel's defense. It's also no secret the 26-year-old needed a swing overhaul after hitting .166 in 301 plate appearances at the big-league level last season. So far, so good for Engel this spring -- he's 5 for 16 with two home runs and four RBIs in eight games.

Garcia is the most accomplished player in contention for the center field job, but most of his playing time this spring has been in the infield. Garcia is an infielder by trade, but he was given time in the outfield last year to take advantage of his athleticism. When healthy, he was decent in 2017, posting a .270/.316/.423 slash line with nine home runs and 33 RBIs in 87 games.

Right now, Engel might have the inside track to be the center fielder based upon his defense, his health and some signs of offensive progress.

In other moves, pitcher Thyago Vieira was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte. Right-hander Jose Ruiz was optioned to Single-A Winston-Salem.

Injured third baseman Jake Burger, catcher Alfredo Gonzalez and pitchers Michael Ynoa, Jordan Guerrero and Dylan Covey all were assigned to minor-league camp.

White Sox acquire hard-throwing right-hander Thyago Vieira

Worried about the White Sox bullpen? Of course you are. What Sox fan isn't?

It's anybody's guess which pitchers will make up the team's relief corps in 2018, but general manager Rick Hahn made a move Thursday that could pay dividends as soon as next season.

The Sox acquired right-hander Thyago Vieira from Seattle in exchange for $500,000 in international signing bonus pool money.

Vieira, 24, made one appearance with the Mariners last year and retired all three batters he faced with one strikeout Aug. 14 against the Baltimore Orioles.

He went 2-4 with a 4.00 ERA, four saves and 46 strikeouts in 41 appearances and 54 innings between Double-A Arkansas and Triple-A Tacoma in 2017. He limited right-handed hitters to a .194 average. Vieira also was selected to compete for the World Team at the All-Star Futures Game last summer.

While this pitcher's numbers might not be eye-popping, his stuff is. He has an 80-grade fastball that consistently sits between 97 and 100 mph, and tops out at 102. His second-best pitch is a 55-grade curve that showed improvement the second half of last season.

Vieira was ranked as the eighth-best prospect in the Seattle farm system. The Sox's farm system is deeper, so Vieira is now checking in as their 20th-rated prospect.

If Sox pitching coach Don Cooper can harness Vieira's control -- he's walked 4.6 men per nine innings in his minor league career -- this is a potential high-leverage reliever that the Sox acquired for nothing more than cash considerations.

Why, you ask, would Seattle be willing to give up one of its top-10 prospects and receive no players in return?

Well, the Mariners are going to make a run at signing Japanese free agent Shohei Ohtani. The additional international pool money aids them in that quest.

As for the Sox, count Vieira among the young pitchers who will contend for a roster spot when camp opens in the spring.