Kudos to the White Sox on a very nice fake-out.
The team sent relief pitcher Aaron Bummer to Triple-A Charlotte after Wednesday night's game in Minnesota, sparking speculation that the corresponding move would be Carlos Rodon coming back from his rehab assignment and joining the South Side starting rotation. Instead, though, the White Sox simply made a bullpen swap, bringing Xavier Cedeno up from Charlotte to join the relief corps.
Made you look.
Now, that's not to say that Rodon won't be joining the team soon. Signs seem to be pointing to him coming back and making his first big league start of 2018 in Saturday's game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. The White Sox are listing their starter for the second game of that three-game set as "to be announced," sandwiched between Dylan Covey on Friday and Reynaldo Lopez on Sunday. That would figure to be a perfect slot for Rodon to slide into.
Rodon, who is in the final stages of his comeback from shoulder surgery last September, has made four rehab starts in the minor leagues, posting a 1.53 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 17.2 innings.
Cedeno, meanwhile, could be a prime sign-and-flip candidate should he replicate what he's done at the Triple-A level in the major leagues. The White Sox added the seven-year MLB veteran on a minor league deal during the winter. He's got a career 3.98 ERA in 201 big league games. This season has been sparkling at Charlotte, though, with opposing hitters batting just .162 against him.
The White Sox traded away much of their bullpen last summer in deals that netted rebuild-aiding prospects. A similar strategy seemed to be in play during the offseason, with the addition of a number of veterans to the relief corps. Things haven't necessarily worked out as planned to this point, but Joakim Soria and Bruce Rondon could intrigue some teams if they pitch well over the next couple months. Perhaps Cedeno could be in that mix, too.