The White Sox have been largely quiet this offseason, but they've conducted quite a bit of turnover among fringe arms.
The latest is Franklin German, a right-handed reliever who arrived via trade this afternoon with the Red Sox. The White Sox sent righty relief prospect Theo Denlinger to Boston, and designated Jason Bilous for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
German averaged 98 mph with his fastball during his five-game stint with the Red Sox, which he pairs with a slider. MLB Pipeline said German uses a splitter as a changeup against lefties, but there wasn't much evidence of that in his first five games of MLB action last September.
Along with Gregory Santos (whom the White Sox acquired from the Giants in December), German gives the White Sox bullpen a little bit more of that upper-echelon velocity. The White Sox also claimed righty A.J. Alexy from Minnesota on waivers earlier this week, and selected Nick Avila in the Rule 5 draft. The White Sox have to carry Avila on the 26-man roster or risk losing him back to the Giants, but everybody else has options remaining.
German enjoyed his first cup of coffee in the second half of September, around the same time he turned 25. It's safe to say he didn't enjoy his debut, as he failed to retire any of the four batters he faced, and all four came around to score, but his other four appearances were a more typical kind of tough. He finished his first season with an 18.00 ERA, giving up eight runs over four innings across five appearances.
Although it ended poorly, everything else about German's 2022 was terrific. He posted a 2.72 ERA with 64 strikeouts against just 53 baserunners over 49⅔ innings in his first season out of the bullpen. He was originally drafted by the Yankees out of the University of North Florida in the fourth round of the 2018 draft. They used him as a starter before trading him and Adam Ottavino to the Red Sox in a salary dump in January 2021.
Two Januaries later, the Red Sox DFA'd German after trading Matt Barnes to Miami for Richard Bleier. It was Boston's second DFA-forced trade of the week, as they designated Barnes when they signed Adam Duvall. Boston beat writers were surprised to see German cut, but the Red Sox apparently had their reasons:
Why German over any of the other DFA candidates on the 40-man? He’s young, club-controlled, a top-30 prospect, and throws in the mid-to-high 90s.
In other words, he’s tradeable. Sources tell the Herald that it was a tough decision, but the Sox see German being at a point in his career at which he’s someone they can trade for a truly promising return. That’s not necessarily the case for other DFA candidates.
The Red Sox must see something in Denlinger, whom the White Sox drafted out of Bradley University in the seventh round in 2021. Denlinger dominated A-ball, as you'd expect from a collegiate reliever in his age-25 season, but Birmingham provided a tougher test. Still, he fared better than most of the Barons bullpen, with a 4.70 ERA and 49 strikeouts against 18 walks over 38⅓ innings. He's years away from requiring Rule 5 protection, but at 26, he's older than German.
As for Bilous, his progress stalled during the second half of the 2021 season, and while the White Sox considered him promising enough for Rule 5 protection, his control went the wrong way in 2022. Between Birmingham and a late-season promotion to Charlotte that was more forced by needs than performance, Bilous walked 79 batters over 105 innings, which is how he posted a 6.30 ERA despite 131 strikeouts. Since his stuff doesn't light up the radar gun like the fastballs of German and Denlinger, there's a chance he could sneak through waivers.
