The Braves did some low-risk speculating Monday, agreeing to sign left-hander John Danks to a minor-league contract with an invitation to major league spring training, a person familiar with the situation said.
Danks, 31, was released by the White Sox in May after going 0-4 with a 7.25 ERA in four starts and allowing 28 hits, five homers and 11 walks in 22 1/3 innings. The White Sox ate the remainder of the $15.75 million that he was owed last season in the final year of a five-year, $65 million contract extension.
With the Braves, he’ll make about $1.5 million on a prorated basis for any time spent in the major leagues.
Danks got that big extension with the White Sox back when he was a young starter on the rise, before shoulder problems that required surgery in 2012. He’s been trying ever since to stay healthy and return to something resembling pre-surgery form, but he posted ERAs above 4.70 in each of the past five seasons covered by his contract extension.
Coincidentally, he’s the second former Texas Rangers first-round draft pick acquired by the Braves in the past week. They got hard-throwing relief prospect Luke Jackson – a first-round pick in 2010 — in a Thursday trade for pitching prospects Tyrell Jenkins and Brady Feigl.
Danks, the ninth overall pick of the 2003 draft, has a 79-104 record, 4.38 ERA and 1,102 strikeouts in 1,503 1/3 innings in 247 starts over 10 major league seasons, all with the White Sox.
He made 32 and 30 starts in consecutive seasons before last year, going 11-11 with an ERA of 4.74 in 193 2/3 innings in 2014 and 7-15 with a 4.71 ERA in 177 2/3 innings in 2015. He hasn’t totaled more than 135 strikeouts since 2010, before the shoulder issues stalled his career.
Danks won 40 games while averaging more than 200 innings during his ages 23-25 seasons, including a 3.32 ERA in 195 innings in 2008, a 3.77 ERA in 200 1/3 innings in 2009, and a 3.72 ERA with career-highs of 162 strikeouts in 213 innings in 2010.
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