Headlines

  • Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow
  • Astros To Promote Brice Matthews
  • Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers
  • Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help
  • Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays
  • Yankees Release DJ LeMahieu
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Brewers Acquire Xavier Cedeno

By Steve Adams and Jeff Todd | August 31, 2018 at 4:08pm CDT

The Brewers and White Sox have announced to a trade that will send left-handed reliever Xavier Cedeno from Chicago to Milwaukee, as first reported by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). A pair of minor-leaguers — outfielder Bryan Connell and righty Johan Dominguez — will head to the White Sox in the swap.

Cedeno, who celebrated his 32nd birthday earlier this week, signed a minor league deal with the ChiSox this offseason after being non-tendered by the Rays. He worked his way onto the big league roster and has had a solid season on the South Side, working to a 2.84 ERA with 28 strikeouts against 13 walks along with a 55.4% groundball rate in 25 1/3 innings.

Notably, Cedeno has allowed just one homer this season despite the hitter-friendly nature of Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate Field, thanks in part to a robust 55.4 percent ground-ball rate. Interestingly, too, he has not just been effective against opposing lefties — who are hitting just .209/.277/.326 against him — but also against righties, who have managed only a .200/.322/.300 line.

That’s a rather impressive showing for a pitcher who sat out almost all of the 2017 season due to arm issues. He had been rather effective in the prior two seasons as well, though he had also been utilized mostly in a specialist capacity (throwing only 87 1/3 total innings in 120 appearances).

Just how sustainable Cedeno’s 2018 output is can certainly be debated, particularly as regards right-handed hitters. But while he’s only averaging 86.6 mph on his heavily-used cutter, the offering has shown greater horizontal movement and has allowed him to generate a 13.0% swinging-strike rate. And Statcast figures support the idea that Cedeno has been legitimately hard to square up (.273 wOBA; .282 xwOBA).

If things go well the rest of the way, Milwaukee will have the added bonus of retaining Cedeno beyond the 2018 season. He entered the season with four-plus of big league service and will finish with just enough service time to reach five full years. That’ll leave him with one offseason of arbitration eligibility remaining. He’s playing out the year on a $1.05MM base salary, so his 2019 salary would be modest even after a potential arbitration raise.

In exchanging for parting with Cedeno, the White Sox come away with a pair of youngsters. Connell, 19, had an impressive showing in his third attempt at the Dominican Summer League but hasn’t hit as much since being promoted to the Rookie-level Pioneer League. The 22-year-old Dominguez, meanwhile, has been a teammate of Connell quite a bit over the past three seasons. His longest stint at a single spot this year, though, came at another Rookie level, the Arizona League. He threw 19 1/3 scoreless innings there, allowing only five hits while recording 21 strikeouts against seven walks.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Share 0 Retweet 6 Send via email0

Chicago White Sox Milwaukee Brewers Transactions Xavier Cedeno

Orioles Designate Craig Gentry, Outright Jhan Marinez
Main
Brewers Outright Nate Orf & Ariel Hernandez, Sign Emilio Bonifacio
View Comments (22)
Post a Comment

22 Comments

  1. stubby66

    7 years ago

    I’m not surprised by this we need lefty help but i honestly would prefer to go with the young guys. No need to give away prospects that can be a wild card.

    Reply
    • brewcrew08

      7 years ago

      A “fringe” prospect from class A is hardly giving away a prospect that could be a wildcard. Not to mention a prospect in A ball has years left before he could contribute even if everything breaks right.

      6
      Reply
      • getright11

        7 years ago

        That’s a wildcard lol

        2
        Reply
      • tim2686

        7 years ago

        Tatis Jr. 🙁

        Reply
        • CluHaywood

          7 years ago

          Sox know all about Tatis Jr…

          Reply
      • twentyforty

        7 years ago

        The Brewers have few difference makers in their system. Most of them are indeed “fringe” guys. Check BA.

        Reply
        • stevewpants

          7 years ago

          To be fair every organization has their minor leagues full of fringe guys, you throw a couple hundred noodles at the wall and see who sticks.

          Reply
  2. ib6ub9

    7 years ago

    Is he going to play ss

    Reply
    • PK11

      7 years ago

      No. 2B

      Reply
  3. Matt Galvin

    7 years ago

    James Shields to?

    Reply
  4. HalosHeavenJJ

    7 years ago

    Nice move. Obvious need, an extra affordable year of control.

    Reply
  5. Danthemilwfan

    7 years ago

    I loved Dominguez. Not ecstatic about the trade but must mean Dan Jennings tore something

    Reply
    • pdxbrewcrew

      7 years ago

      22 year-old in rookie ball? What’s not to love?

      Reply
  6. king joffrey

    7 years ago

    To replace the pitchers they traded, the Chisox have brought up Burr (Ryan) and Hamilton (Ian). I hope these two get along.

    2
    Reply
    • K_Man915

      7 years ago

      I appreciate that reference.

      1
      Reply
    • CluHaywood

      7 years ago

      Lol…nicely played.

      Reply
  7. stevewpants

    7 years ago

    Got milk?

    1
    Reply
  8. timtim007

    7 years ago

    I’m a Cards fan, but have a lot of respect and admiration for the Brew Crew. Sounds like a good addition to their pen. Plus the Brewers have one of my all time favorite announcers in Uecker, he is so funny.

    3
    Reply
    • brewpackbuckbadg

      7 years ago

      Mutual respect here as well. Cardinals have been a great organization.

      Reply
  9. nrd1138

    7 years ago

    Yeah, the Sox were not going to rob the bank with this Cedeno, but you trust that the Sox scouts find these guys that are not thought of much by their orgs and turn them into average/above average ball players.

    1
    Reply
  10. maximumvelocity

    7 years ago

    I’m much more ecstatic they ignored R5 status for Hamilton and called him up because of performance, since he wasn’t facing the draft. This has to mean Eloy is next, no?

    Reply
  11. ThatBallwasBryzzoed

    7 years ago

    Who the hell is that?

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow

    Astros To Promote Brice Matthews

    Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers

    Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help

    Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays

    Yankees Release DJ LeMahieu

    Trevor Williams To Undergo UCL Surgery

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

    Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Recent

    Trade Deadline Outlook: New York Yankees

    Trade Deadline Outlook: Atlanta Braves

    Which Other Relievers Might The Orioles Shop?

    Lee Elia Passes Away

    Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow

    Poll: Which Teams Should Make The Biggest Push For Jarren Duran?

    MLB Finalizes Home Run Derby Field

    Astros To Promote Brice Matthews

    Giants Outright Sergio Alcántara

    Joe Coleman Passes Away

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version