The White Sox have claimed 23-year old righty reliever Waldis Joaquin off waivers from the Giants. Joaquin pitched in 4 games (0 starts) for the Giants last season and he was 0-0 with a 9.64 ERA and a 2.79 WHIP. He also pitched in 27 games (9 starts) in AAA+Rookie ball last season and he was 1-2 with 2 saves, a 4.43 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP. Joaquin has now pitched in 14 games (0 starts) in parts of two years in the majors and he is 0-0 with a 5.87 ERA and a 1.96 WHIP. Joaquin has a good arm so it doesn’t hurt to take a chance on him.

UPDATE: (11/29/2010) - Waldis Joaquin has rejected the White Sox’ waiver claim and thus he has become a free agent.

The White Sox have signed 30-year old lefty swinging 3B/1B Dallas McPherson to a minor league deal. McPherson played in 84 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 85 of 318 (.267 avg, .880 OPS) with 49 runs scored, 22 homers and 75 RBIs. He last played in the majors in 2008 with the Florida Marlins. McPherson has played in 128 games in parts of four years in the majors and he is 91 of 371 (.245 avg, .756 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 18 homers, 45 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. It never hurts to take a flier on a guy like McPherson who has shown a lot of power in the minors.

The White Sox have released 28-year old righty starter/reliever Carlos Torres. Torres pitched in 5 games (1 start) for the White Sox last season and he was 0-1 with a 8.56 ERA and a 2.34 WHIP. He pitched in 13 games (6 starts) in two years with the Pale Hose and he was 1-3 with a 6.86 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP. The White Sox won’t miss Torres as they are loaded in the starting rotation.

28-year old righty swinging catcher Donny Lucy has elected to become a free agent instead of accepting a minor league assignment. Lucy played in 7 games for the White Sox last year and he was 5 of 15 (.333 avg, 1.178 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer, 2 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He played in 15 games in his two years with the White Sox and he was 8 of 30 (.267 avg, .800 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer, 2 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Some team will likely snap up Lucy this winter with the idea of stashing him in AAA.

35-year old lefty reliever Randy Williams has elected to leave the White Sox instead of accepting a minor league assignment. Williams pitched in 27 games (0 starts) for the White Sox last year and he was 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA and a 2.32 WHIP. He pitched in 52 games (0 starts) in his two years with the Pale Hose and he was 0-2 with a 5.06 ERA and a 1.95 WHIP. The White Sox can do better than Williams in 2011 so they don’t mind that he has left town.

The White Sox have re-signed 43-year old switch hitting infielder Omar Vizquel to a 1-year, $1.75 million dollar deal. Vizquel played in 108 games for the White Sox last season and he was 95 of 344 (.276 avg, .673 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 2 homers, 30 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. He has now played in 2,850 games in his first 22 years in the majors and he is 2,799 of 10,266 (.273 avg, .692 OPS) with 1,414 runs scored, 80 homers, 936 RBIs and 400 stolen bases. This was a solid move for the White Sox but Vizquel will likely be more of a reserve this year.