The White Sox have traded another pitcher for cash. On Saturday the team announced that they had traded right-hander Alex Speas to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for cash considerations.
This marks the second time in as many weeks that the White Sox have traded away a pitcher for cash considerations after they sent Jake Cousins to the Yankees on March 31st. Speas was designated for assignment on April 2nd to make room on the roster for Robbie Grossman.
The 26-year-old right-hander was claimed off of waivers by the White Sox last October. Speas’s fastball can touch triple digits but he has struggled with control throughout his career. He has appeared in just three MLB games to this point which all came with the Texas Rangers in 2023. He tossed just two innings allowing three runs on five walks with four strikeouts.
His small MLB sample size is a microcosm of his minor league career to this point—impressive strikeout numbers paired with a concerning amount of walks. The bulk of his 2023 season was spent in Double-A where he posted a 41% strikeout rate, thanks in part to his 99-100 mph heater. However, he walked a combined 15.5% of his opponents between Double-A and Triple-A.
He began the 2024 season in Triple-A Charlottle after posting a 4.50 ERA in six Cactus League games this spring. So far this season he has allowed four runs in two innings for the Knights. The Texas Rangers initially selected Speas in the second round of the 2016 amateur draft. He has shown that he has electric stuff when he finds the strike zone.
