Rondon declined an outright assignment to Triple-A Charlotte and became a free agent Sunday, James Fegan of The Athletic Chicago reports.
Rondon was designated for assignment earlier this week and will take his chances in free agency rather than remaining with the White Sox organization. The 27-year-old will likely have to settle for a minor-league contract after posting a bloated 8.49 ERA and 2.16 WHIP across 35 appearances in the majors this season.
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White Sox's Bruce Rondon: Outrighted to Triple-A
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Rondon was outrighted to Triple-A Charlotte on Friday, James Fegan of The Athletic Chicago reports.
Rondon was designated for assignment by the White Sox on Wednesday and will join the Knights after going unclaimed on waivers. The 27-year-old has an 8.49 ERA and 2.16 WHIP with a 40:27 K:BB over 29.2 innings for Chicago this season.
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White Sox's Bruce Rondon: Designated for assignment
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Rondon was designated for assignment by the White Sox on Wednesday.
Rondon had another rough outing Tuesday, allowing three earned runs on three walks and one wild pitch while recording just one out against the Cardinals. This raised his ERA to 8.49 with a 2.16 WHIP across 29.2 innings of relief this year. Jeanmar Gomez will take his place on the roster after having his contract selected by Triple-A Charlotte in a corresponding move. Rondon will now be subjected to waivers.
Rondon was seen packing his belongings and receiving pats on the back from teammates following Tuesday's 14-2 loss to the Cardinals, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun Times reports.
Those are signs that Rondon will be replaced on the 25-man roster. The White Sox have apparently seen enough of the 27-year-old right-hander, whose ERA climbed to 8.49 after he allowed three runs on three walks and a wild pitch in one-third of an inning Tuesday. Rondon has endured a miserable stretch since mid-June, giving up 19 runs, 18 hits and 15 walks in 7.2 innings spanning 12 games.
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White Sox's Bruce Rondon: Losing potential trade value
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Rondon allowed one run on two hits and a walk while striking out one over one inning in Saturday's 12-6 loss to the Astros.
Rondon has given up at least a run in six of his last 11 outings, allowing 16 runs on 18 hits and 12 walks over 7.1 innings during that stretch. The right-hander worked hard to get his ERA into the respectable range after putting himself in a deep hole in April, possibly putting the White Sox in position to shop him at the trade deadline, but this recent stretch leaves him with a 7.67 ERA and 2.08 WHIP. That will have a dampening effect on another team's interest.
White Sox's Bruce Rondon: Works seventh inning Saturday
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Rondon worked around a hit to pitch a scoreless seventh inning in Saturday's 5-3 win over the Rangers.
Rondon pitched for the first time since May 13, when he picked up a save in a win over the Cubs. Since then, he's been bypassed twice for save chances that went to Nate Jones, as was the case Saturday. Looking at Chicago's situation, which manager Rick Renteria described as fluid last week, it looks like Jones is the primary option to close games with Rondon part of the setup crew. Joakim Soria, who began the season as the closer, is on the outs after allowing runs in four of his last five outings.
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White Sox's Bruce Rondon: Bypassed for save
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Rondon, who last pitched May 13 and picked up a save, was bypassed for the next save opportunity Thursday when manager Rick Renteria called on Nate Jones.
The White Sox's closer situation remains unsettled, although it appears Joakim Soria is on the outs after giving up runs in four of his last five outings. It looks like Rondon and Jones will share the job. Those two relievers have been used in Chicago's last three save opportunities.
Rondon allowed one hit while striking out two in a scoreless inning Sunday against the Cubs to earn his first save of the season.
Joakim Soria was presumably available and was not used, and Nate Jones pitched a scoreless eighth inning, so it seems that Rondon was going to be the guy for the ninth inning no matter what in this one. He has not given up an earned run over his last 6.1 innings, striking out six and walking one over that stretch. This could still end up being more of a committee in the short term, but there is a chance that the hard-throwing, yet sometimes erratic Rondon continues to get save opportunities, and if he does well, he could take the job and run with it.
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White Sox's Bruce Rondon: Yields four in loss
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Rondon allowed four runs on two hits and two walks while recording one out -- a strikeout -- in Sunday's loss to the Astros.
Rondon had been pitching well prior to Sunday, but the rough outing inflated his ERA to 8.10. Though he figures to work in high-leverage situations, pitching in a bullpen that likely won't be tasked with protecting many leads will curb the 27-year-old's ability to pick up holds or anything else of much value in most formats.
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White Sox's Bruce Rondon: Makes White Sox debut
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Rondon struck out all four batters faced in Sunday's 1-0 loss to the Tigers.
Rondon was called up earlier Sunday after the White Sox demoted Juan Minaya to Triple-A Charlotte following Saturday's loss and was used immediately. He is a former Tiger, having pitched for Detroit over his first four MLB seasons, and primarily used a fastball-slider combination to dazzle his former mates. His 10 four-seam fastballs averaged 99.1 mph, maxing out at 100.9. Chicago's league-worst bullpen (7.11 ERA) could use relievers who get outs, so we suspect Rondon will stick around for a bit.
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White Sox's Bruce Rondon: Promoted to big leagues
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The White Sox selected Rondon's contract from Triple-A Charlotte on Sunday.
Rondon gives the White Sox another power arm out of the bullpen, but he has yet to prove he can harness his big fastball at the major-league level. The 27-year-old owns a 5.00 ERA and 4.1 BB/9 over 111.2 career innings in the big leagues, which will likely relegate him to lower-leverage spots initially during his time with the White Sox.
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White Sox's Bruce Rondon: Assigned to minor-league camp
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Rondon was reassigned to minor-league camp, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Rondon was a non-roster invitee that pitched well during the spring, allowing one run on three hits and one walk while striking out seven over 5.1 innings.
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White Sox's Bruce Rondon: Signs minors deal with White Sox
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Rondon signed a minor-league contract with the White Sox on Thursday, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation reports.
Rondon was non-tendered by the Tigers this winter after spending the past 10 years with the organization. The veteran reliever struggled in his 15.2 innings of relief last season, posting a 10.91 ERA (3.29 FIP) with a concerning 13.2 percent walk rate. He'll compete for a role in the rebuilding White Sox's bullpen this upcoming season.
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Bruce Rondon: Non-tendered by Tigers
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The Tigers declined to tender Rondon a contract for 2018, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports.
Once considered the Tigers' likely closer of the future, Rondon fell out of favor with the organization over the past two seasons. He was sent home in the summer of 2016 due to a lack of effort and he couldn't locate the plate with any consistency in 21 appearances with the big club in 2017 (5.7 BB/9). He still throws hard, though, and could land a major-league job in 2018.
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Tigers' Bruce Rondon: Optioned to Triple-A
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Rondon was optioned to Triple-A Toledo after struggling and taking the loss Sunday against the Twins, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.
Rondon couldn't find the strike zone on Sunday, as he walked two batters on a total of nine pitches. Both runners came around to score, which put the Tigers down 6-4 and bumped Rondon's ERA up to 10.91. Manager Brad Ausmus said Rondon's first few pitches were "alarming" and "weren't real close," so he wasted no time pulling the 26-year-old. Rondon has some talent, but clearly he needs to refine his control and grow as a pitcher. He'll try to do that at Triple-A and could rejoin the MLB club when rosters expand in September.
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Tigers' Bruce Rondon: Sent to minors
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Rondon was optioned to Triple-A Toledo following Sunday's loss to the Twins.
Room on the roster is needed for Monday's starter, Michael Fulmer (elbow), and the struggling Rondon is the resulting roster casualty. He will head back to the minors for some more seasoning after allowing two runs without recording an out to earn the loss Sunday. While he has impressed with his overpowering stuff at times (12.1 K/9), he now owns an unsightly 10.91 ERA in 15.2 innings out of the Tigers bullpen.
