Carlos Rodon, Nate Jones, Micker Adolfo out for the season

Carlos Rodon

White Sox general manager Rick Hahn meets the media before the first game of every homestand at Guaranteed Rate Field, and typically, those news conferences are chock full of (mostly) bad injury news.

Here's the rundown from today's pregame before the Sox opened a two-game set with the Cleveland Indians.

• Pitcher Carlos Rodon will undergo Tommy John surgery later this week, as expected. Hahn hopes that Rodon will return sometime during the second half of the 2020 season.
• Pitcher Nate Jones had surgery Monday to fix a flexor mass tear in his right arm. He will miss the remainder of the 2019 season.
• Outfielder Micker Adolfo, a prospect who was playing for the Double-A Birmingham Barons, will have arthroscopic surgery on his elbow and miss the remainder of the 2019 season.
• Outfielder Eloy Jimenez is heading to Triple-A Charlotte to begin a rehab assignment on Tuesday. Jimenez has been out since April 26 with a sprained ankle.

A few reactions:

• Rodon cannot be counted upon to be anything more than a No. 5 starter moving forward. He's 26 years old, so youth is on his side in recovery, but the guy just keeps getting hurt. Despite his high-end talent, you have to assume anything you get from him is a bonus.
• It's time to move on from Jones. He has a team option for $3.75 million for 2020. It was a $5.15 million option, but language in the contract reduces it to $3.75 million because elbow surgery was required before the end of the 2019 season. The buyout is $1.25 million. Buy him out.
• This is the second straight season Adolfo will miss significant development time because of an elbow injury. He's 22 years old, so again, youth is on his side in terms of recovery. However, these are at-bats than can never be recouped, and I am no longer hopeful about his future with the Sox.
• I'd like to renew my call for Jimenez to DH when he returns to the majors, at least in the short run. Let him get the offensive part of the game down, and then once he's comfortable at the plate, work him back into left field. Right now, his awkward movements in the outfield are a danger to himself and his teammates. Work with him in the outfield before the game, but when the game starts, DH him. And, no, I don't care about Yonder Alonso's feelings. He's batting .178, and so what if he loses playing time?