As we inch closer to Opening Day, there are still plenty of free agents available on the market. A few of those players are old friends of the White Sox, as both Lucas Giolito and Michael Kopech still remain unsigned.
I would imagine that Giolito signs a contract before the season starts, as he had a very good year last year. Additionally, I find it very surprising that a team hasn’t taken a flier on Kopech, as when he is healthy, he usually is a pretty good pitcher. However, while they, and many others remain unsigned, a very old friend of the White Sox just signed a minor league deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
According to Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates have signed former first round pick Carson Fulmer to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training.
RHP Carson Fulmer is here with a locker in the Pirates clubhouse at LECOM Park. It’s a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training, source says.
— Colin Beazley (@colin_beazley) February 23, 2026
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This is very interesting, as Fulmer was a first round pick of the White Sox all the way back in 2015. After a dominant college career at Vanderbilt, Fulmer was a consensus top-100 prospect and made his major league debut with the White Sox in 2016.
Things didn’t go as planned for Fulmer with the White Sox, as he had a 6.56 ERA over four seasons, pitching a combined 94 major league innings. After his tenure with the White Sox ended in 2019, he made his way to the Detroit Tigers and the Baltimore Orioles in 2020. During that season, he pitched just 10.1 major league innings between the two organizations.
Many thought Fulmer’s major league career was over by 2023, as he had only pitched a combined 46 innings between 2020-2023, while not making an appearance in the 2022 major league season. However, Fulmer came back and had himself a very solid 2024 season with the Los Angeles Angels.
Carson Fulmer, Filthy 81mph Curveball. 😷 pic.twitter.com/O9eY5IHEAU
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 2, 2024
After having less than 150 MLB innings under his belt, he threw 86.2 innings of 4.15 ERA baseball, en route to a .8 WAR season. This was his best campaign by far and it came in his age 30 season. However, 2025 didn’t go as planned for Fulmer, as he had a 5.83 ERA over 29 innings with the Angels.
Now, still only 32, Fulmer will look to rebound with the Pirates organization, as he threw 50 innings with their AAA team last season.
Fulmer has all the talent in the world, he just wasn’t able to put it together with the White Sox. It was nice to see him have some success with the Angels in 2024, as he almost seemed like a can’t miss prospect with his college production. We wish him nothing but the best with the Pirates organization, and we hope that he can recreate his 2024 season.
