Earlier today, I wrote that Chris Getz had turned over 10 spots on the White Sox's 40-man roster without acquiring a player who could comfortably be called "good."
Chris Flexen will make it 11 in a row.
Bob Nightengale reported this evening that the White Sox signed the 29-year-old right-handed starter to a one-year, $1.75 million contract. Mark Feinsand said Flexen can earn an extra $1 million in performance bonuses.
As you might've guessed from the price, Flexen is coming off a terrible year. He posted a 6.86 ERA over 17 games and 102⅓ innings with the Mariners and Rockies. He also spent a few days as a member of the New York Mets in between as part of a salary dump. After designating Flexen for assignment in late June, Seattle traded him and Trevor Gott to the Mets for Zach Muckenhirn in early July, after which the Mets released Flexen, eating the $4 million obligation. He spent the rest of the year taking beatings for the Rockies, and finished the year below replacement level by both main measures.
The two years before, Flexen was one of those KBO success stories that the White Sox are trying to replicate with Erick Fedde. He failed to find footing with the Mets for three years -- partially due to conditioning -- before heading to Korea during the pandemic season. He went 8-4 with a 3.01 ERA for Doosan, after which the Mariners signed him to two-year, $4.75 million deal.
That was money well spent. He went 14-6 with a 3.61 over 179⅔ innings, then followed it up with a 3.73 ERA over 137⅔ innings in 2022, although he was bumped to the bullpen when the Mariners acquired Luis Castillo. He still managed to reach 300 innings and trigger an $8 million vesting option for 2023.
So what changed? His fastball became one of the worst pitches in baseball. He's always lived in the low-90s and used it to set up a kitchen-sink approach, but his heater lost some of its life in 2023 and got tattooed.
| Year | FB% | MPH | AVG | SLG | Run Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 40.0 | 92.8 | .273 | .459 | 8 |
| 2022 | 39.4 | 91.7 | .303 | .530 | -3 |
| 2023 | 41.1 | 91.9 | .383 | .740 | -21 |
The only worse offerings in baseball according to Statcast were Adam Wainwright's sinker and Joey Wentz's fastball (-23). Both had ERAs worse than Flexen's 6.86, but at least Wainwright had the defense of being 41 years old.
Flexen also had to shift from a slow curveball to a harder slider after the 2021 season, so his original recipe for retiring hitters after returning from the KBO lost its magic, and he's struggled to find a second wind.
What the White Sox are getting for their $1.75 million is durability. He's been able to take the ball whenever asked since returning from Korea, and the White Sox need guys who can absorb starts, even if they're not of the quality variety. The rotation now looks something like ...
- Dylan Cease
- Erick Fedde
- Michael Soroka (if healthy)
- Michael Kopech
- Chris Flexen
... with Touki Toussaint on deck if and when the White Sox deal Cease.
As for whether Flexen will be worth those starts, we'll see if Brian Bannister and Ethan Katz have any ideas for restoring the life on Flexen's fastball, or finding a form of breaking ball that serves the same purpose that his curveball did in 2021. The White Sox signed up for Flexen's age-29 season, so he's one of the cheapest younger/youngest cheaper bets they can make. Perhaps he'll find rebound material in getting out of Coors Field, which seemed to work out well enough for Jose Ureña with the White Sox at the end of the 2023 season.
