MLB Trade Rumors 2016: Mat Latos Gets Another Chance, This Time with the White Sox
Mat Latos gets another crack at major league baseball redemption after the Chicago White Sox offered him a one-year contract on Tuesday. The right-hander didn't play a lot of games the past couple of seasons due to a knee injury, but as a three-time 14-game winner, the White Sox are taking a calculated risk.
Latos only played in 40 games in two seasons for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels, but he eventually was placed on the disabled list last year. He finished the year 4-10 and with a 4.95 ERA, including a stint with the Miami Marlins.
According to Chicago general manager Rich Hahn, the addition of Latos to the team gives them an improved depth in pitching. "Mat adds another quality veteran arm to our rotation and also increases our overall pitching depth, which always is essential to having a successful season," he said in a press release.
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The 28-year-old is a dominant and highly formidable pitcher if he's healthy. Before the injuries started piling up in 2014, he had a quite successful run as a pro, going 51-35 with a 3.27 ERA in 799 innings. But after undergoing surgery to repair bone chips on his right elbow, he wasn't the same, especially when he followed it up with a torn cartilage on his left knee.
The Cincinnati Reds traded him to the Marlins at the end of 2014, but he couldn't give Miami the minutes left by Jose Fernandez at that point since he again had to face an injured knee during spring training.
Now he's hoping all the injuries are behind him and that he could have a place in the White Sox rotation. The good news for him is that the team is quite thin in this position with Scott Carroll and Jacob Turner the only players with sufficient starting experience in the major league.
