The White Sox launched a listing of non-roster invitees to large league Spring Coaching, which included many names on previously-reported offers in addition to Danny Mendick. The infielder is a consumer of Icon Sports activities Administration. Proper-hander Jesse Chavez has additionally signed a minor league deal and been added to that NRI checklist, per Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Solar-Occasions. The righty is repped by Apex Baseball.
Chavez, 40, has appeared in 16 completely different MLB seasons and will likely be trying so as to add a seventeenth right here in 2024. He has continued to be very efficient as he has aged, posting a 1.56 earned run common with Atlanta final 12 months. That absolutely makes him look extra dominant than he really was, as his .273 batting common on balls in play and 81.2% strand fee had been each on the fortunate facet. However his 27.1% strikeout fee, 8.3% stroll fee, 51.7% floor ball fee, 3.05 FIP and three.35 SIERA all recommend he was nonetheless fairly an efficient pitcher.
The righty not too long ago acknowledged that he’ll “most likely” retire after the upcoming marketing campaign. A lot of his current success has include Atlanta, however it’s doable he seen Chicago as a higher likelihood to carve out a sizeable position this 12 months. There are a lot of gifted arms within the Atlanta bullpen whereas the White Sox have subtracted a lot of their finest relievers.
Gregory Santos, Kendall Graveman, Reynaldo López, Aaron Bummer, Keynan Middleton and Joe Kelly have all been traded since final summer time. Liam Hendriks had his 2024 choice declined as he’s recovering from Tommy John surgical procedure. The membership is reportedly planning to stretch out Garrett Crochet as a starter to see how that goes. The Sox have added Tim Hill and John Brebbia by way of free company, whereas Rule 5 decide Shane Drohan might earn a spot, however there ought to be loads of room for a veteran like Chavez.
Mendick, 30, was drafted by the White Sox and appeared within the large leagues with them within the 2019-2022 seasons. Within the first three years of that stretch, he hit simply .239/.298/.342. He received out to an amazing begin in 2022, hitting .289/.343/.443 by means of his first 31 video games. Sadly, he suffered a torn ACL in June and missed the remainder of the 12 months.
He was non-tendered on the finish of that season and signed with the Mets for 2023. He was ceaselessly optioned to the minors and hit simply .185/.232/.277 when within the large leagues final 12 months. However his .282/.369/.424 line in his Triple-A motion was way more palatable. He was positioned on waivers on the finish of the 12 months and handed by means of unclaimed earlier than electing free company.
He has performed each place besides catcher in his skilled profession and can provide the Sox some depth throughout. He’s performed extra center infield than different spot and that occurs to be part of the membership’s place participant combine that’s pretty unsettled. Paul DeJong is slated to be their on a regular basis shortstop even though he’s been fairly terrible on the plate lately. Nicky Lopez can be a glove-first infielder and he’s more likely to be the common at second base. At third, Yoán Moncada has had prolonged stints on the injured checklist in every of the final two years.
Provided that uncertainty, the membership might must depend on some depth choices, with José Rodríguez, Lenyn Sosa and Braden Shewmake already on the 40-man roster. If Mendick can get added at any level, he nonetheless has one choice 12 months remaining. He additionally has between three and 4 years of service time, that means he could possibly be retained past 2024 by way of arbitration if the staff had been excited by retaining him round.