RADIO
The White Sox just signed Mat Latos to a one year deal, shoring up the back end of their rotation. It’s a low risk maneuver from the Chi-Sox here to bring in Latos after a horrid end to 2015.
Latos used to be good for 185 strikeouts in a full season (he's only 28), and while he might still have that juice (100 Ks in 116.1 IP last year), we haven’t seen him pitch a full season in two years thanks to injuries and relegation to the bullpen.
His peripherals still look decent, with his FIP/xFIP/SIERA reading 3.72/3.69/3.88 last year. His BABIP allowed and strand rate were career worsts in 2015, but he also made his own bad luck. Batters had the highest pull rate on him in his career last year, and his slider went from never posting a negative pitch value to an ice cold -8.0.
This is still a solid lotto ticket taken by the White Sox, though it should fuel the fire of getting a real third outfielder for defense behind a guy who usually is a fly ball pitcher. US Cellular Field won’t him any favors as a result, but in deep leagues it’s worth noting that he hasn’t been a total train wreck like most narratives might have you believe.
He shouldn’t be pushed out of the rotation by anyone but himself, and 200 innings could net 180 Ks along with a mid-3s ERA and 1.20 WHIP. This is what late rounds are for.
