The Chicago White Sox reportedly signed pitcher Erick Fedde to a two-year, $15 million deal on Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Fedde, 30, went 20-6 with a 2.00 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 209 strikeouts in 180.1 innings for the KBO’s NC Dinos this past season, winning the South Korea baseball league’s MVP award.
The New York Mets reportedly tried to sign Fedde before he came to an agreement with the White Sox, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
Prior to his tenure with the NC Dinos, Fedde spent six seasons with the Washington Nationals (2017-22), going 21-33 in that time with a 5.41 ERA, 1.52 WHIP and 352 strikeouts in 454.1 innings.
He made 27 starts in each of the 2021 and 2022 seasons. His best season arguably came in 2021, when he set career bests in strikeouts (128) and wins (seven). A year prior, he set career bests in ERA (4.29) and WHIP (1.37) but only made 11 total appearances and eight starts that season.
The White Sox rotation could have a very different look in 2024. Alongside the signing of Fedde, rumors have consistently circulated regarding starting pitcher Dylan Cease, though general manager Chris Getz told reporters on Monday the team isn’t exactly itching to trade him away.
“There’s certainly no urgency to move Cease,” he said. “We’re talking about one of the best pitchers in baseball. There’s a responsibility for your organization, for the White Sox, to do what’s best for them. But Dylan’s a star in our game. There’s no real reason to come [to the Winter Meetings] and expect us to move Cease, but if a team brings something that meets a threshold that we feel we’ve just gotten a lot better, then we’re going to do that.”
Jon Morosi @jonmorosi
Latest on Dylan Cease trade market: The Reds, Orioles, Braves, and Dodgers are among the teams speaking with the White Sox, as we discussed on @MLBNetwork. pic.twitter.com/AV95dFFPO6
After going 61-101 last season, the White Sox are clearly in a rebuilding—or at least retooling—mode, and Cease’s two remaining seasons of club control make him a very valuable trade chip. Contenders around baseball are surely intrigued.
But bolstering the rotation was a huge need before the signing of Fedde, and it’s fair to question if he’ll have more success at the MLB level this time around. The rotation may still be a pretty big point of emphasis, in other words.
So if the White Sox do indeed trade Cease, it will be an enormous question mark heading into the 2024 campaign.
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