White Sox Trade for Pitcher, Who Has Been Bad

Hmm, he'll fit right in!

The Chicago White Sox have made a trade, and well, it's not exactly going to make front-page news. On Wednesday, the White Sox announced they acquired right-handed pitcher Mike Mayers from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for everyone's favorite, cash considerations.

Mayers, 31, signed a minor league deal with Kansas City last December and he began the 2023 season in the minors at Triple-A with the Omaha Storm Chasers. On May 17, the Royals added Mayers to their active roster.

So far in 2023, Mayers has made six total appearances in the majors with Kansas City, posting a 6.15 ERA in 26.1 innings. On June 18, Mayers was designated for assignment by the Royals after the team called up Brooks Kriske.

If you're looking for a positive, Mayers did have a strong first three appearances in May, posting a 1.35 ERA in 13.1 innings. That included six shutout innings against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 29, when he only gave up two hits, while striking out three and walking none.

While Mayers has primarily been a reliever during his MLB career, the right-hander has been stretched out more during the past two seasons. In his final year with the Los Angeles Angels in 2022, Mayers ended the season by throwing more than 3 innings in 7 of his last 9 games. He made 8 starts at Triple-A last season and had 8 more starts at Triple-A this year before he was called up by the Royals.

The White Sox entered the All-Star break down two pitchers in the starting rotation. Mike Clevinger has been sidelined since the middle of June because of biceps inflammation and in early July the White Sox placed Michael Kopech on the 15-day injured list because of shoulder inflammation.

Chicago's bullpen has also been depleted with injuries to Liam Hendriks, Joe Kelly and Garrett Crochet.

With almost no pitching depth in 2023, the White Sox have recently leaned on Touki Toussaint, who the team claimed off waivers from the Cleveland Guardians in late June. The 27-year-old has looked good in his limited time with the White Sox, posting a 3.60 ERA in 15 innings. Toussaint's latest start was against St. Louis on Saturday, when he tossed five innings and gave up two runs.

Mayers made his MLB debut with the Cardinals in 2016. He stayed with St. Louis through the 2019 season before the Angels claimed him off waivers. He was pretty solid in Los Angeles, posting a 2.10 ERA during the COVID-shortened 2020 season and then had a 3.84 ERA in 75 innings in 2021. Overall in his career, Mayers has a 5.21 ERA in 204 MLB appearances.

At 38-54 and sitting in fourth place, eight games behind the Guardians in the AL Central, trade rumors have been ramping up surrounding the White Sox in the past week. According to Jon Heyman, almost everyone on the White Sox roster is available besides a quartet of players.

The White Sox resume play on Friday, when the begin a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves.