The Chicago White Sox have non-tendered Carlos Rodon, ending his time on the southside.
Before pitchers like Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech, and Dylan Cease were thought of as future and present-day stars. The White Sox had Carlos Rodon pegged as the future ace of this team before the rebuild was even a thought.
Carlos Rodon spent 6 seasons with the Chicago White Sox after being drafted by the team third overall in 2014. He spent one season in the minors before making his big-league debut in 2015. When you draft someone with the third overall pick, you have expectations for that player to be with your team for a long time.
Unfortunately, Rodon never reached his ceiling in Chicago. After a somewhat promising rookie season, injuries and inconsistencies ended up being his downfall. Other than his rookie season, Rodon never finished with an ERA below four.
What really stings about the Rodon failure is that not only was Rodon a major miss but so was Carson Fulmer, who was drafted the very next year. The Sox quickly gave up on Fulmer but they decided to keep giving Carlos chances. They even brought him on in a relief appearance this past postseason against the Oakland A’s in the playoffs. That very move was criticized heavily by fans and people who cover the team. It can also be another reason to push for the inevitable firing of Rick Renteria.
With the Sox entering a whole new era while shedding one of the final pieces of the pre-rebuild era, let’s look at the good, bad, and ugly of Carlos Rodon’s White Sox career: