White Sox annoyingly claim promising relief arm who was Guardians roster casualty 

Last weekend, the Cleveland Guardians designated reliever Peyton Pallette for assignment to free up bullpen space during the team’s marathon stretch of 13 games in 13 games. 

While Pallette was a valuable arm who the Guardians thought highly of, his status as a Rule 5 pick hampered some of the flexibility Cleveland loves to have in its bullpen. They just couldn’t manage not being able to rotate a fresh arm through his spot. 

Palette officially cleared waivers earlier today, which meant the Guardians were one step away from being able to add him to their roster. Since he was a Rule 5 pick from the White Sox, the Guardians needed to offer him back to Chicago. 

And Chicago annoyingly accepted, meaning the Guardians won’t get a chance to keep Pallette and the White Sox will (theoretically) get a chance to benefit from everything the Guardians taught him during his time working with the team’s pitching lab. 

The Guardians had to return Peyton Pallette to the White Sox

Pallette ended up appearing in 16 games for the Guardians, where he posted a 5.23 ERA in 20 2/3 innings. He provided some value for the Guardians as a multi-inning reliever (he started his career as a starter), but he was mostly limited to low-leverage situations just by the nature of being a Rule 5 guy. 

His season started to come undone in May when he had a 7.88 ERA in eight innings. His worst outing of that time came against the Reds when he gave up three runs in one inning. 

He had an above-average whiff rate (28.4%), but he also walked 16.5% of the batters he faced and had a chase rate of just 21.5% He clearly wasn’t MLB-ready, but the Guardians needed to keep him on the roster since he was a Rule 5 pick. 

That eventually reached its breaking point thanks to his struggles and Cleveland’s bullpen needs. 

The White Sox won’t have to work though those restrictions since they don’t apply to Rule 5 players who are returned to their previous club. Even though the White Sox bullpen needs some help (4.54 ERA), Pallette isn’t the best option, at least right now. 

That said, his time with the Guardians will go a long way toward helping him have big league success, both in that he (largely) got big league hitters out, but also that he got to have the Guardians tinker with his mechanics. 

It wouldn’t be a surprise if he ends up killing the Guardians out of the Sox’s ‘pen a year or two from now when he’s a more polished pitcher. 

While the Guardians had some Rule 5 success when they carried Trevor Stephan on their roster all season, Pallette's journey this season shows how rare those kinds of situations are.

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