The Chicago White Sox and pitcher Dylan Cease reached a $8 million, one-year agreement on Thursday, avoiding arbitration.
Trade rumours have included Cease, who failed in the previous season despite coming in second in the 2022 AL Cy Young Award voting. In 33 starts, the 28-year-old right-hander has a record of 7-9 with a 4.58 ERA.
The White Sox also reached agreements with slugger Andrew Vaughn ($3.25 million) and right-hander Michael Kopech ($3 million) as well as infielder Nicky Lopez ($4.3 million), and pitchers Michael Soroka ($3 million), Touki Toussaint ($1.3 million) and Garrett Crochet ($800,000). All seven of Chicago’s players who qualify for arbitration have agreements in place.
Vaughn batted.258 last season, hitting 21 home runs and driving in 80 runs. After Kopech was 5-12 in 27 starts and three relief outings last year, his ERA skyrocketed from 3.54 in 2022 to 5.43.
Baseball aficionados, don’t forget that pitchers and catchers report on February 14, the day of love, in only one month. On Valentine’s Day, I always enjoy browsing social media to find any updates and photos of what’s going on at Camelback Ranch. Lucas Gio—wait, he’s not there—what is he? It’s not like I’m excited for spring training.
But there is one thing White Sox supporters can be excited about: the promotional schedule! The White Sox front staff often does a good job in this area. If you want anyone to enter the ballpark this season to witness a subpar team run into the netting and hit straight into a double play or perhaps a rare triple play, you have to provide the fans some awesome White Sox merch.
Chicago – All seven of the Chicago White Sox’s arbitration-eligible players, including starting pitcher Dylan Cease, agreed to one-year contracts on Thursday. Cease and the Sox agreed to a $8 million, one-year contract. The 28-year-old right-hander has been linked to trade rumours all offseason. In 2023, he finished 7-9 with a 4.58 ERA and 214 strikeouts in 33 starts.
Crochet intends to prepare himself to move from the bullpen to the rotation as well. His 3.55 ERA in 13 bullpen outings in 2023 came after he missed the 2022 campaign due to Tommy John surgery. After playing most of his first two seasons in the outfield, Vaughn went to first base, where he slashed.258/.314/.429 with 21 home runs and 80 RBIs.
Following his Sox claim in June, Toussaint has a 4.97 ERA in 19 games (15 starts) with the team. In November, the Atlanta Braves acquired Soroka and Lopez as part of a six-player transaction.
