Well, Chris Getz has remained busy these last few days. After adding Martin Maldonado and Tim Hill, the White Sox have added veteran right-hander Chris Flexen on a one year deal according to Bob Nightengale. Per Jeff Passan, the deal is worth 1.75 million dollars, so another very cheap signing for the White Sox.
This is a very interesting signing for the White Sox. As if they don't already have a plethora of starting pitchers, they have now added another to the mix. Among other things, this very much signifies that Dylan Cease is indeed on his way out of Chicago.
Flexen is now added to a crop of arms that include: Dylan Cease, Mike Soroka, Michael Kopech, Eric Fedde, Jared Shuster, and potentially Touki Toussiant, Jesse Scholtens, and Nick Nastrini. Even if you don't count Cease in that group, there are roughly eight starting pitchers in competition for just five spots.
Last year Flexen split time between Seattle and Colorado, starting 16 games, but pitching in 29 total games. He would throw 102.1 innings, striking out 74 and pitching to a 6.86 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. This was a very bad season for Flexen, as he had some very good years in the two years prior.
In 2022, he had a 3.73 ERA over 22 starts and in 2021 he had a 3.61 ERA over 31 starts. I'm not sure what went wrong last year, but he has had some very solid seasons the two years prior. This could be a great buy-low and flip at the deadline type signing, continuing the trend of those types of signings for the White Sox.
This move could mean they might not feel that some of the upper minors arms are ready to make the jump quite yet, or they are looking to add some competition to push those arms to be the best pitcher they can be. I very much hope that Flexen is just a first half placeholder for a back of the end rotation spot, as I don't think a 29 year old pitcher coming off a -1 WAR season should be taking innings away from young and upcoming arms like Nick Nastrini and Jared Shuster.
At best, the White Sox got a middle of the rotation arm for less than two million dollars, but at worst, you signed a very bad pitcher that will take up consistent innings away from the many young pitchers the White Sox have waiting in the wings.
While you can never complain about a 1.75 million dollar signing, as it can add nice rotation depth to a team that rarely has it, I just hope that the White Sox allow many of the younger guys to get a good look this year, as this is the perfect time to allow them to show the team what they have to offer.
In an ideal world, Flexen pitches like he did in '21-'22 and the Sox flip him in July and a younger pitcher takes his spot in the rotation. Now we wait to see how the rest of the off season plays out, as the White Sox have a bunch of arms that are pushing for major league time.
