The White Sox have designated left-hander Joe Rock for assignment, according to MLB Trade Rumors, opening up a 40-man spot as Chicago shuffles its roster down the stretch.
Rock's tenure on the South Side was short and shaky. Chicago acquired the 6-foot-6 lefty from Tampa Bay back in May, sending infielder Oliver Dunn to the Rays in return. He never really got settled. Across 4 major league appearances with the White Sox, Rock allowed 4 earned runs in 10 1/3 innings, and while he racked up 12 strikeouts, he also walked 11 batters, hit two more and uncorked a wild pitch. The stuff was there. The strike zone was not.
It wasn't just an MLB sample-size issue, either. In Triple-A this season, Rock posted a 6.89 ERA over 32 2/3 innings and walked 31 of the 171 hitters he faced — an 18.1% walk rate that's brutal by any standard. A former second-round pick by Colorado in 2021 who bounced from the Rockies to the Rays to the White Sox, Rock still has retained his options through the 2027 season, so this DFA doesn't necessarily end his time in the organization if he clears waivers and sticks in the minors.
The move itself was a byproduct of a separate transaction: Chicago claimed catcher Jake Rogers off waivers, and someone had to go to make room. Rogers, DFA'd by Boston after the Red Sox activated Adley Rutschman, is now on his 4th team in 17 days. He'll step in behind the plate while the White Sox wait on Kyle Teel and Joey Bart to get healthy, and Rock became the corresponding paperwork casualty.
Nothing about this is dramatic on its face — teams shuffle fringe roster pieces like this constantly in August. But for a White Sox pitching staff that's been picking through waiver wire arms and reclamation projects all year, losing a former second-rounder with a 12-strikeout MLB sample is still a notable swing-and-miss on a trade that's barely 3 months old.