The Chicago White Sox have claimed right-handed pitcher Jacob Turner off waivers from their north side neighbors, the Chicago Cubs, according to the team’s official transactions page on MLB.com. Turner, 24, has had his career derailed in part due to injuries, but still has potential. From 2010-12, Turner was ranked in the Top 30 prospects in the MLB by Baseball America.
This past season, Turner did not appear on the mound at all while recovering from a strained right flexor tendon and a shoulder injury. He most recently pitched for the Cubs in 2014, tossing 34.2 innings on the mound while earning a 2-4 record.
Turner was selected ninth overall in the 2009 amateur draft by the Detroit Tigers and made his debut at age 20 in 2011. He lasted 5.1 innings in his debut against the Los Angeles Angels, allowing just two runs. Turner was later traded as a centerpiece in the deal that sent Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante from the Miami Marlins to Detroit.
The Cubs went on to claim Turner after he was surprisingly not claimed by the Colorado Rockies in August of 2014. However, he struggled at the Friendly Confines and dropped his career mark to 11-25 with an ERA hovering near 5.00.
While his career has certainly not panned out thus far, the White Sox, a team with offseason questions about their rotation given the probable depart of Jeff Samardzija, are making a smart move to roll the dice on him. It is a low-risk, high-reward type of scenario.