James Karinchak was one of the top relievers on the Cleveland Guardians from the moment he made his MLB debut in 2019 until the 2023 season.
His fall from grace started that year, and injuries (specifically a troublesome shoulder) limited him to seven appearances at the Guardians’ Triple-A level in 2024.
He elected free agency when the off-season started, and a few months after that moment, he finally found his next team.
It happens to be a division foe: the Chicago White Sox.
“The Chicago White Sox have agreed to terms with RHP James Karinchak on a minor-league contract which includes a non-roster invite to Spring Training,” the team announced via X.
The Chicago White Sox have agreed to terms with RHP James Karinchak on a minor-league contract which includes a non-roster invite to Spring Training.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) January 25, 2025
It’s a rock-solid move by White Sox general manager Chris Getz.
Bringing in Karinchak on a minor league deal is the definition of a low-risk, high-reward acquisition for a rebuilding franchise.
If he doesn’t pan out, there is no financial harm because it was a minor-league deal.
If it does, the White Sox will have a very solid reliever who can be flipped ahead of the trade deadline for a solid prospect.
After all, when fully healthy, Karinchak can help any bullpen.
He doesn’t always throw strikes consistently, but there is no doubt that he has swing-and-miss stuff.
Over his career with the Guardians, Karinchak had a 3.10 ERA and struck out 253 hitters in 165.2 frames.
Cleveland has enough depth and quality in its bullpen to absorb losing Karinchak.
They didn’t have him last year and had the best bullpen in the league, quite comfortably.
At this point, the two parties going their separate ways was for the best.
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