The rumor mill has been relatively quiet regarding Carlos Rodon’s free agency decision. The Chicago White Sox did not extend a qualifying offer to the 28-year old lefty back in November. This, mixed with the announcement that Micheal Kopech would be joining the starting rotation, seems to indicate that Rodon’s tenure with the White Sox is ending.
While Rick Hahn left the door open for a Rodon reunion the only hints fans have gotten have come via Rodón’s wife. Specifically her Twitter account.
Ashley Rodon posted an ominous-sounding Tweet for White Sox fans on November 7th. It sounded like the family would not be staying in Chicago for much longer.
It read “So thankful for Chicago!!! We love you guys! Always will. So excited for the next step of the journey. Daddy Los. you’re a testimonial of how you can’t beat a person who never gives up! It’s only just the beginning of your story.”
She offered a new update regarding Carlos’s free agency decision on December 30th.
“Everyone saying Los has a team preference… “So what color do you wanna be?” PSA…if your team colors do not look good on me you’re in trouble. Jk…kinda. This man does not care where we go.”
Assuming this is true, it looks like Carlos is chasing the bag this winter. He should come with an expensive price tag. His estimated qualifying offer was valued at $18.4 million. He would have declined that offer so teams will probably have to reach into the $20-$25 million range. He also has Scott Boras as his agent who has a reputation for being a shrewd operator.
Rodon is coming off his best season as a Major Leaguer. He posted a 13-5 record with a 2.37 ERA over 132 2/3 innings. The southpaw punched out 185 and only walked 36 batters en route to his first All-Star season. Only Corbin Burnes and Max Scherzer posted larger strikeout-to-walk percentage differentials than Rodon’s 27.9%. Rodon also had a career-defining moment when he tossed a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians on April 14th.
Boras made it clear that Rodon is seeking a multi-year deal. The White Sox are still eyeing help in right field and second base so that makes it even more unlikely they will resign him. But there should be no shortage of suitors for Rodon.
The Tigers seem like a good fit. They already showed they are willing to spend when they signed Eduardo Rodriguez and Javier Baez. They still need to fill out the rest of their rotation despite having young talented arms in Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal.
The Mets have shown that they are also willing to shell out large amounts of cash. Owner Steve Cohen is desperate to push his team into World Series contention and another arm like Rodon’s would solidify an already terrifying combo of Scherzer and Jacob deGrom.
The Dodgers lost Max Scherzer and Trevor Bauer is still unknown. Rodon would be a great addition to fill one of those holes. Meanwhile, the Mariners have shown they are ready to contend. They already added the 2021 Cy Young winner Robbie Ray so Rodon would give them a nice one-two punch.
The Yankees also have a history of signing risky arms so inking Rodon would be right out of their playbook. Their rotation is also very flimsy outside of Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery. If they want to hang with the big dogs of the American League they need rotational help.
Fans will just have to play the waiting game to find out.
