Blake Smith

After being returned from the Padres in March, Smith went on to produce one of his better seasons of his minor league career. In his first full season at the Triple-A level, the right-hander posted strong results, throwing 71.1 innings with a 3.53 ERA and a 9.5 K/9. He also vastly improved his control, as he put up a BB/9 below 4.0 for the first time in his career. All of this led the White Sox to call him up when the rosters expanded in September, although he found little success in the limited opportunities he had. Smith's peripherals in the minors suggest that his sound performance wasn't a complete fluke, so he could become a decent bullpen arm as he builds off his age-28 season. Even though this might have him in the conversation for one of the last major league bullpen spots, his ceiling for the 2017 season seems to be that of a typical middle reliever.