In a well-overdue move, John Brebbia is no longer on the White Sox roster. The team designated the 34-year-old reliever for assignment this afternoon. In a corresponding move, right-hander Prelander Berroa was recalled from AAA to replace him in the bullpen. The team also added infielder Jacob Amaya to the 25-man roster while optioning infielder Bryan Ramos to AAA.
Brebbia had put together several productive seasons in St. Louis and San Francisco over the last few years. He had a career 3.42 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and 9.6 K/9 in 295 MLB appearances prior to 2024. He parlayed his past success into a one-year/$5.5 million deal with the White Sox with a 2025 team option. Unfortunately for both parties involved, Brebbia’s tenure in Chicago was unsuccessful. He had a productive stretch of appearances from early June to mid-July but struggled mightily overall during his time on the south side. He allowed nine home runs in just 48.2 innings pitched, ending his White Sox career with an ugly 6.29 ERA. Brebbia was still generating a lot of strikeouts, as evidenced by his 10.7 K/9, but his .265 batting average against indicates that opposing hitters saw the ball well off of him.
Brebbia was supposed to be a veteran presence in a young bullpen and a potential trade chip at the deadline. While he took the ball when asked, he did not perform and therefore did not get traded. The White Sox also had a $6 million team option for Brebbia for 2025, which they clearly will not be picking up. His removal from the roster felt like a formality for a while.
Prelander Berroa will take Brebbia’s spot in the bullpen. Acquired in the Gregory Santos trade last offseason, the 24-year-old right-hander has only made three MLB appearances this season. He has primarily pitched in AAA, where he had a 6.41 ERA in 43 appearances. While he has largely struggled this year, he is striking out over a batter per inning. He has a big fastball that can consistently reach triple digits. For Berroa, his future success is just a matter of consistently getting the ball over the plate. He could be part of the future, so swapping Brebbia out for him makes sense at this point in the season. Berroa should now have a more extended opportunity to prove he belongs at the MLB level.
The White Sox will likely continue to do a lot of roster shuffling for the rest of the season. The team still has several poor-performing veterans on the roster whose days are likely numbered. Right now is the perfect time for the organization to give auditions to younger players at the MLB level to see what they have in them as the team looks toward 2025. Calling up Berroa is an example of that. We will hopefully see several more younger players join the big league team in the coming weeks as well.
