The Guardians announced that they have claimed right-hander Jason Bilous off waivers from the White Sox. He had been designated for assignment recently when the White Sox acquired Franklin German from the Red Sox. The Guardians freed up a spot on their 40-man roster yesterday by trading Will Benson to the Reds, so no corresponding move will be required for this claim.
Bilous, 25, was a 13th round selection of the White Sox in 2018 who put himself on the prospect map with a strong 2021. He made 20 starts that year between High-A and Double-A, tossing 79 2/3 innings. His 5.76 earned run average wasn’t especially impressive, but there were more encouraging numbers under the hood. He struck out 30.2% of batters faced while keeping his walk rate down to a manageable 9.1% level, something he had struggled with previously. A .376 batting average on balls in play and 61.4% strand rate both pushed the ERA higher than he likely deserved, as he posted a 3.62 FIP on the year. That showing was enough for the White Sox to select him to their roster prior to that year’s Rule 5 draft and Bilous also jumped onto Baseball America’s list of top farmhands in the system, coming in at #14.
Unfortunately, the control problems that dogged him earlier in his career returned in 2022. Splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A last year, he posted a 6.30 ERA over 105 2/3 innings, striking out 26.1% of batters faced but issuing free passes at a 15.7% clip. That seemed to put a dent in his chances of sticking as a starter, as his last seven appearances were out of the bullpen.
It’s unclear if the Guardians plan on deploying Bilous as a starter or reliever, but he still has options and can be kept in the minors for a while as a new set of coaches will try to get him back on track. The major league club is in good position at the moment with a rotation fronted by Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie and a bullpen with Emmanuel Clase and James Karinchak. However, the low-budget club frequently sees its best players depart once they improve their earning power and is constantly on the lookout for younger and cheaper players to replace them with. Bilous has shown huge strikeout stuff but will need to refine his control to earn his way into the mix in Cleveland.
It seemed weird that they decided to clear a 40-man roster spot yesterday when they didn’t seem to immediately need one. I guess they planned on doing this.
I think the Guardians are one of the teams that’s earned the benefit of the doubt with smaller moves like this (it usually seems like they know something that we don’t), so they must see something they like or they think they can fix his control.
Especially when it comes to pitchers.
Time will tell BUT I think the Guardians will get the best of this one too
Huge
AJ Alexy is better.
White Sox fans are well aware of the success Cleveland has developing pitchers. It would especially hurt for them to do so with a now former White Sox prospect.
Aaron;
They got Konnor Pilkington started last year for 58 innings.
Will see if he can add to that in 2023.
Triston McKenzie didn’t have the best 2021. But he was terrific in 2022. Both are the same age. Takes a little time with pitchers.
Unlike today’s transaction, Konnor Pilkington was sent to Cleveland in a 2021 summer deadline trade for 2B César Hernández. The White Sox were looking for help at the keystone following the Nick Madrigal injury. In hindsight, they doubled down on two crap trades that also saw them send Madrigal and promising reliever Cody Heuer to the Cubs for Craig Kimbrel the very next day.
A terrific vicious cycle. Madrigal, Heuer & Pilkiington morphed into Kimbrel, to fill an opening that didn’t exist. To justify the trade, they had pick up the option, even though they didn’t need him. To justify picking up the option, they had to trade for a worse contract in Pollock. And Pollock was so bad they had to spend another $5M to buy him out. But then they still needed to replace Pollock, so they spent another $75M on Benni.
And the best part is, the ;last I looked, they still don’t have a 2B.
Just to correct you there, Pollock had a Player option and if he turned it down, then he got the $5M buyout. It wasn’t the team’s choice.
Spot on
And the beat goes on
Pilkington is the only one who is missed. The two Cubs are just hurt and bad.
He was awful. The Sox couldn’t do anything with him. Cleveland will make him into an all-star.
Doubt it in this case. The WSox are also pretty good at developing pitchers. It is position players where they have been awful the past couple decades.
They get draftees with promise but fail to develope them
Personally I am still waiting for the WS make the big SPLASH before Spring Training. Time to get SERIOUS here.
Time is fleeting. Perhaps the front office will make a big SPLASH before opening day or by the summer trade deadline. We can hope but I’m guessing their remaining transactions will be ripples.
At this point, I’ll be satisfied if their SPLASH is a contract extension to a core player like Dylan Cease or Andrew Vaughn.
I would kind of like some of the Red Sox fans to look at this. The merry-go-round happens every day in MLB. The RS cut some fringy #40 that the WS like. So they trade for the fringy #40 and cut Bilous, The Indians like Bilous so they cut Benson. The Reds like Benson so the jettison Lopez.
And most fans treat this exactly like it is-a switch of fringy #40 types. But the RS write epics about it. Y’all need to chill.
I like German more than Bilous, so I think the Sox made a good move. And seems like everyone thinks Bilous will blossom in Cleveland. Yeah, maybe, better chance than he had with the Sox, but it’s not like every pitcher in their system becomes an All-Star. Some guys wash out there, too.
You’re right. Anyone who saw Hunter Gaddis’ results when CLE brought him up last year know they hit a clinker every now and then. Gaddis is still young, but he got hammered in those appearances.
Gaddis wasn’t even among their top prospects. He was just a guy. He wasn’t a washout. Let’s see what happens with him over the next 1-2 years.
I think you’re right on. It’s easy for us Guardians fans to get carried away because they’ve earned the benefit of the doubt, but they claimed Jordan Stephens from the White Sox a few years ago and he didn’t amount to anything.
The vast majority of these moves are inconsequential at best, but it’s definitely fun to daydream a little.
It appears the switch to the pen was what the doctor ordered for German. He will get his chance in Chicago during the season.
Giving up Theo Denlinger and Jason Bilous for Franklin German and AJ Alexy is good maneuvering.