It’s about time the White Sox found a fifth starting pitcher: The Sox inked former Brewers and Mets righty Adrian Houser to a one-year, $1.35 million deal. He’s now the seventh-highest paid player on Chicago’s roster — great job, Jerry, for breaking open the piggy bank!

Since April 19, when the Sox placed Martín Pérez on the 15-day IL, the rotation has been without a fifth starter. Bryse Wilson filled the void for nearly a month, but he wasn’t serviceable enough. Wilson has posted a 7.20 ERA with 12 runs and five walks allowed over 15 innings in his last three starts. When the Sox didn’t use Wilson as a starter, they used Tyler Gilbert as a long opener. Gilbert allowed one run over two innings before handing the ball to Wilson, who allowed three more runs in the Sox’s 7-2 loss to Milwaukee in late April. To say that Wilson hasn’t been the right man for the back end of the rotation is an understatement.

Bringing an experienced free agent pitcher in is a pleasantly surprising move for general manager Chris Getz. Houser has primarily served as a starter but has found more success in the bullpen, so we’re still talking about a filler pitcher. He has a career 4.57 ERA as a starter versus a 2.32 ERA as a reliever in the majors. The only problem is that Houser hasn’t pitched an MLB inning this year. He has spent this season in Triple-A with the Rangers, racking up a 5.03 ERA with 37 strikeouts in nine games, eight of which he’s started. While signing another struggling Triple-A pitcher isn’t what Sox fans want to see, at least not at the cost of failing to promote a pitcher from the system when the time comes.

Houser isn’t the cream of the crop, but he’s an established pitcher with time spent throwing during every inning of the game. The Sox must take advantage of his flexibility to avoid fatiguing their bullpen too soon. Perhaps mooching off the Brewers’ scraps (as the White Sox did with Rule 5 pick Shane Smith) will pay off again, but let’s not get carried away just yet.

To open up a roster spot for Houser, the Sox DFA’d another recent scrap pickup, Yoendrys Gómez, who is now searching for his fourth team this year. But in true Getz fashion, he’ll likely be re-signed to a Chicago minor league deal by the end of this weekend.