White Sox finalize 1-year, $12M deal with Mike Clevinger

CHICAGO -- The White Sox and right-hander Mike Clevinger have finalized a one-year, $12 million contract.

The team announced the deal Sunday. Clevinger will make $8 million in 2023, and there is a mutual $12 million option for 2024 that includes a $4 million buyout.

The 31-year-old Clevinger went 7-7 with a 4.33 ERA in 23 games, including 22 starts, for the San Diego Padres this year. He missed the 2021 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Chicago is looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2022 season, when it went 81-81 and finished 11 games back of surprising American League Central champion Cleveland. Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa stepped down in October, and Pedro Grifol was hired Nov. 1.

The White Sox got a big lift from Johnny Cueto this year, but the 36-year-old right-hander is a free agent after going 8-10 with a 3.35 ERA in 25 appearances. Clevinger slots into a rotation that likely will include Dylan Cease, Lance Lynn, Lucas Giolito and Michael Kopech.

The move puts the 6-foot-4 Clevinger back in the AL Central after he made his major league debut with Cleveland in 2016. He went 42-22 with a 3.20 ERA in four-plus seasons with Cleveland before he was traded to San Diego in a multiplayer deal in August 2020.

Clevinger is 51-30 with a 3.39 ERA in 128 career big league games. He has 694 strikeouts in 656 innings.