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The Atlanta Braves added depth to their starting rotation Monday, agreeing to a minor league deal with left-hander John Danks, according to Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan.

Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball reported Danks will receive $1.5 million if he makes Atlanta’s major league roster.

The 31-year-old is coming off a dreadful 2016 season. He allowed 20 runs (18 earned) in four starts for the Chicago White Sox before they released him in May.

“The way my April went and the way the team is playing, I can’t fault anybody with the decision they made,” Danks said at the time, per the Chicago Tribune‘s Colleen Kane. “It’s a win-now league, and I wasn’t helping the team win.”

It was the end of a disappointing tenure for Danks in the Windy City. The White Sox signed him to a five-year, $65 million contract extension in December 2011, and he never finished the five subsequent seasons with an ERA lower than 4.71. According to FanGraphs, his 4.83 FIP is seventh-highest among qualified starting pitchers during that stretch.

Danks hasn’t been the same pitcher since undergoing shoulder surgery in August 2012. Whereas his average fastball velocity sat comfortably in the 91-92 mph range from 2007 to 2011, it hasn’t eclipsed 90 mph since his injury-shortened 2012 campaign, per Brooks Baseball:

Despite his issues, signing Danks is a worthwhile risk for Atlanta.

If the Braves determine his days as an MLB-caliber starting pitcher are over, then they didn’t make a significant financial commitment and they can offload him with little difficulty in the spring.

Should Danks emerge as a back-end rotation option, he’ll be a massive bargain. Andrew Cashner will likely be the Texas Rangers’ No. 4 or 5 starter, and he’ll be making $10 million in 2017.

After Rich Hill went from pitching in an independent league in 2015 to becoming the best free-agent pitcher this offseason, a comeback for Danks isn’t completely out of the question.

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The luck of the Irish wasn’t on the side of John Danks.

After losing a bet to broadcaster Ed Farmer, the Chicago White Sox pitcher rolled up to U.S. Cellular Field for warm-ups ahead of Friday’s game against the Minnesota Twins dressed as a leprechaun—green bow tie and all.

Danks pulled the look off pretty well—so well he could likely get a gig advertising cereal after the professional baseball stint ends.

[White Sox, h/t For The Win]

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Lost in all the respect and hoopla surrounding Derek Jeter’s last season as part of the New York Yankees is the fact that the squad is still very much in the race for an American League playoff spot.

Entering play Monday, the Bronx Bombers were four games behind the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East and battling with the Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners and Kansas City Royals for wild-card positioning.

Perhaps a significant move or two at the trade deadline could push the Yankees over the top? 

With that in mind, here is a look at some of the latest rumors coming out of New York.

John Danks

Jayson Stark of ESPN.com filled fans in on the latest regarding New York’s potential pursuit of John Danks:

The White Sox had scouts watching the Yankees’ system, particularly the minor league catching surplus, in the past few days. It is yet one more indication the Yankees are focused on John Danks in their search for another starting pitcher.

It is certainly interesting that the Yankees are connected with Danks because many teams would take umbrage with his $14.25 million salary the next two years, but probably not New York. Danks may have a 9-6 record, but his 4.40 ERA is certainly far from elite, as are the 17 home runs he has allowed. 

Still, the Yankees pitching staff has taken some lumps in the injury department with CC Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka. Adding Danks would provide some depth and another solid arm to a rotation that ranks 17th in the league in ERA.

He may not be a game-changer, but Danks would certainly give the Yankees a more formidable pitching group heading into the stretch run.

Platoon Search

Despite the pitching staff concerns, there are still some other needs. Stark had another update:

While the Yankees have looked into names like Josh Willingham, other clubs say they appear most focused this week on finding a right-handed hitting platoon partner in right field for Ichiro Suzuki, and one with no long-term salary commitments. So names like Chris Denorfia (Padres) and Justin Ruggiano (Cubs) are more likely than, say, Marlon Byrd or Alex Rios.

Ichiro hasn’t exactly dominated in New York, but he is batting .270 and is still a solid glove in the outfield. If he could platoon with someone consistently at age 40, his production would probably see an uptick. 

None of the names on that list Stark provided is going to single-handedly win the Yankees an American League pennant, but more depth is critical as the wear and tear of the season takes its toll in September. Keeping fresh legs in the outfield, especially one that features older veterans like Ichiro, could be the difference in a future game or two.

Looking for Pitching

Jon Heyman of CBS Sports filled fans in on the Yankees’ search for some other more notable names:

The rival Red Sox are said to listening on ace Jon Lester and others now, but he’s more likely a winter free-agent consideration for them than a trade possibility for New York.

While Cliff Lee could become an option later if he pitches some better games in his return after a two-month absence with an elbow issue, the Yankees aren’t focused on him now since he’s all but sure to clear waivers in August and remain a trade candidate.

Lee’s teammate Cole Hamels seems barely available, and even if he is, the Yankees probably don’t have the upper-level prospects to do such a deal.

That doesn’t exactly seem promising from New York’s perspective, but one American League scout had a more positive take, via Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe:

They have more in their farm system than people think. They have some arms, they have the Aaron Judge kid, [Luis] Severino, [Gary] Sanchez, [Peter] O’Brien, [Eric] Jagielo. If they wanted to make a deal, they have enough to give up.

The name that really jumps out from that list of pitchers is Jon Lester. If the Yankees do pursue him in the offseason, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch seeing them throw big-time money his way. In fact, New York tossing dollars at the best arm on the market is almost a rite of passage for any offseason. 

It’s hard to see Boston trading a pitcher of Lester’s caliber, who just so happens to be among the best lefties in all of baseball, to its chief rival. That being said, stranger things have happened at the MLB trade deadline.

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John Danks isn’t giving Chicago White Sox fans a good reason to be hopeful for his return to the rotation. Danks told the Chicago Tribune that he’s still feeling soreness. Danks appears that he won’t be ready to start again anytime soon after having his return date pushed back.

Danks had been slated to return to start against the Chicago Cubs on Monday, but Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune tweeted on Friday that Danks’ return would be pushed back.

Peavy, Floyd Sale listed as starters for next week’s Cubs’ series, meaning Danks’ return will be pushed back.

— Mark Gonzales (@MDGonzales) June 15, 2012

Danks said on Thursday that he experienced more soreness than he thought would be normal after playing catch that day. He said that he thought it resulted from his minor league rehab start on Tuesday.

The sixth-year starter said:

I obviously didn’t expect to feel quite this sore. I’ve never had this before, so I really didn’t know what to expect. So I knew I’d be sore. I was just hoping I would bounce back better than I have. It’s part of it and it’s kind of like spring training. You go without throwing, it’s going to be sore.

Danks seems like he’s sensing the soreness well as he recovers from his shoulder soreness. He’s feeling his way through the recovery, determining at each step whether the soreness is going down.

Each step might bring a little less discomfort. Currently, Danks appears like that progress is coming slowly. He described the shoulder as feeling “pretty sore” on Thursday.

On Friday, Gonzales tweeted that Danks said he was feeling a normal level soreness.

 

Danks played catch, felt normal soreness, said he’ll visit Dr. Gregory Nicholson on Monday in Chicago.

— Mark Gonzales (@MDGonzales) June 15, 2012

 

One can only guess what that normal level of soreness is. Perhaps it means that he’s back to the level of soreness that he feels he should have at this point in recovery.

Unless the doctor says that his shoulder is as healthy as it should be after being out for almost a month, Danks is at least another two weeks away from returning to pitch for the White Sox. The White Sox will be watching him closely to ensure that he doesn’t return before he’s ready.

The 27-year-old is the biggest long-term investment that the White Sox have on the mound. They gave him a five-year, $65 million extension in December, and they wouldn’t want to watch that money go to waste as his shoulder falls apart.

Taking that extra time to have Danks recover can help him stay healthy for the long-term.

In the meantime, the White Sox are fine without him. Jose Qunitana continues to do well in his place. Quintana has allowed three runs in 11.1 innings in his last two starts.

As long as the soreness persists, the White Sox would be safest to keep Danks out. Once he feels like he’s not that sore, he should be able to return.

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Forget for just a moment that the Chicago White Sox hit .271 as a team and went 18-8 in the month of May.

Forget that the Sox had 39 dingers and scored 156 runs for the month for an average of 5.38 runs per game.

Forget for a moment that Paul Konerko hit .379, Dayan Viciedo hit .351, Alejandro De Aza hit .313 in May.

Forget for a moment that the Sox are the only AL Central team with more runs scored than runs allowed.

Finally, forget that Adam Dunn has 17 home runs and 38 RBI while Gordon Beckham seems like the fit the Sox have been looking for in the two-hole all year.

The White Sox are not going to win the AL Central based upon their hitting, even if this pace keeps up for the rest of the year. The White Sox are going to win the Central because of their pitching.

Entering play on Saturday, the White Sox have, far and away, the best pitching in the AL Central and some of the best in the American League. Let’s take a look at how the Sox stack up against the rest of the Central and the American League:

• 1^st with a 3.86 team ERA (6^th in AL)
• 1^st with 31 quality starts (2^nd in AL)
• 1^st in strikeouts (5^th in AL)
• 1^st in batting average against (T-1^st AL)
• 1^st in WHIP with an amazing 1.191 (1^st in AL)

Pretty phenomenal numbers considering how bad Gavin Floyd, Philip Humber and John Danks have been at times. Every other team in the Central has a team ERA of 4.20 or higher. The Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers sport team ERAs over 4.25.

The AL can hit, it is as simple as that, and the teams with the best pitching win division titles nowadays. Take Detroit last year as an example. The Tigers were in second place well into June last year and won the division by 15 games over the Indians.

Why, you ask?  Was it their hitting? No, it was not; the Tigers pulled away thanks to their pitching staff. Justin Verlander was outstanding all year en route to an AL MVP and the Cy Young award, while Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello produced as expected in the second half of the season. The shrewd pickup of Doug Fister, who went 8-1, put Detroit over the top.

In addition to the the success of the starters, the Tigers trotted out five relievers with over 30 appearances who had WHIPs of 1.50 or lower. 

The Sox are, right now, in exactly the same position Detroit was in last year, with two exceptions.

First, the Sox already have two pitchers in Jake Peavy and Chris Sale having top-of-the-league type years.

Second, and most importantly, the White Sox have seven, that’s right seven, relievers on pace for more than 30 appearances who currently have WHIPs below 1.50. Outstanding stuff. Three solid lefties (yes, Will Ohman is actually a solid lefty) compliment right-handers Jessie Crain and rookie phenom Nate Jones, while Addison Reed has established himself as a fearless closer.

With my daughter’s favorite White Sox pitcher, Zach Stewart, pitching long relief (his 4.08 ERA is lower than Danks, Humber and Floyd’s), the Sox are in great shape from a pitching perspective.

The one move that permanently solidifies the White Sox as having the best pitching staff in the Central is releasing the bag-of-bats we all know as Kosuke Fukudome and keeping lefty call-up Hector Santiago on the roster. The Sox are stocked!

The adage thrown around baseball is that if you want to win the division, you have to beat the division.  In order to win in this year’s AL Central, the formidable lineups of both Detroit and Cleveland have to be offset, and the White Sox have just the men for the job. 

Enjoy the offensive production while it lasts, but team pitching is going to win the Central for the Sox this year.

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The Chicago White Sox have two opening day starters who are looking ready to come off the disabled list this weekend. My advice to the club: don’t be so quick to get them back in the lineup.

While Brent Morel and John Danks both appear to be nearing a return date with the White Sox, it isn’t exactly urgent to rush either player back on the field. The way Chicago has performed over the last two weeks, management can afford to exercise some patience.

In the absence of the two players, Chicago has reeled off a nine-game winning streak. Leapfrogging over Detroit and Cleveland, the White Sox now sit in first place in the AL Central by a game-and-a-half after besting Seattle 7-4 Friday night.

As Crash Davis said in Bull Durham, don’t, er, mess with a winning streak.

I’m not saying that Morel and Danks aren’t going to be important pieces in the remainder of the 2012 season. I’m not suggesting that the players avoid cracks in the clubhouse floor from now until October (though it couldn’t hurt the .177 hitting Morel).

What Chicago’s run of great baseball has done is given them the luxury of giving two injured players some additional recovery time. It won’t kill the White Sox to use it.

Morel had been hampered with back issues before hitting the 15-day DL retroactive to May 18. In his absence, Orlando Hudson hasn’t set the American League on fire with his bat, but he’s contributed since being signed by he White Sox and started all nine of Chicago’s wins during the current streak.

Morel has been in Charlotte this week, where he has made three rehab starts. He is eligible to come off the DL Saturday. Despite going 5-for-12 with the Knights, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to finish the series with the Mariners with Hudson at third.

With a day off Monday before Toronto comes to town, Morel could return to the lineup Tuesday with some extra healing time. I firmly believe that Morel should get most of this month to prove he’s the starter. However, if it could help prevent a nagging injury, it can’t hurt to bring Morel back cautiously.

According to Scott Merkin of MLB.com, Danks threw 20 pitches Friday with no recurrence of the shoulder pain that has kept him out of the rotation following his May 19 win over Minnesota. On Sunday, Danks plans on another side session in which he will throw his full compliment of pitches.

Danks is set to come off the DL on Monday and there is an excellent reason to not use him immediately. Monday is that off day I mentioned earlier. Besides, Danks’ turn in the rotation isn’t until Wednesday.

Jose Quintana has thrown well in two starts with the White Sox. Giving him one last start in place of Danks wouldn’t hurt if there is any doubt after Sunday’s test.

In the case of both Morel and Danks, a little extra rest is a much better option than return visits to the DL throughout the season. With the White Sox riding the wave of a winning streak, sitting out this weekend’s action wouldn’t be a terrible idea.

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The Chicago White Sox put forward a decent, albeit somewhat unpleasant fight in the first game of the season. They fell in a 3-2 decision to the Texas Rangers on Friday. It was a melancholy start to the beginning of Robin Ventura’s tenure as White Sox manager.

A few players looked particularly good for the White Sox. Adam Dunn had a very pleasing start to the season. John Danks did fairly well in his start. Addison Reed did a solid job in relief.

Some didn’t do too well. Brent Morel was horrible each time he went to the plate. Gordon Beckham wasn’t that impressive.

Following is a look at some key points to Opening Day for the White Sox.

Begin Slideshow

It is the happiest time of the year!  Baseball season is set to kick into high gear and most fans are harboring some hope that this could be the year for their favorite squad.

Opening Day can often set the tone for a team’s season. At the very least, it gives fans some hope or despair to start off the six-month grind.

Fans whose teams are pinning their hopes on the following starters are looking to have a bleak Opening Day experience.

Begin Slideshow

It’s the offseason, a month away from spring training.  Like many of you, I’m a bored Sox fan.  In my previous articles, I have come off as extremely pessimistic.  It’s a curse, what can I say.  

It’s a new year and a chance for me to change it up.  Let’s focus on the good. Introducing your Chicago White Sox all-decade team..

For those of you who wanted to recall the illustrious careers of Dan Wright, Billy Koch and Rob Mackowiak, you’ve come to the wrong place.

Maybe if I get enough positive feedback on this piece, I’ll come up with the franchise’s worst players of the decade next week. Enjoy. 

Begin Slideshow

In 10 starts this year John Danks has yet to pick up a win while sporting a bloated 1.45 WHIP—not exactly what everybody expected from him this year. Not after three consecutive double-digit win/sub 4.00 ERA seasons.

Can he get back on track?

Considering he’s not all the way off the track, I say yes. The lack of a single win stings, and while the WHIP is high it’s not a death blow to fantasy teams. Nor is his 4.34 ERA. His strikeouts per nine innings are slightly down at 6.1, but his lifetime mark is just 6.9, so he hasn’t gone in the tank.

Consistency has been an issue. He has given up four or more runs in 40 percent of his starts. Every other start in his past six have been one of those bad starts. With Toronto on the horizon, I’m afraid he’s going to make that four of seven. While I would not start him against the Jays on Sunday, I wouldn’t write him off either.

Danks has been unlucky, and not just because he’s winless despite an ERA slightly north of 4.00. Not just because his team scored two or fewer runs in six of ten starts. Naturally both of those factorscome into play, but he also has a .308 BABIP.  Last year it was .274, in 2009 in was .267 and in 2008 it was .293.

Considering he was one of the steadiest pitchers over the past three years, I would expect his BABIP to come down. His double-digit win streak is in serious jeopardy, but he should have some nice moments ahead.

His combined career record for June and July is 18-10 with a 3.78 ERA. The rest of the months he is 28-41 with a 4.09 ERA.

Use Danks as a streamer when the match-up is right. You should still get some quality starts from him.

Also check out:

Should You Buy Low on Carlos Santana?
Can Alex Rios Turn It Around?
Should You Buy Low on Chris Carpenter?
Can Kyle McClellan Continue to Shine?
Is Ian Kinsler a Good Trade Target?

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