The White Sox are in agreement with reliever Keone Kela on a minor league deal, as reflected on the MLB.com transaction log. He’s been assigned to the team’s Arizona complex for the time being as he builds into game shape.
Kela is trying to return to the big league level for the first time in four seasons. He hasn’t pitched in the affiliated ranks since 2022. Kela’s most recent affiliated opportunity came on a minor league deal with the Dodgers late that year. He signed on with the Yakult Swallows in Japan in 2023, though his time there was limited to 14 innings for their minor league club. Kela had a better run in the Mexican League last season, firing 40 innings of 2.70 ERA ball while striking out a quarter of opposing hitters. He added 16 innings of five-run ball in the Mexican winter league.
The White Sox are intrigued enough by his form to give him a minor league chance. The 32-year-old Kela has pitched parts of seven seasons at the big league level. He had his best run early in his career with the Rangers, for whom he tossed 169 innings with a 3.45 earned run average. He worked to an even better 2.49 mark over parts of three seasons with the Pirates, though that came in a total of 47 innings. Kela’s most recent big league experience came when he allowed eight runs in 10 2/3 innings for the ’21 Padres.
At his best, Kela had a fastball that sat in the 96 MPH range and a swing-and-miss curveball. He has fanned nearly 30% of batters faced against a manageable 9.2% walk rate as a big leaguer. The rebuilding White Sox have very little in the way of established bullpen arms. It’s a decent landing spot as Kela tries to get back to the highest level. He’ll presumably spend a couple weeks at the complex before heading to Triple-A Charlotte.