Athletics Claim Left-Hander Joe Rock Off Waivers From White Sox in Post-Deadline Move
The Athletics are not done tinkering with their pitching staff.
The A’s claimed left-handed pitcher Joe Rock off waivers from the Chicago White Sox this week and immediately optioned him to Triple-A Las Vegas. It is a low-cost move that adds depth to a pitching organization that needs all the arms it can get, and it is a reminder that the waiver wire is where a lot of contending teams and rebuilding teams do meaningful business after the trade deadline.
Rock is 25 and was a former second round pick by the Rockies. He came to the White Sox in a smaller trade earlier this year and has been shuffling between Triple-A and the majors. His stuff is real. His command has been the issue.
Why the A’s Made the Claim
The A’s are in the middle of their weird transition years. They are playing home games in West Sacramento while the Vegas ballpark gets built, they have a young and inexpensive roster, and they are looking for pitching upside anywhere they can find it.
Claiming a young lefty off waivers is exactly the kind of move a rebuilding team should make. Even if Rock never turns into a legitimate MLB starter, he is a lottery ticket. The cost is essentially zero, and the upside is a controllable arm that could contribute in future seasons.
Athletics GM David Forst has been working the margins all year. Every waiver claim, every minor-league trade, every roster manipulation. That is how you build organizational depth when you are not spending big at the major-league level.
The White Sox Angle
Chicago is a mess. The White Sox are one of the worst teams in the league and losing pieces every week. Rock going to Oakland for nothing is the kind of transaction that only happens when a franchise is in full rebuild mode.
The White Sox needed to open a 40-man roster spot and Rock was the guy who got squeezed. That is the reality of managing a roster when you are trying to build for the future while also running out the current season.
Chicago’s rebuild is a longer conversation. The team has some young pieces but nowhere near enough to compete. Getting rid of Rock is part of trimming the organization down to the players they actually plan to keep.
What Rock Brings
Rock has a fastball that touches 95, a curveball that has flashes, and a changeup that is still developing. He is left-handed, which always helps a pitching prospect’s chances of sticking somewhere. His command is uneven, and that is why he has bounced around organizations.
The A’s have a good pitching development staff at the minor-league level. If anyone can help Rock refine his command and turn him into a legitimate big-league contributor, it is probably Oakland’s minor-league coaches. They have a track record of getting the most out of overlooked arms.
The Broader Deadline Aftermath
The trade deadline was August 3. Since then, the waiver wire has been the main mechanism for player movement. MLB eliminated the old August waiver trade deadline several years ago, and now teams have to use straight waiver claims to add players from other rosters.
Any player claimed after August 31 is not postseason-eligible for their new team. That is the effective deadline for contenders to add impact pieces. For teams like the A’s, who are not playing October baseball, the timeline is different. They can and should keep making moves throughout the rest of the season.
What Fans Should Take From This
Small moves like this are how organizations get built. The A’s are not going to compete this year, and probably not next year. But they are stockpiling controllable arms, and Rock is another one for the pile. If a couple of them turn into real major leaguers, the rebuild moves faster than expected.
That is the game the A’s are playing. And it is a game the White Sox have not been very good at recently.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
