Frazier, 4 others agree with Sox on 1-year deals

January 13th, 2017

CHICAGO -- The White Sox announced one-year contracts agreed upon with five players on Friday, avoiding arbitration with all five. The White Sox have no remaining arbitration-eligible players and have not gone to an arbitration hearing since 2001, with reliever Keith Foulke.
Infielder ($12 million), right-handed starter ($5.9 million), left-handed reliever Dan Jennings ($1.4 million), right-handed reliever Jake Petricka ($825,000) and right-handed reliever Zach Putnam ($1,117,500) were the five who came to terms.
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Frazier, 30, hit .225 with 21 doubles, 40 home runs, 98 RBIs, 89 runs scored and a .464 slugging percentage in his first season with the White Sox after being picked up in a three-team trade with the Reds and Dodgers on Dec. 16, 2015, in a deal that sent Trayce Thompson, Micah Johnson and Frankie Montas to the Dodgers.

Frazier ranked sixth in the American League in home runs last season, established a club record for homers by a third baseman and won the MLB Players Alumni Association Heart and Hustle Award. He played under a two-year, $12-million deal that ended after the '16 season, and he'll become a free agent after the '17 campaign.
In the context of a White Sox rebuild, Frazier could be moved before the start of Spring Training or even in-season. But Frazier told MLB.com last season that he'd be happy to be a veteran presence for the rebuild. Frazier enters the season as a career .250 hitter with 146 doubles and 148 home runs, but he struggled in '16 with a .171 average with runners in scoring position.
Gonzalez, 32, posted a 5-8 mark with a 3.73 ERA over 24 appearances (23 starts) last season, his first with the White Sox after signing as a free agent on April 6. He made his White Sox debut in Toronto on April 25 after his contract was purchased from Triple-A Charlotte.

Jennings, 29, went 4-3 with a 2.08 ERA, 10 holds and 46 strikeouts over 60 2/3 innings in a career-high 64 appearances in 2016, his second season with the White Sox. He tied for second among AL relievers with 11 grounded into double plays and ranked seventh in ERA. Jennings has gone 6-6 with a 3.00 ERA and 92 strikeouts in two seasons with the White Sox.
Petricka, 28, made only nine appearances in 2016 before undergoing season-ending surgery on his right hip. Putnam, 29, was limited to 25 games last season due to ulnar neuritis in his right elbow. He went 1-0 with a 2.30 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings before undergoing season-ending surgery on August 5 to remove bone chips.

Putnam had similar surgery in 2013, but this surgery was more invasive compared to the previous arthroscopic procedure. Putnam recently talked about playing catch from 120 feet as part of his rehab and mentioned his goal to throw a couple of bullpens before going to Arizona for Spring Training.
The relief combination of Jennings, Petricka and Putnam has the ability to pitch late in games, but they can also work multiple innings in the middle of contests.