The Chicago White Sox and general manager Rick Hahn continued their rebuilding process by trading off their assets on Tuesday night, this time by dealing third baseman Todd Frazier, closer David Robertson, and relief pitcher Tommy Kahnle to the New York Yankees.
This is the first trade since the White Sox began rebuilding to include multiple players from the White Sox end.
In return from New York, The White Sox received the Yankees’ third highest-rated prospect in outfielder Blake Rutherford, minor league pitcher Ian Clarkin, and veteran reliever Tyler Clippard.
Another Yankees top prospect is expected to be a part of the package deal, but it is still unknown who that prospect is.
Hahn has again worked the ability to draw up in his players to where if one team appears to be interested, another one will offer more to ensure a deal.
When the Chris Sale trade took place in December of 2016, it was the night before where rumors surfaced that the White Sox were close to trading him to either the Washington Nationals or Atlanta Braves.
This lead to the Red Sox offering the package that led to the deal the next day and in turn caused the Nationals to overpay with the package of prospects they traded away for outfielder Adam Eaton.
Last Tuesday, with rumors of the Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, and the Yankees wanting to trade prospects for Jose Quintana, it was the Cubs who stepped in and offered the best package for the White Sox. Earlier tonight, it was reported by 670 The Score’s Bruce Levine that the White Sox and Red Sox were close to a Robertson/ Frazier package, but 20 minutes after he reported that it was the Yankees that were even closer to a packaged deal involving Frazier, Robertson, and Kahnle.
With trading Robertson, Kahnle, and Frazier, Hahn is left with Melky Cabrara as a realistic trade piece with very little value for a decent return.
There are few teams seeking a outfield bat, even though Melky is having a decent year hitting wise. Jose Abreu and Avasil Garcia are possible trade commodities, but yet again the market value for both are low, even if they are having productive years.
The one setback Hahn had to deal with came Sunday when the Nationals chose to trade for relief help by sending prospects to Oakland in return for relievers Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson. Robertson was a favorite to be traded to the Nationals to help with their bullpen, with many rumors believing that the Nationals would part with their number one prospect in outfielder Victor Robles.
Tuesday’s trade will most likely be the last of the big trades for prospects for a while for the White Sox, but within eight months the team has completely turned around their organization by trading six players. The White Sox will now have nine prospects ranked on MLB’s top 100 prospects list with six ranked in the top 50.
The Sox have gone from having one of the worst farm systems in Major League Baseball to within one year having the best farm system in baseball.
What started in December of 2016 has now completed as the 1st phase of the rebuild now is complete with the 2nd phase of making smart decisions with future high draft selection and developing the talent about to start.
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