The Chicago White Sox officially announced the signing of veteran starting pitcher Martin Perez after two weeks it was reported he would be joining the club.
Maybe it took so long for the team to announce the signing because it was trying to find the money to afford the biggest free-agent deal handed out this offseason by the club. Okay, that is a bit stretch since the deal amounts to $5 million, but wondering why it took so long is warranted considering how frugal the team has been this offseason coming off of a 121-loss season.
The delay in announcing the signing likely came down to just getting Perez in for a physical and deciding who had to be removed from the 40-man roster since there was no open spot.
Reliever Ron Marinaccio has been chosen as the player the White Sox designated for assignment to make room for Perez on the 40-man.
Marinaccio was claimed off of waivers before the 2024 season ended. However, he never pitched a single inning for the Sox.
The 29-year-old righty pitched three seasons for the New York Yankees before getting designated for assignment toward the end of last season.
He is known for his swing-and-miss stuff but also struggling with his command. Marinaccio has a career 28.2 strikeout-percentage. He also has a walk percentage that is near 13.
He pitched just 23.1 innings in 2024 with a 3.86 ERA before the Yankees let him go.
Marinaccio did fit into the front office's plan to improve the bullpen by hoping to get bounce-back seasons from veteran hurlers and then deal them at the trade deadline.
Ron is not going to get that chance as the White Sox needed a veteran, left-handed starter in their rotation after Garrett Crochet was dealt.
The other player the Sox could have considered to DFA was outfielder Oscar Colas. He has completely fallen out of favor with the organization. Then again, it cannot hurt to keep him around for depth.
Colas could also eventually get DFA'd if the Sox make another 40-man roster addition. The Sox do have more right-handed reliever options than they do outfielders with big-league experience and that is why it made sense to dump Marinaccio.