Right-hander Ron Marinaccio, who was designated for assignment by the Yankees last week, has been claimed off waivers by the White Sox. Both clubs announced the move, with the Sox adding that Marinaccio has been assigned to Double-A Birmingham. The Double-A regular season is done but the Barons are playing in the Southern League championship this week, whereas the Triple-A Charlotte Knights are done for the year. The Sox had a 40-man roster vacancy after righty Chad Kuhl was designated for assignment recently and won’t need to make a corresponding move in that regard.
Marinaccio got nudged out of the Yankees’ plans but it’s unsurprising that he got picked up by the club with the top waiver priority. Now 29, he made his major league debut in 2022 and it was strong first impression. He logged 44 innings for the Yanks that season, only allowing 2.05 earned runs per nine. His 13.3% walk rate was definitely worrisome but he managed to work around that by striking out 30.9% of batters faced.
His results backed up a little bit from there. He had a 3.99 ERA in 47 1/3 innings last year. He still walked too many guys, a rate of 13.2%, with his strikeout rate slipping slightly to 27.3%. Here in 2024, the Yanks have frequently shuttled him back and forth between the majors and Triple-A. His 23 1/3 big league innings resulted in a 3.86 ERA with a reduced 10.1% walk rate but also a diminished 25.3% strikeout rate. At the Triple-A level, he has 39 2/3 innings with a 2.04 ERA, 25.8% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate.
Those are pretty decent numbers overall but he was getting squeezed from the roster in the Bronx. He had already been optioned five times this season, the maximum amount in an individual campaign. He’s also in his final option season and will be out of options next year.
It was therefore going to be challenging for him to continue hanging onto his roster spot on a competitive Yankee club going forward, so he got pushed out last week when Cody Poteet was ending his rehab assignment and needed to get added back to the 40-man.
But for the White Sox, he’s a sensible flier to take. As the worst club of the modern era, the Sox have plenty of room for guys who have shown promise elsewhere. Marinaccio has just over two years of service time and still won’t have qualified for arbitration this winter. He can be controlled for four seasons beyond the current campaign. If things click in Chicago next year, he can be a long-term part of their bullpen or perhaps become a valuable trade chip.
whatwouldyogido
Poor b*stard
mlb fan
Why poor b*stard?..With a little luck, performance and preserverance Marinaccio can be on a contender by the second half of next season. Either way(good or bad performance)we all know he won’t be on the Chisox for very long.
StudWinfield
I’d be kind of thrilled if I were him. He has a great chance of being kept on the 40 and starting next season in the WS bullpen. He’ll be out of options so failure next year means riding the waiver train.
Very Barry
White Sox are gonna play in a 2026 Wild Card game! Take it to the bank! We have some solid depth in the minors, and a pair of pitching studs in Noah Schulz and Hagen Smith.
Perhaps you overlooked the article mention that Birmingham, the White Sox Double A squad, will be playing for a championship this week????
quade
I am a White Sox fan, with a less than 50 million dollar team payroll and the intent to keep attendance down so they don’t have to pay stadium rent, the earliest this team will be competing is 2030
Aiden Awe
It’s definitely possible.
HatlessPete
Barry if absolutely everything breaks right and they manage to also find like a whole offense to go with those guys maybe they sniff 500.
D2323
Could have been “fixed” on a real team but this is a death sentence.
mlb fan
“Could have been fixed”..So the NY Yankees aren’t a “real” team?..
Joe says...
If Matt Blake can’t get it out of you, it ain’t in you to start with.
That said, he’s a serviceable pitcher already. There was no room for him on the Yankees.
YankeesBleacherCreature
He’s now got a chance to stick on a big league roster. With the Yankees, he’s AAAA reliever.
Slider_withcheese
Nothing like losing 120+ and still not being able to draft higher than 10th. Daymn. That’s brutal.
Datashark
Good pick up for WS, being someone was going to might as well be the worst team in the league with first crack at getting him.
Marinaccio should play his best at least til end of July, so he becomes a desired asset for a winning team
Warden of the North(acoss13)
Nice! Glad the White Sox nabbed him. He just needs to be a decent reliever and that’s enough to be a trade deadline chip next year.
schwender
He’s from Tom’s River NJ, so you gotta know this move is devastating to him