Tag / Omar Narvaez

by admin

He Gone… Again

Last week, the White Sox brought back Alexander (nee Alex) Colomé for a second go around.  After four appearances with a 6.00 ERA, that second go-around came to an end today.  Colomé was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for outfielder Jake Marisnick.

Colomé was first acquired from the Mariners in a trade for catcher Omar Narváez following the 2018 season.  He notched 42 saves in 83 games over two seasons and picked up an additional save and two scoreless innings in two appearances during the 2020 Wild Card series against the A’s.  He left as a free agent after the abbreviated 2020 season and returned on a minor league deal earlier this season.

by admin

By The Numbers – 48

In 1929, uniform numbers appeared on the back of baseball jerseys for the first time, thanks to the Indians and the Yankees.  By 1937, numbers finally appeared across all uniforms, both home and away, across both major leagues.  Since that time, 81 distinct numbers have been worn by members of the White Sox, while the Cubs boast 76.

Today, we continue our look at those players, picking our favorite, if not the best, player to wear each uniform number for both Chicago teams with #48.  65 different players have donned #48 while playing in Chicago, 35 for the White Sox and 30 for the Cubs.

Rick Reuschel was selected by the Cubs in the third round of the 1970 draft.  He joined the big league team in June of 1972, donning #48.  His best season came in 1977, winning 20 games and finishing third in the Cy Young Award voting as the Cubs flirted with a pennant chase before a late season swoon.  He remained with the Cubs until he was traded to the Yankees during the 1981 strike.  He returned to the Cubs in 1983, but wearing a different number.

Acquired for Omar Narvaez, Alex Colome wore #48 during his two seasons on the south side.  He notched 42 saves in 83 games, and picked up an additional save and 2 scoreless innings in 2 appearances during the 2020 Wild Card series against the A’s.

by admin

Retooling For 2019

The White Sox made a trio of acquisitions over the past week, bolstering their roster for 2019.  Things started on Tuesday, when a trade with the Pirates netted the Sox right hander Ivan Nova in exchange for minor leaguer Yordi Rosario and international bonus money.  Yesterday, it was reported that the White Sox came to an agreement with free agent catcher James McCann.  Finally, the White Sox announced earlier this morning that they had acquired first baseman Yonder Alonso from the Indians for minor league outfielder Alex Call.

Nova, signed through 2019, basically steps in to the James Shields role as innings eater and mentor, though he should offer better results on the mound.  Over the past 3 years, Nova surpasses Shields in games, innings pitched, HR allowed, ERA, and FIP.  While he has given up more hits, that should be more than offset by a drastic reduction in walks.  Rosario is a lottery ticket at this point and, due to the Luis Robert signing, the White Sox couldn’t use the bonus money anyway, so the cost to get Nova was minimal.

With Omar Narvaez and Kevan Smith off to other organizations and Seby Zavala and Zack Collins still a year or so away, the White Sox needed a catcher to team with Welington Castillo for 2019.  McCann will fill that role, though he rates as sub-par both offensively and defensively.  His main pluses are the occasional home run and a strong arm to control the running game.

The trade for Alonso, at first glance, is a bit of a head scratcher.  Assuming there is nothing in the works on the Jose Abreu front, the two will split time between first base and designated hitter.  Another reported use is recruiting, as Alonso’s brother-in-law just happens to be Manny Machado, one of the two biggest fish in the free agency pond.  Who knows if it will help, but the White Sox reportedly have a meeting set with Machado for next week.  If that doesn’t pay off, then the move basically helps a division rival clear salary space in exchange for someone who isn’t likely to be a long term part of the rebuilding process.

by jim

Two Non-Tenders, A Trade, And A Pizza Place

Earlier today, the White Sox began clearing the deck of pieces they do not expect to be part of the team’s future success, dealing catcher Omar Narváez to the Mariners and not tendering 2019 contracts to Avisail García and Matt Davidson.  In return for Narváez, the White Sox received relief pitcher Álex Colomé.

Narváez, who broke out offensively last year and led the White Sox in fWAR, would, at first glance, seem to be someone to contribute to the future success of the White Sox.  His poor defense, however, would seem to say otherwise.  He was near the league’s worst in both passed balls and pitch framing, according to publicly available metrics, and the White Sox obviously thought he had little chance of improving.  Colomé should help improve a bullpen that was in dire need of talent at the end of 2018.

As for García and Davidson, the decision to cut ties with the duo probably had as much to do with their expected arbitration numbers than anything else.  García’s expected salary was around $8 million, which is chump change if he were to duplicate his 2017 season, but, at this point in his career, that does looks more and more to be an outlier.  With Eloy Jimenez expected to join the White Sox in mid-April, García became expendable.  Davidson, despite providing some unexpected flexibility last year as a mop-up reliever, never truly lived up to his potential.  He can still hit for power, but not much else, and the White Sox obviously thought they had seen everything there was to see from him.

García’s, Davidson’s, and Narváez’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →

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2018 Final Batting Leaders

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersAnother baseball season has come to an end, with the Cubs shocking late season collapse ending with a Wild Card game loss to the Rockies and year two of the rebuild for the White Sox hitting some bumps along the way.  Let’s take a look back at the offensive leaders for the 29 games, including the post-season, that I attended this season:

Home Runs

Name Total
Tim Anderson 4
Matt Davidson 3
Anthony Rizzo 3
Yoan Moncada 3
Nicky Delmonico 3

Hits

Name Total
Jose Abreu 23
Yolmer Sanchez 23
Tim Anderson 19
Matt Davidson 18
Adam Engel 18

Runs

Name Total
Tim Anderson 15
Jose Abreu 10
Continue reading →
by admin

2018 All Star Break Batting Leaders

With the All Star Game on tap for tonight in Washington, with four total representatives from the Cubs and White Sox, let’s take a look at the first half offensive leaders for the 20 games I attended:

Home Runs

Name Total
Anthony Rizzo 3
Tim Anderson 3
Carlos Correa 2
Welington Castillo 2
Matt Davidson 2
Nick Castellanos 2

Hits

Name Total
Jose Abreu 19
Yolmer Sanchez 17
Tim Anderson 13
Adam Engel 13
Matt Davidson 12

Runs

Name Total
Tim Anderson 11
Matt Davidson 9
Continue reading →
by admin

2017 Final Batting Leaders

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersAnother baseball season has come to an end, with the Cubs title defense falling a bit short thanks to the Dodgers in the NLCS and year one of the rebuild on the South Side looking fruitful.  Let’s take a look back at the offensive leaders for the 49 games, including the post-season, that I attended this season:

Home Runs

Name Total
Jose Abreu 10
Melky Cabrera 7
Avisail Garcia 7
Tim Anderson 5
Enrique Hernandez 5
Javier Baez 5

Hits

Name Total
Jose Abreu 44
Tim Anderson 35
Avisail Garcia 33
Melky Cabrera 33
Yolmer Sanchez 30

Runs

Name Total
Jose Abreu 22
Tim Anderson 18
Continue reading →