Zach

Putnam

With the MLB-wide transaction freeze being lifted on Friday, teams are beginning to trim their depth charts. Putnam signed a minor league contract with the White Sox in March after missing all of 2018 and 2019 following Tommy John elbow surgery in 2017. He probably won’t have a team for 2020.

He’ll be in minor league camp. The 32-year-old Putnam hasn’t pitched anywhere since the 2017 season, after which he underwent Tommy John surgery. Still, he has some past success and a history with the White Sox.

Putnam sat out the entire 2018 season while recovering from Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery, but he should be 100 percent for the beginning of the 2019 campaign. The 31-year-old right-hander holds a 3.20 ERA and 162 strikeouts in 152 career innings of relief. This looks like a nice low-cost gamble for a Boston bullpen that (still) needs quite a bit of upgrading.

Putnam was 6-3 with a 3.65 ERA over 44 relief appearances for Columbus this season. He has a career 3.83 ERA and 1.25 WHIP over four minor league seasons. He’ll function as low-leverage bullpen insurance for the Indians as the season winds down.

Putnam pitched a scoreless inning in the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader. He should get another shot with the big club at some point later this season.

He’ll be the 26th player for Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Pirates. Putnam, who was acquired from the Indians in the Kevin Slowey deal, had a 1.23 ERA and 11/3 K/BB ratio over 7 1/3 innings with the Sky Sox.

MLB’s new collective bargaining agreement allows teams to carry 26 players for a traditional doubleheader, so the Rockies will take advantage Wednesday vs. the Pirates. Putnam, 24, has registered a 1.23 ERA in 7 1/3 innings this season at Triple-A Colorado Springs.

Putnam posted a 3.65 ERA and 68/23 K/BB ratio over 69 innings in relief with Triple-A Columbus in the Indians organization last season. He’ll have a shot to crack the big league roster at some point this season. The Rockies also, among other moves, sent top prospect Nolan Arenado to minor league camp.

Putnam, who was acquired from the Indians for Kevin Slowey in January, has been sidelined for the past week with a tender elbow. Barring any setbacks, the 24-year-old right-hander could be in the mix for one of the final two spots in the Rockies’ bullpen.

Sounds like the Indians are bracing for the possibility that Fausto Carmona (otherwise known as Roberto Hernandez Heredia) might not be ready for the start of the season. The Rockies just acquired Slowey from the Twins in December after he posted a 6.67 ERA over 59 1/3 innings last season. He avoided arbitration last week by agreeing to a one-year, $2.75 million contract. On the bright side, Progressive Field is a much better place for him to get back on track than Coors Field.