White Sox Pitcher Zach Duke Could Have Been A Blue Jay

The Toronto Blue Jays were interested in acquiring Zach Duke during the offseason but the reliever eventually landed with the Chicago White Sox. “The interest was mutual, honestly. I talked with [Blue Jays general manager] Alex [Anthopoulos] quite a bit, I talked to a few guys on the Blue Jays, too, and I was pretty interested,” Duke said in an interview with SportsNet. “Toronto was definitely a huge consideration for me. It just didn’t work out, Toronto wasn’t quite the right place for me.”

The 32-year-old Duke agreed to a three-year $15 million deal with the White Sox after finishing the year strong for his previous team, the Milwaukee Brewers. Duke was a key member of the Brewers’ bullpen posting a 2.45 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 58.2 innings and 74 games.

The veteran left-handed pitcher started his MLB career with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2005 to 2010. He also played for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2011, Washington Nationals from 2012 to 2013, and Cincinnati Reds in 2013 before stints with the Brewers and White Sox.

For his career, Duke has a career win-loss record of 57-79 with 4.44 ERA and 655 strikeouts.

Chicago is currently in last place of the Central Division with a 24-27 record while Toronto is in third place of the East Division at 25-30 both in the American League