White Sox add Joe Kelly, Josh Harrison, Vince Velasquez

Joe Kelly

None of these additions are likely to tip the balance of power in the American League, but the White Sox made three moves over the weekend to fortify their depth.

Right-handed reliever Joe Kelly is coming to Chicago on a two-year deal, and veteran infielder Josh Harrison has agreed to a one-year deal. Right-handed pitcher Vince Velasquez also has reportedly agreed to terms. 

A few thoughts on each signing:

Kelly: If it's postseason experience you seek, Kelly has it in abundance. He's pitched in the playoffs for seven straight seasons and eight times in the 11 years he's been in the league. He's appeared in the World Series three times and owns two championship rings. 

Kelly made 48 appearances with the Dodgers in 2021, going 2-0 with a 2.86 ERA. In 44 innings, he produced a ground-ball rate of 58.9% and a strikeout rate of 27.5%. He features a high-90s fastball and a swing-and-miss curve, and he only gave up three home runs last season. The Sox tend to like relievers who throw grounders and suppress home runs, especially playing in hitter-friendly Guaranteed Rate Field. In that context, this addition is not a surprise.

The Sox bullpen is getting a little crowded, however. Kelly joins Liam Hendriks, Craig Kimbrel, Kendall Graveman, Aaron Bummer and Garrett Crochet as relievers likely to make the Opening Day roster -- barring a trade of Kimbrel. That leaves Ryan Burr, Jose Ruiz, Reynaldo Lopez and the aforementioned Velazquez competing for what is likely to be two spots. Burr is the unlucky one with options remaining.

Harrison: I guess the 34-year-old veteran in the starting second baseman? Harrison is probably best suited for a utility role at this stage of his career, but throw him in the mix with Leury Garcia, Danny Mendick and Romy Gonzalez as players competing for playing time at second.

Harrison played decently for the Washington Nationals in both 2020 and 2021, posting a .291/.363/.431 slash over 123 games. The .363 on-base percentage jumps out at me -- I would take that right now if Harrison could provide that. At the trade deadline last season, the Nationals sent Harrison to Oakland as part of a fire sale. He batted an uninspiring .254/.296/.341 as the Athletics missed the playoffs.

Harrison can also play third base and stand in an outfield corner, if necessary. The guess here is he plays a lot at second base. The hope is he'll play good defense and add some on-base ability to the bottom of the lineup. But I've already expressed my skepticism.

Velazquez: Here are Velazquez's ERA for the past five seasons ... 5.13, 4.85, 4.91, 5.56, 6.30 ... yikes. I don't know about this move. Velazquez has what they call "arm talent," meaning he throws hard. But he's never been able to establish a secondary pitch, causing plenty of frustrating for Philadelphia fans over his six years and 116 starts with the Phillies.

Did the Sox need to make a move to fortify their rotation depth? Absolutely. It would have been nice to see them trade for, say, Chris Bassitt, who was traded from Oakland to the New York Mets, or Sean Manaea, another member of the Oakland rotation who is reportedly on the trade block.

Alas, the Sox have the 30th-ranked farm system in baseball, so maybe they don't have the trade capital to make such a move. Hence, you end up signing a guy such as Velazquez as insurance against injury.

Carlos Rodon signs two-year deal with San Francisco Giants

Carlos Rodon

Left-handed pitcher Carlos Rodon officially parted ways with the White Sox on Friday, agreeing to a two-year, $44 million contract with the San Francisco Giants.

Rodon, 29, is coming off the best season of his seven-year career, all of which has been spent with the Sox. In 2021, he went 13-5 with a 2.37 ERA in 24 starts, earned the first All-Star appearance of his career and pitched a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians on April 14. He finished fifth in the AL Cy Young Award voting.

Still, injuries plagued Rodon, limiting him to just seven starts (including one in the postseason) after Aug. 1. Health has been a problem for the veteran left-hander throughout his career. He pitched 132.2 innings last season, which doesn't seem like a lot, but it's actually good by Rodon's standards. That was his highest total of innings pitched since 2016, when he threw a career-best 165 innings.

Perhaps it was those durability concerns that led the Sox to not offer Rodon the one-year, $18.4 million qualifying offer before the start of the lockout.

Turns out, that decision by the Sox worked in Rodon's favor, as he received more on the open market. The Giants will pay him $21.5 million in 2022, and $22.5 million in 2023. The deal has an opt-out clause that can be activated after this season.

My reaction: I'm glad Rodon did not sign anywhere else in the AL Central, especially with the pitching-starved Minnesota Twins. I'm also glad he did not sign with the crosstown Cubs. History tells us he will deal with injuries again, but when he's healthy enough to pitch, he can be very effective.

Last season, he was the best pitcher in the AL the first half of the season. It won't be easy to replace those 132.2 quality innings. But, with Rodon in San Francisco, Sox fans can still cheer for him if he does well, because any success he has in the NL West is unlikely to bring harm to the Sox.

No doubt, the Sox front office will receive some criticism for not tendering Rodon a qualifying offer, as the team now will not receive any draft pick compensation.

Right now, the Sox rotation looks like this: Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn, Dylan Cease, Dallas Keuchel and Michael Kopech. If anyone gets injured, Reynaldo Lopez is the next man up. We'll see if there are any further additions now that the lockout has been lifted.

For as long as the lockout lasts ...

 ... this blog will remain silent.

If Major League Baseball doesn't want to have a season, then I have nothing to say. I'm interested in games, not the competitive balance tax.

What do we make of the Oscar Colas signing?

Oscar Colas

This will be a blog about baseball players whom I've never seen play before.

The White Sox signed two outfielders during the international signing period, 23-year-old Oscar Colas and 17-year-old Erick Hernandez.

Colas signed a $2.7 million deal, while Hernandez gets $1 million. Both these players bat left and throw left, but it's hard for a fan to know exactly what the Sox are getting.

Hernandez will most likely spend 2022 playing in the Dominican Summer League, and with him being a teenager, it will probably be years before he's on the radar as far as possibly being added to the 40-man roster.

Colas, however, is a different story. He comes with some degree of hype, as he has been called the "Cuban Ohtani" in the past. However, despite his ability to throw a 95-mph fastball, Colas will not be a pitcher in the U.S. He will be focused on playing outfield, and he will be playing ball in this country this season -- likely starting at Double-A Birmingham, from what I'm hearing.

One bit of concern with Colas: He hasn't played organized baseball since 2019. He's basically been in limbo, participating in "controlled games" in the Dominican Republic and waiting for the Sox to sign him -- the team didn't have the money available during last year's international signing period.

That said, the last time Colas played in a professional league, he more than held his own in Japan. He slashed .302/.350/.516 with 11 home runs, 19 doubles and 46 RBIs in 66 games for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. Not bad at all, especially knowing the Japanese leagues produce some decent ballplayers and provide some decent competition.

Signing Colas is a worthwhile move in my book, especially since the Cuban players already in the organization should help ease his transition to a new country and a new culture.

The Sox certainly could use a power-hitting, left-handed corner outfielder. Only problem is, 2022 is a win-now season for the Sox, and it is not realistic to believe Colas can fill that hole immediately. Long term, is he a potential solution? Sure. You never know. I'll be interested to see how he looks whenever spring training starts.

However, this signing does not let the Sox front office off the hook. When the lockout ends, they still need to be active in free agency and trades and find a right fielder for 2022.

David Ortiz elected to Hall of Fame; Mark Buehrle gets enough votes to stay on ballot

David Ortiz

David Ortiz is going to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are not.

Ortiz, the former Boston Red Sox designated hitter, received 77.9% of the votes by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. He was the only eligible player to clear the 75% threshold required for induction, and he becomes the 58th player elected in his first year of eligibility.

Bonds, baseball's all-time leading home run hitter, appeared on 66% of the ballots. Clemens, a 354-game winner, received 65.2% of the vote. Both Bonds and Clemens now fall off the ballot for next year, as this was their 10th and final year of eligibility.

Ultimately, suspicions about performance-enhancing drugs doomed the candidacies of both Bonds and Clemens. The same could be said of former Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa, who received only 18.5% of votes in his 10th and final year on the ballot. Sosa has more than 600 career home runs, but it's clear that only a small percentage of voters see his career accomplishments as legitimate.

Ortiz getting in on the first ballot is a bit of a surprise, just because he also has been the subject of PED speculation. A 2009 story in The New York Times reported that Ortiz was among 104 players who tested positive for PEDs during a round of tests conducted in 2003. Those test results were supposed to remain anonymous. 

Let's be fair to Ortiz and point out that he played through the 2016 season, and he no doubt was tested for PEDs on numerous occasions. He never tested positive. Ortiz finished his career with 541 home runs, and he is a three-time World Series champion. He is tied for first all-time in go-ahead postseason hits with 17, and he is tied for first all-time in walk-off postseason hits with three. There's little question his playoff accomplishments resonated with voters.

Farther down the voting totals, former White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle received 5.8% of votes, just enough to clear the 5% threshold to remain on the ballot for another year. Next year will be Buehrle's third season of eligibility.

It will be interesting to see if Buehrle's support grows in coming years with less of a logjam on the ballot. As most people know, writers can vote for a maximum of 10 players. For the past 10 years, Bonds and Clemens have gotten a lot of votes -- just never enough to secure induction. Sosa, Curt Schilling and Tim Hudson have also fallen off the ballot.

One other White Sox player of note: Former catcher A.J. Pierzynski received 0.5% of the vote and fell off the ballot in his first year of eligibility. Other players who failed to get 5% of the vote included Joe Nathan, Tim Lincecum, Ryan Howard, Mark Teixeira, Justin Morneau, Jonathan Papelbon, Prince Fielder, Carl Crawford and Jake Peavy.

(Yes, I know Peavy played for the Sox, but I still think of him as a San Diego Padre.)

Here are the vote totals for notable players: Ortiz 77.9%, Bonds 66%, Clemens 65.2%, Scott Rolen 63.2%, Schilling 58.6%, Todd Helton 52%, Billy Wagner 51%, Andruw Jones 41.1%, Gary Sheffield 40.6%, Alex Rodriguez 34.3%, Jeff Kent 32.7%, Manny Ramirez 28.9%, Omar Vizquel 23.9%, Sosa 18.5%, Andy Pettitte 10.7%, Jimmy Rollins 9.4%, Bobby Abreu, 8.6%, Buehrle 5.8%, Torii Hunter, 5.3%.

Time for a little pitcher comparison ...

Let's compare two pitchers who had long and productive careers. 

You ready?

Pitcher A: 214 wins; 3,283.1 innings pitched; 3.81 ERA; 33 complete games; 10 shutouts; two no-hitters; one perfect game; four Gold Gloves; five All-Star Game appearances; 1,870 strikeouts; 117 ERA+; 4.11 FIP; 1.281 WHIP; 59.1 WAR; one World Series championship

Pitcher B: 200 wins; 2,740 innings pitched; 3.66 ERA; 15 complete games, four shutouts, one no-hitter, zero perfect games; zero Gold Gloves; five All-Star Game appearances; 2,488 strikeouts; 117 ERA+; 3.78 FIP; 1.278 WHIP; 44.2 WAR; three World Series championships

Pitcher A has an advantage in wins and WAR; a significant advantage in innings pitched; a significant advantage in complete games and shutouts; threw one more no-hitter, plus a perfect game; and was far superior than Pitcher B at fielding his position, as evidenced by a 4-0 edge in Gold Gloves.

Pitcher B has a significant advantage in strikeouts; a slight advantage in WHIP; and an advantage in FIP. Pitcher B played on better teams and had more postseason success -- 3 World Series rings to 1.

The two pitchers appeared in an equal number of All-Star games, and had an identical ERA+.

Pitcher B is Jon Lester, who retired Wednesday, and is being hailed around Chicago as a slam dunk Hall of Famer.

OK, cool. Lester has had a terrific career, and I hope he makes it to the Hall, because that would mean Pitcher A should be there, too. After all, Pitcher A is comparable in many key categories, and superior in some others.

Pitcher A is Mark Buehrle.

If Buehrle doesn't get 5% of the vote this year and falls off the Hall ballot, someone's going to have to explain that one to me.

ICYMI: ESPN announces Sunday Night Baseball broadcasting crew

So, here's your ESPN Sunday Night Baseball broadcasting crew: Karl Ravech, Eduardo Perez and David Cone.

I don't mind it. I might be more inclined to watch now that Alex Rodriguez is gone. I've heard Ravech do some play-by-play on the College World Series, and while he doesn't wow me, I think he'll do fine. 

I haven't heard a lot of Cone's broadcasting, but I've heard good things about his work as an analyst on the YES Network. Perez has been around, and I've never had any complaints about him.

But don't worry: ESPN hasn't quit A-Rod just yet. Rodriguez and Michael Kay will team up eight times for "Sunday Night Baseball with Kay-Rod" on ESPN2. This will be a complementary broadcast to the usual coverage on ESPN, featuring "special guests as well as fantasy baseball and predictive elements."

I must say, I'll take the Ravech-Cone-Perez booth every time over Kay and Rodriguez. There's no chance that I'll be viewing any of those eight broadcasts on ESPN2.

Is there anyone who's not a Yankees fan who's going to be interested in that? Can anyone out there tolerate A-Rod at all?