White Sox Sign Brandon Guyer to a Minor League Deal
White Sox add a veteran outfielder on a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training The outfielder was with the Cleveland Indians last season.
As they say in baseball if you can’t beat them…SIGN them. The White Sox followed that formula on Monday, signing former Cleveland Indian Brandon Guyer to a minor league deal.
According to Steve Adams at www.mlbtraderumors.com:
“The veteran Guyer could potentially give the ChiSox a platoon partner for lefty-swinging Daniel Palka in one of the outfield corners.”
Guyer quite literally burst onto the MLB scene in 2012, hitting a home run for the Tampa Bay Rays in his first major league at-bat against former Baltimore Orioles pitcher and two-tAll-StarStar Zach Britton.
More from White Sox News
- This former star would be a great Tony La Russa replacement
- The Chicago White Sox were unable to sweep the Oakland A’s
- White Sox: Tony La Russa gave an update on his medical condition
- The Chicago White Sox continued to dominate the Oakland A’s
- Elvis Andrus has been an upgrade over Tim Anderson at shortstop
After playing in parts of three seasons for the Rays from 2011-2014, when he missed most of 2012 and all of 2013 due to injuries, Guyer’s breakout year in Tampa Bay came in 2015. Playing in 128 games, Guyer hit a respectable .268 in a career-high 385 plate appearances.
He also led the league in getting hit by pitch 24 times, leading to the nickname “La Pinata” by former teammate and current Red Sox pitcher David Price. He then outdid himself a year later, leading the league again with getting hit 31 times.
Halfway through the 2016 season, Guyer was traded to Cleveland. Seeing his first postseason action that October, Guyer would perform very well as he hit .750 in the ALDS and .300 in the World Series, which Cleveland would narrowly lose to the Chicago Cubs in a dramatic seven-game set.
Still, Guyer’s last two at-bats in Game 7 did all they could to put Cleveland in a position to win. With Cleveland down 6-3 and a man on with two out in the eighth, he narrowed the deficit to 6-4 with an RBI double. The next batter, Rajai Davis, hit a dramatic game-tying two-run home run that gave Cleveland temporary hope. He would initially represent the final out for Cleveland in the 10th inning, before drawing a walk and eventually scoring a run before the game ended on Michael Martinez‘ groundout.
dark. Next. Michael Kopech Has Throwing Session
After two more seasons with the Tribe, Guyer will attempt to bring some of the AL Central Championship spirit from Cleveland over to the South Side.