NEWSLETTER
This time of year, especially post-All-Star break, is always filled with a flurry of rumors. That it is busy right now is no surprise to me.
But it feels like this year there is a ton of actual trade activity right now – maybe even moreso than rumor activity. It’s kind of wild how these deals are popping off.
Just yesterday, the Tigers traded one of the best bats on the market in JD Martinez to the Wild-Card-hoping Diamondbacks, and the White Sox have now also made yet another trade, sending Todd Frazier, David Robertson, and Tommy Kahnle to the Yankees for a package of prospects and the withered husk of Tyler Clippard:
#WhiteSox have acquired Blake Rutherford, Ian Clarkin, Tito Polo & Tyler Clippard from NYY in exchange for Frazier, Kahnle & Robertson.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) July 19, 2017
The Yankees now have a fairly loaded bullpen, and finally can sport a reasonably productive first baseman. And the fact that they kept Frazier from the Red Sox – who’ll now be scouring the market for a different option – was a bonus, I’m sure.
Rutherford, the Yankees’ 2016 first round pick and a top 50 prospect in baseball, is the big get for the White Sox, who now boast the most loaded prospect corps since the vaunted Cubs group of a few years ago. Arguably – don’t yell at me – this White Sox group is even better, as they have about 10 prospects who are consensus top 100 types, with half of those in or near the top 30. My word.
One of those guys, though, will probably soon lose his prospect status, as the White Sox are going to call up top prospect Yoan Moncada (yes, THE Yoan Moncada) in the wake of this trade. Moncada, 22, was not putting up otherworldly numbers at AAA this year, but his talent is extreme. There’s a reason the Red Sox paid more than $60 million to sign him a couple years ago.
The White Sox look a lot like the Cubs did a few years ago in their process, and it’s possible this second half will look a lot like the Cubs’ second half of 2014: you can see the young guys coming, get a taste of winning, and then things start to come together (surprising some) the very next year.
How about an all-Chicago World Series in, say, 2019?
