Why White Sox DFA'd Dallas Keuchel: 'It was time' originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Between his track record and “the back of the baseball card,” the White Sox wanted to give Dallas Keuchel every opportunity to get back on track.
But they also couldn’t ignore the way Keuchel was trending, and on Saturday designated the veteran lefty for assignment.
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“Obviously, the trend from the last couple, especially [Thursday], was enough for us to say it was time to try something else in that spot,” general manager Rick Hahn said Saturday.
Keuchel pitched four and two innings his final two starts: last weekend at the Yankees and Thursday against the Red Sox. He allowed six runs in both outings, as well as three homers.
Keuchel expressed confidence he could turn things around following Thursday’s outing, in which his ERA ballooned to 7.88, but the team informed him Friday they were moving on.
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Hahn said he had a "heart-to-heart conversation" with Keuchel on Friday.
“I'll keep the bulk of that private but share that he expressed his own disappointment that he wasn't able to deliver on what we needed from him,” said Hahn of Keuchel, who signed a three-year, $55.5 million deal with the Sox before the 2020 season.
“He certainly was appreciative of the opportunity and wished us well. He was a complete pro during the conversation."
Hahn said there was no “magic number of starts” the Sox had in mind for Keuchel to turn things around. But they had been internally talking about the possibility of moving on from him recently.
Keuchel’s struggles go back further than this season. He went 6-1 with a 3.78 ERA in his first 14 starts of 2021. Over his final 18 outings (16 starts), he went 3-8 with a 6.70 ERA.
“It had gotten to the point where we had a greater level of confidence in the alternatives going forward,” Hahn said.
“It was a level of confidence that one of the alternatives probably gave us a better chance in those opportunities as they arise."
Even if the Sox delayed the Keuchel decision, they would have soon faced a decision. Lance Lynn is nearing a return from the injured list, and they don’t plan to use a six-man rotation.
In the meantime, Vince Velasquez — who was moved to the bullpen for Johnny Cueto — and Davis Martin are options to fill Keuchel’s vacated rotation spot, Hahn said.
Before taking questions from the dozen reporters circled around him Saturday, Hahn contextualized Keuchel’s contributions to the club over the last three seasons.
Keuchel posted a 1.99 ERA in 11 starts during the shortened 60-game 2020 season, finishing fifth in AL Cy Young voting. The Sox made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons in 2020 and 2021, the first time they've done that in franchise history.
“And that very likely doesn't happen without Dallas' contributions over those two seasons,” Hahn said.
Hahn didn’t want to reflect on the signing right now but said Keuchel was everything they expected him to be in 2020 and the first half of 2021.
“Unfortunately, the latter half of his White Sox career didn’t pan out the way we had hoped,” Hahn said. “With any free agent signing, there’s a certain level of expectation, but there’s also reasonable projections involved on our end at least in terms of potential decline.
“In this case, I’d say the decline occurred a little more precipitously at the end than we anticipated.”
