💥 BREAKING NEWS: The White Sox Found a Closer… Now They’re Quietly Hunting a Lefty With Something to Prove ⚡.DD

The White Sox didn’t waste time.

Baltimore Orioles v Detroit Tigers | Brandon Sloter/GettyImages

In the days after trading Luis Robert Jr. to the New York Mets, general manager Chris Getz promised the organization would stay active.

And for once, the moves actually matched the words. Chicago finally addressed the most glaring bullpen hole last week, reportedly agreeing to a deal with Seranthony Domínguez to stabilize the ninth inning.

But the closer signing didn’t end the search.

It may have started the next one.

Cionel Pérez held another workout on Saturday in Tampa, drawing scouts from about 20 MLB teams.

The Rays, Royals, Rangers, and White Sox are among the clubs showing interest. Pérez reached 98 mph with his fastball, slider sat at 86 mph, and spin rate above average.

— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) January 27, 2026

Because now, the White Sox are being linked to a name that feels like the kind of gamble rebuilding teams love—quietly, cheaply, and with just enough upside to make people argue about it.

Cionel Pérez.

Cuban baseball reporter Francys Romero reported that Pérez held another workout in Tampa on Saturday, drawing scouts from around 20 MLB teams.

The White Sox were listed among the interested clubs, alongside the Rays, Royals, and Rangers. The details weren’t subtle: Pérez reportedly touched 98 mph with his fastball, his slider sat around 86, and his spin rates remained above average.

That’s the kind of data that gets doors reopened—even for pitchers whose recent results look ugly.

Pérez, 29, signed with the Astros out of Cuba before the 2017 season and reached the majors in 2018. He never became a starter at the big-league level, operating exclusively as a reliever.

His early MLB track record was uneven, and after limited appearances from 2018 to 2020, he was traded to Cincinnati in 2021.

That year with the Reds was rough. He appeared in 25 games and posted a 6.38 ERA, the kind of number that usually gets a pitcher labeled as disposable.

Then Baltimore happened.

Claimed off waivers before the 2022 season, Pérez delivered one of the more surprising bullpen breakouts in baseball.

Over 57.2 innings, he went 7–1 with a dominant 1.40 ERA, suddenly looking like a high-leverage weapon rather than a depth arm.

He followed that up with another solid season in 2023, pitching to a 3.54 ERA in 53.1 innings.

For a brief stretch, Pérez wasn’t just surviving—he was a real bullpen piece on a rising Orioles team.

And then the control started slipping.

In 2024 and 2025, Pérez’s walk issues became impossible to ignore. The trend got worse each year until it peaked at a 16.4% walk rate in 2025.

The results collapsed. He was designated for assignment in May after opening the season with an 8.31 ERA through 19 appearances, then continued to struggle after being sent to Triple-A Norfolk.

From the outside, it looks like a pitcher who lost it.

But that’s where the White Sox rumor becomes interesting.

Even during the disaster stretch, Pérez still showed traits teams value: elite ground-ball tendencies and an ability to avoid barrels.

In 2024, he ranked in the 84th percentile in baseball at inducing soft contact. And in 2025, his 3.93 xERA suggested that some of the collapse may have been inflated by poor luck and unstable sequencing rather than pure loss of ability.

The White Sox, of all teams, can afford to care about that distinction.

Chicago isn’t looking for a perfect reliever. They’re looking for pitchers who might be better than their surface numbers—and who can be acquired without spending real money or sacrificing future assets. Pérez fits that profile almost too cleanly.

He also fills a practical need.

If the White Sox want to carry multiple left-handers in the bullpen, Pérez would immediately join a competition that currently includes Tyler Gilbert, Brandon Eisert, Chris Murphy, Ryan Borucki, and Bryan Hudson. None of those names inspire certainty. Pérez doesn’t either—but his ceiling is louder than most of them.

And the timing matters.

Contenders might offer Pérez a better chance at a ring, but not a better chance at opportunity. The White Sox can offer a longer leash, more innings, and the kind of patience a pitcher needs when rebuilding value.

The question isn’t whether Pérez can throw hard.

He can.

The question is whether Chicago believes it can fix what Baltimore couldn’t—before the walks turn every outing into a tightrope.

Because if Pérez finds even a fraction of his 2022 form again, the White Sox won’t just be adding depth.

They’ll be stealing a bullpen arm that 20 teams just watched in silence…
and couldn’t stop thinking about.