The White Sox have signed right-hander Justin Dunn to a minor league deal, per the team. The CAA client will be in spring training as a non-roster invitee.
Now 29 years old, Dunn was a first-round pick by the Mets in 2016. He ranked among the organization’s top prospect when he was traded to Seattle alongside Jarred Kelenic in the Robinson Cano/Edwin Diaz blockbuster. The M’s gave Dunn a look in parts of three seasons and got decent results along the way, though Dunn also battled multiple shoulder injuries in his Mariners tenure. Eventually, he was packaged with Brandon Williamson and Jake Fraley in the trade bringing Eugenio Suarez and Jesse Winker to Seattle.
With the Reds, Dunn only pitched a total of 65 2/3 innings between the minors and big leagues combined. His shoulder was ailing at the time of the trade, but Cincinnati made the swap anyhow. Dunn’s first season in Cincinnati was delayed by that shoulder; the team announced late in spring training that Dunn would miss “months” with a shoulder issue. He wound up pitching 31 innings in the minors and another 31 in the majors that year, logging an identical 6.10 ERA in both settings. Dunn’s 2023 season was again delayed by shoulder woes, and he eventually underwent surgery to repair the anterior shoulder in his right capsule late in 2023. He hasn’t pitched since.
Just a couple weeks ago, Dunn’s camp hosted a showcase for big league clubs. It was always unlikely that he’d land a guaranteed roster spot after such a lengthy layoff, but Dunn will head to a White Sox organization that should have ample opportunity for him next season. He’ll bring a career 4.44 ERA, 19.3% strikeout rate and ugly 14.7% walk rate in 133 2/3 innings to Chicago. When healthy, Dunn has averaged 93.7 mph on his heater and paired that offering with an 84 mph slider and 80 mph curveball.
Because of all the time Dunn has spent on a major league injured list, he has four full seasons of service time already. If he makes the White Sox’ roster at any point, he’d get to five years with another 152 days in the majors. At the very least, Dunn has a full slate of minor league options and two seasons of club control remaining. If he’s brought up midseason when there are fewer than 152 days on the calendar, he’d technically be controllable another three years, at minimum. All of that is putting the proverbial cart before the horse, however. First and foremost, Dunn will need to show that his shoulder injury is behind him and make some strides with his longstanding command issues. There’s plenty of former prospect pedigree, but it’s been close to a decade since Dunn was a first-rounder and about five years since he was last considered a top prospect.
Typical White Sox move.
Exactly! 14.7% walk rate…Coop can fix him.
Who is Coop? Katz is the pitching coach.
As far as chances to stick in the rotation or on the roster for the whole season in general, i don’t think Dunn could have made a better choice
That’s ridiculous. He has no chance to make the starting rotation. The Sox actually have many decent to good options. If the Sox have any strength it’s that.
Most likely he will be in the bullpen in AAA with a shot at the bigs later in the season if he can get anything back.
You think Dunn couldn’t beat Chris Flexen for a rotation spot?
Dunn is Done. Mariner’s brass Jerry Dipstick should also be done for lacking eye for talents.
longoverdue: I’ll take DiPoto over Getz any day of the week. getz will continue to pile up a roster full of rejects until Reinsdorf either sells the team or goes to meet the devil.
Sure. Let’s continue the rebuild with a guy with chronic shoulder injuries and statistics that would embarrass a little leaguer. That’s Getz’ idea of a building block. Garbage in, garbage stays.
In addition to trading Crochet and Robert for top prospects, we can expect the White Sox to do a lot of these types of signings. And why shouldn’t they? For the next couple of seasons, the Sox should be the land of opportunity for AAAA players and reclamation projects, like established big leaguers looking to rebound from down years and injuries. There’s no point in pursuing top free agents, giving up draft picks, or rushing up the next wave of young talent just to lose 100 games again. The White Sox will churn and burn through guys like this for the next couple of years until they can get in a competitive situation again…
At the end of the season, the White Sox SP projected at 70-80 wins, based on their final stats.. A historically bad bullpen and historically bad offense made them so awful, plus dreadful defense. SP is the least of their problems.