Over the past few days, the White Sox have made a flurry of moves. The club acquired Lance Lynn from the Rangers for Dane Dunning and Avery Weems, and signed free agent (and former Sox outfielder) Adam Eaton to a one-year deal with an option. The activity came on the heels of the non-tender deadline last week, when the White Sox made another move, one expected by many fans. The team cut ties with former first round pick (3rd overall, 2014) Carlos Rodon.
The club non-tendered the oft-injured left-handed starter, as well as outfielder Nomar Mazara, making both free agents. General manager Rick Hahn did state that the club would stay in touch with both players throughout the offseason, to potentially work out another agreement later. For now, however, the Carlos Rodon era comes to and end with the sour aftertaste of the Game 3 implosion as the last remaining memory of his time with the White Sox.
COLLEGE ACE
It all seemed too good to be true back in 2014. Rumored to be in play for the first overall pick, the White Sox organization and its fans rejoiced when the Astros selected Brady Aiken and the Miami Marlins picked Tyler Kolek, leaving the premier college ace on the board for Chicago.
There was ample reason for the White Sox to be excited over the chance to pick Rodon. The lefty had been a true workhorse ace for North Carolina State. He went 25-10 in 49 starts, pitched 345.2 innings and tallied 436 strikeouts, 117 walks, a 2.19 ERA and a 11.26 K/9. Like Carson Fulmer, the other first-rounder the White Sox cut ties with in 2020, Rodon wowed the international circuit with the Collegiate Team USA before being drafted by the White Sox. During the 2012 edition of the Haarlem Baseball Week in The Netherlands, Rodon anchored a pitching staff that also saw later first-rounders and/or major leaguers Marco Gonzales, Michael Lorenzen, Trevor Williams, Bobby Wahl, Ryne Stanek and Adam Plutko shine on the mound. Other future stars on the roster included Trea Turner, Michael Conforto, and Kris Bryant.
Rodon, a freshman at NC State that year, went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, 10 strikeouts, 3 walks in 9.0 innings during the tournament. Marco Gonzales took home the award for best pitcher and Trea Turner was named MVP. Rodon made it clear, however, that he was a name to follow. He went on to dominate at NC State for the next two years and was in the running for the first overall selection. When the Astros and Marlins decided to pick high school arms, the White Sox pounced.
A PERFECT MATCH?
The pick appeared to be a match made in heaven. At the time, the White Sox had recent success with drafting left-handed college pitchers with power sliders, and Rodon came out of the draft motivated to prove to the world that he should have been the first overall selection. Despite being drafted in the top three, the White Sox were forced to overpay for the talented lefty. Agent Scott Boras was once again successful in getting maximum value for a client, as Rodon received a whopping $6.582 million signing bonus, a solid $860,000 over slot.
Rodon was not the only party in the deal motivated for quick success. The White Sox were on the verge of attempting a run at a division title. Just months after drafting Rodon, GM Rick Hahn ‘won’ his first of several off-seasons, this one by acquiring Jeff Samardzija, Melky Cabrera, Adam LaRoche and David Robertson in one fell swoop, signaling a full go attempt to make the postseason.
MOTIVATION
Motivated by the offseason successes, the team called up Rodon on April 21, 2015. With just 24.2 minor league innings under his belt, Rodon made his major league debut against the Cleveland Indians. He did not fare well. In 2.1 innings, Rodon walked three, struck out one, gave up two runs and only threw 29 strikes in 60 pitches.
By the way, seeing Alexei Ramirez and Micah Johnson in the background of Rodon’s warm-up tosses gives you an idea of how different the organization looked then. Trayce Thompson and Chris Beck were still White Sox. Mike Olt and Rob Brantly received playing time that year. Erik Johnson was still with the organization (so guess who was as well…?). Daniel Webb was still alive. In fact, Rodon leaves Jose Abreu behind as the only player from that era still wearing a Sox uniform. (That changes the moment Adam Eaton officially dons black and white pinstripes again, or course. Rodon and Eaton were teammates in 2015 and 2016).
Rodon survived wave after wave of restructuring. From the aforementioned ‘go for it’ winter, to the ‘tear it all down to the studs’ offseason that kicked off the rebuild that saw Chris Sale, Eaton and Jose Quintana depart. Rodon was still there, every step of the way.
Every season that followed Sox fans were in agreement: this would be the season that Rodon would step up and carry the load. He would slide into Sale’s rotation spot and be the workhorse/ace that every team, even one in a rebuild, needs to look towards for guidance, for innings, and for hope. It just never happened.
THE RODON ERA
The lefty struggled pretty much all the time. A pretty good rookie season (9-6, 3.75 ERA, 139 strikeouts in 139.1 innings) led to optimism, but the following year, Rodon did not improve. In 2016, he finished the season with a 9-10 record. He pitched only 165 innings, struck out 168 and amassed a 4.04 ERA. It was the year his injury troubles first popped up. A sprained wrist in 2016, bicep bursitis and shoulder inflammation in 2017, a 2018 hampered by more shoulder discomfort and eventually Tommy John surgery in early 2019 kept Rodon off the mound for more time than he was on it.
Just 69.1 innings (4.15 ERA) in 2017, 120 innings (4.18 ERA and a massive drop in strikeouts) in 2018 and 34.2 innings (5.19 ERA) in 2019 tell a story of a player who just could not stay healthy. And even when he was healthy and pitching, he never quite blew away hitters like he did in college. With a swinging strike percentage around 10% in every season, it was clear that he was not fooling enough hitters to be able to keep up. Injuries caught up with him, and after an ill-advised couple of relief appearances in 2020, against Cleveland and Oakland, the writing was on the wall. It was time for a change and the Sox let Rodon go.
NEW HOPE FOR FANS, TEAM AND PLAYER
Cutting ties with Rodon provides glimpses of hope for everyone involved. White Sox fans, having grown tired of Rodon’s inconsistency and health struggles, viewed the non-tendering as a separation from the past and a move towards the future. It showed the maturation of an organization not too proud to admit failure. It probably helped that the neighbors across town released their 2014 first-rounder Kyle Schwarber on the same day, making both organizations part with their past.
For Rodon, the move may also provide hope. The odds are non-zero that a major league organization will take a chance on him, and perhaps all he needs is a full year in a low-profile rotation in Pittsburgh or Baltimore, or any other rotation in need of a warm body more than a guy who can carry a squad through a whole season. Removed from the high expectations of being an organization’s first-round pick, perhaps a change of scenery can give Rodon the peace of mind to showcase his talent. If only he can stay healthy, it would be neat to see the talent float to the surface again. For now, the White Sox move on without Rodon, and into the future.
Photo credit: Clinton Cole/FutureSox
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