The White Sox have acquired right-hander Franklin German from the Red Sox in exchange for righty Theo Denlinger. Both teams have announced the trade, and the White Sox also announced that right-hander Jason Bilous was designated for assignment to create roster space.
Boston designated German for assignment earlier this week, in a bit of a surprising move given that the Red Sox had named German their minor league pitcher of the year. German had a 2.72 ERA and a very impressive 32.49% strikeout rate over 49 2/3 total innings between Boston’s Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, all in bullpen work. This performance earned German his first bit of Major League action, though he had an 18.00 ERA over his four innings in the Show.
2022 was German’s first season as a full-time reliever, as he started to run into some struggles working his way up the ladder as a minor league starter. It could be that the move to the bullpen might be a turning point for the 25-year-old German, and the White Sox seem interested in seeing if his 97mph fastball can translate to consistent results as a relief pitcher.
On the flip side, the Red Sox are also picking up a live arm in Denlinger, who has a 35.02% strikeout rate over 65 innings in the minors. Denlinger only began his pro career in 2021 when Chicago drafted him in the seventh round, but the 26-year-old already advanced to Double-A last season, albeit with a 4.70 ERA over 38 1/3 frames with Double-A Birmingham. Home runs contributed to that total, so if Denlinger can improve on keeping the ball in the park, a Triple-A promotion and maybe even a cup of coffee in the majors isn’t inconceivable for 2023.
Bilous, 25, was added to Chicago’s 40-man roster last offseason in advance of the Rule 5 Draft, though he was coming off a shaky season at the high-A and Double-A levels. Unfortunately for Bilous, those struggles continued into 2022, as he posted a 6.30 ERA over 105 2/3 combined innings (83 2/3 at Double-A, 22 at Triple-A). While his strikeout rates were still respectable, Bilous’ walk rate spiked to 15.74%. It is possible that a bullpen move could conceivably be in Bilous’ future as well, though his four-pitch arsenal might lead the White Sox or another club to continue to explore a future as a starter.
Championships.
More like more sucking for the White Sux, the second class MLB team in Chicago.
“Good. Use your aggressive feelings, boy. Let the hate flow through you.”
No anger here, little boy! Just pity for White Sux fans like you. Your jealousy of the Cubs is as obvious as your dilution that the White Sux are good.
Why be jealous when both franchises are historically terrible.
So, dumpster diving using Theo?
Ha go cubs! If u only had somewhere to go.
Literally no one is jealous of a franchise with one championship in the last century plus. Why is that so hard for Cubs fans to comprehend lol.
Which Chicago franchise is this referring to?
Simple changing of Sox for German.
We hope he doesn’t wash his old reds in with the whites or else he’d not be in either teams uniform
Lol. He could join the Pink Socks.
Isn’t “pink sock” code for a prolapsed bhole?
I definitely don’t want to know that
Seek help.
Do they ever wear “white Sox” or did they used to?
This trade blows
I could be wrong, but I am betting that you don’t have the slightest idea of who Delinger is, nor have you heard the name before. Am I wrong?
But I do know that Frank German was the Milb Red Sox Pitcher of the year and Denlinger hasn’t played a game in AAA yet and is almost 27. German is 25.
Denlinger was just drafted in 2021. He’s older because of the extra college athletes got due to covid. He was a good reliever at Bradley University in one of the better mid major conferences, the Missouri Valley. So you’re right he’s never been in AAA yet. But did make AA in his first full season of Pro ball. Not bad at all
I think Cundall got it about right.
“Essentially, they flipped a potential up-and-down guy right now for one in a year or two.”
Plus Boston gets a similarly live arm reliever to German who does not need to be on the 40-man roster yet. That’s actually a pretty good swap for them given how full the roster is at the moment.
Denlinger isn’t on the 40 man I believe so the trade was for a guy that isn’t going to require a corresponding 40 man move.
I’m aware but I still think we could have gotten somebody better
Angels offered Otanhi, but Red Sox turned them down.
Love the arm-chair GMs. They would sign Wacha for 1/8M, get a much bigger package for Betts and of-course get major league ready talent for a DFA’ed pitcher.
Who’s Otanhi
…or perhaps German isn’t that highly regarded by the Red Sox and other teams.
or perhaps German was given the award to increase his trade value.
FenwayFanatic
I’m aware but I still think we could have gotten somebody better
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That’s at the heart of my question. Isn’t it difficult to know how good the return is, if you don’t know anything about the return?
True, but at his best, Denlinger could be an up and down guy at the age of 30. I would rather try my luck with German
FG ranked him as our #32 last year. But as Kingken and Bruin said, this is mostly about getting an equivalent minor league arm that didn’t require a slot on the 40.
Sox Prospects ranked him early 20s and they scout them first hand.
Keith Otanhi. Promising right hander in the Red Sox organization. In 2022 he was 7-0 with a 1.21 ERA and 152 strikeouts and 12 walks in 98 innings. Looks like an up-and-comer. Whoops! Bloom traded him for a .122 hitting AA infielder.
Wow you guys dont know Ohtani? A small typo and you have no clue?
Really shows you don’t know much about baseball. But, I figured that from the comments.
Comments like “I would have taken Bilous instead”
So you’d waive a guy because you need to clear a spot on the 40-man, only to take back another guy you’d need to clear a spot for. Great plan.
It’s not going to take him 4 years to get from AA to the majors. You’re being completely ridiculous here.
JoeBrady – You took some liberties with summarizing Denlinger’s college career. He wasn’t good. His final year was solid at best. He hardly threw any innings and his control is attrocious.
FYI… his control is still bad.18 walks in 38 innings at AA.
Somebody start spinning the revolving door. This guy will be DFA’d by year end or sooner unless Bloom gets fired.
It was a joke
PulledaBloom40 mins ago
JoeBrady – You took some liberties with summarizing Denlinger’s college career.
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I didn’t summarize his college career. I never look at college stats.
Denlinger has a real chance to be in the bigs this season or next. And his upside is a high leverage reliever. Are you just gonna ignore the fact that he made it to AA in his first full season.
I watched him pitch in college first hand. He got the job done constantly for a bottom half of the conference team. His defense let him down over and over again. His only truly bad season was when he get hurt and only pitched 3 games.
JoeBrady – I apologize. The comment I referenced has disappeared. Could be a senior moment or you deleted it. Either way, the stats I documented give some hesitation to the quality of Denlinger. He’s never had good control. That would need to get fixed if he’s going to help in any way.
And, he’s already 27 years old. So for all the deference people give to the idea he made it to AA already, as a 27 year old who pitched through college for an extended period, if anything, only making it to AA is almost a disappointment at 27. The most advanced college arms wind up making a cup of coffee in their first full season of pro ball as a reliever.
By their second year, when they’re just a reliever like this guy at 27 and not developing 3rd or 4th pitches to start, or, some 19 year old developing strength and cotrol??? they should be in AAA with some mlb service time of some sort.
Now, is the 25 yr old German better than the 27 yr old Denlinger? From all the stats so far, yes.
Remember German got rocked in his first ever MLB appearance where his line was 2 hits, 2 walks, 4 er charged. 5 appearances weren’t much, but, each outing was better than the one before it. Who knows where he will lead.
Flip side? The problem isn’t as much what bloom got back – you DFA a guy at a time of year when many rosters are set on the 40-man, you’ve got to take what you can get.
And how many promising, but still developing relievers that need a 40-man are worth the double cost, paying a prospect for another player PLUS still needing to DFA one of your other 40 man guys? Because boston wasn’t taking a 40man player back on this one.
So where’s that leave things? Yet again, more evidence of the POOR planning and execution of any offseason strategy… Bloom is mostly making it up as he goes along from how things look.
Another wasted asset, when you add up everyone given away for free (or nearly so) and you make a ledger of what you gave up for what you got, you omit any free agent from the ‘get’ side. A proper front office keeps the 40man spots empty to cover PLANNED additions, and if anything, fills those spots with waiver claim players and guys you can *reasonably* expect to pass through waivers.
So that’s where the fault/blame goes, at least in my opinion. This farm remains based on middling quantity, not high quality, and it’s why it’s still around the bottom 1/3 of mlb farms.
Haters gotta hate. What happened to ‘they’re just prospects and don’t mean much of anything’ mentality you had for well over a year? Now suddenly the 40-something best player on the roster is deserving of a 9 paragraph diatribe.
Thats exactly what I’d say if I made a dumb comment like that too. Just one catch, whats the punchline?
Fenway – The Red Sox had no leverage. Everyone knew that German was DFA.
The prospect is going on 27!!!
The other prospect is going on 26!!! So what?
Not during the season he wont be. I think his birthday is in very late September so practically, he will be 25 the whole season.
Theres a 439 day age difference. Wow!
FenwayFanatic is scouring the stat pages of these guys to find an angle to not like this move.
Yeah but the younger guys is in the big leagues and the older guy is in double-A.
Nice move by the White Sox if you ask me. I really thought German was ready to be a full time member of the Red Sox pen this season, but Bloom & Co. didn’t feel that way. It will be fun to watch German’s progress with the White Sox now and I wish him well. I don’t know much about the prospect Boston got back for him other than he doesn’t require a spot on the 40-man roster like German did. Hopefully the trade works out for both players and both teams over the long run. No need to re-hash the whole Ort vs German argument; what’s done is done. Personally, I won’t be surprised if German becomes a solid mid to late inning reliever for Chicago; hopefully Denlinger can provide some value down the road for Boston as well.
@Dorothy/ not requiring a 40 man roster spot was the kicker. Time to trade in the older shuttle bus for a new one as they will no doubt be putting the miles on it ferrying guys back and forth from Worcester this summer.
The funny thing is that German is actually younger than Denlinger. German signed young while Denliger was a college senior sign so German requires the 40-man spot while Denlinger does not due to draft year. Again, I hope it works out for both of them!
I would have taken Bilous instead
He is a walking machine which isn’t bad for a batter but not good for a pitcher. And that’s his history.
Makes me sick just to think about it.
I see what you did there, BlueSkies.
Seems you’re the only one!
Okay, based on your knowledge of Bilous and Delinger, why prefer Bilous?
You can have both, just put a claim on Bilous.
Spotsood – you need a 40-man spot open to claim a player off waivers! The Red Sox obviously do not have an open spot, and that is why they had to DFA German, so there is no way they claim Bilous. The Red Sox would have to DFA another player to claim him! They were trading for a non 40-man player!
Awaiting a higher profile pitcher signing after the losses of Hendricks and Clevinger for the season.
It looks like Frank German is your guy! (Maybe Wacha?)
No, but Davis Martin is.
Next man up!
@thikiedon
I hope your not holding your breath.
Thikidon will be changing his name to Mr Blue, if he is.
Am I wrong in remembering that Franklin’s FB was too straight and therefore very hittable?
The velocity is there, but yes, absolutely no movement on it.
Politi’s fastball is also straight with no movement. Looks like they are getting rid of those types.
How hasen’t Politi been returned to the Red Sox yet?
Another exciting transaction. Sorry, Still not moving the needle for me yet.
Your needle probably hasn’t moved since the Apollo landings. Just sayin.
I heard Franklin German played second base in a few games while he was in high school. Another depth option at the keystone for the Pale Hose.
Franklin’s middle name is Adolfo. His parents must have been irony challenged.
Chaim just makes no sense…
I like AJ Alexy and Franklin German as Charlotte depth a whole lot more than I liked Theo Denlinger and Jason Bilous. Theo Denlinger is already pretty old, and Birmingham is supposed to suppress home run totals for pitchers, not add to them. Plus, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bilous clears waivers and ends up back in Charlotte anyway.
I wouldn’t mind placing a waiver claim on the guy Kansas City just designated to make room for Greinke. Lefties with good curveballs don’t grow on trees.
Agree with some others – Good job White Sox. Another fumble by Chaim Ka’Bloom! It’s not all about this particular trade, it is a culmination of three years (Remember JBJ, taking on extra $ and 2 low level prospects for Hunter Renfroe). Chaim likes to accentuate that he was two games away from the 2021 WS, but what he doesn’t mention was the Red Sox were the second wild card team in the AL that year and barely made it into the playoffs as it was a nail biter until the end. Yes they got hot in the playoffs, but it wasn’t anything Chaim, etal and his minor league FARM did. Remember their FARM is ranked 23……….23.
23 by Keith Law. BA has them at #11.
ESPN has them at #14.
BA is outdated and it more than likely dropped. Perhaps not to 23rd like Keith Law, but it will not be 11 on the next iteration Law had them at 20th in 2022, so he sees regression and I am sure BA, et al will too. The Farm has a few decent prospects with some graduating this year, but all-in-all Chaim has not rebuilt the farm. Maybe they’ll get a Rule 5 draft pick back as they lost three…..maybe..
Bloom has only had 3 drafts. You expect the farm system to be rebuilt in 3 drafts? Also, in his first draft he didn’t have a 2nd round draft pick. The ESPN #14 ranking just came out.
The only reason Boston is at 14 and not higher is that they had a pretty timid IFA signing period in January. They were ranked higher that this before the most recent IFA class signed. I’m not sure why they couldn’t attract/sign at least one Top 15 prospect.
how’d Jeter Downs work out for the farm? benny trade prospects? many other great ones…btw some of the top prospects were here before bloom…Casas, Mata
Some very stage comments starting with BA being outdated. To that comment soxshortstop read a bit about the game so you understand the fundamentals. Batting average will always be relevant because it identifies a player’s ability to hit the baseball and get on base.
Bloom’s 3 drafts didn’t need to fix anything because the farm system was just fine as documented by the huge number of graduates over the last decade. Only a fool thinks farm system rankings mean anything. They are political rankings not skill rankings. Wake up and think like a knowledgeable baseball fan. These rankings had Swihart ahead of Mookie and countless other mistakes. They are leverage in trades, a way to see who the front office likes from your club and a conjured irrelevant stat that is sold to the mindless baseball fan. Smell the coffee. Read the stats not the metrics and not the rankings.
Dorothy – Your desire to sign a top ranked IFA is valid. The ranking of 14 is meaningless. The point system is a “potential-based” point system not an actual performance based ranking system. If you want to rank prospects the best place to go is ROTOWIRE because they rank based on age and performance at the age not who the front office needs to build their reputation for.
You want to find a guy who deserved to be ranked check out Manzardo of TB. He’s 7th on the ROTOWIRE ranking,while 73 and 60th on the MLB and BA rankings. Why? Because he’s not a big name but has performed extremely well. He’s the opposite of a guy like Diego Cartaya. His MLB and BA rankings are 14 and 18 and his ROTOWIRE ranking is 75.
Why the disparity? Cartaya is a Friedman guy so he’s over-hyped. Manzardo is a TB guy, he’s been undersold.
Their numbers?
Manzardo – 21 years old in 2022
63 games at A+ with a .329 average, .436 OBP, .636 SLG and 1.072 OPS
30 games at AA with a .323 average .402 OBP .576 SLG and .977 OPS
Cartaya – 14 months younger than Manzardo
33 games at A with a .260 average .405 OBP .550 SLG and .955 OPS
62 games at HiA with a .251 average .379 OBP .476 SLG and .856 OPS
Manzardo came out of college in 2021 at age 20 like Cartaya in 2022
47 games at Wash St with a .366 average, .437 OBP, .640 SLG 1.076 OPS
13 games at ROK for TB with .349 average, 440 OBP, .645 SLG 1.045 OPS
In what world would Manzardo not be considered the better prospect?
The world of politics. Friedman owns MLB and BA prospect rankings and ROTOWIRE uses actual numbers!!
Where does ROTOWIRE have the Boston prospects?
CASAS #23, Mayer #33 Bleis #88 and Yorke #91
So Dorothy let me suggest that if you insist on looking at rankings at least pick the one with greatest tie to facts not politics.
To Bloom, think about trading Casas straight up for Manzardo.
Another know-it-all – ha, ha, ha
” Only a fool thinks farm system rankings mean anything” – Ha ha ha tell that to Ka’Bloom as he brags about the Farm system and how it is much better since 2019. Tom Werner was just saying the FARM is the future. Honestly, where do you folks come from that write dissertations blabbing incoherently about nothing.? Can’t stop laughing at you! Stop I’m laughing too hard…. STOP!
Pulled is rotowire a fantasy baseball site? If it is then it doesn’t take into the account that Manzardo might not even be a first baseman defensively while Cartya is a catcher that is expected to stick as a catcher. If Cartaya doesn’t stick at catcher then they are more comparable.
I like Manzardo have watched him several times since they play against the Red Sox affiliates he’s a hitting machine but he’s probably a DH maybe he sticks at first. This means he better rake since he has no real defensive value. Despite what fantasy baseball players think defense matters in the real world. I do think he is somewhat under ranked because he is a Ray the guy has done nothing but rake in the minors.
Pulled I do agree with your assessment that the Dodgers farm is a little over ranked. I personally like Baltimore, Arizona, and probably Cleveland those come to mind but I do have to admit I haven’t seen the Dodgers prospects as much as I have the East teams prospects. I do know that overall the west minor leagues have the better hitting environments but haven’t seen to many games that the Red Sox affiliates haven’t played against. See we can agree on some things.
soxshortstop
Agree with some others – Good job White Sox.
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I just wanted to let you know that you have no idea who these guys are.
It’s okay to the extent that RS fans traditionally like to weigh in on trades without sometimes not knowing the names of the guys involved.
stop —- just stop: hmmmm….and you are???? got it!
If you’re bullish on Miguel Bleis, you don’t really care where the team ranks right now, because a system with even modest depth, but fronted by Mayer and a Bleis breakout, is probably a top third farm without any other information.
Brayan Bello already lost rookie status, btw
I wouldn’t worry too much about Law’s rankings. He puts the Yankees farm at #14. McDaniel at ESPN puts it at #4. This is hardly an exact science.
Quoting Keith Law on any prospect rankings is laughable he is a marginal talent evaluator at best. I’m not sure how you take a guy seriously about mlb systems that had Baltimore pre Adley Rutschman graduating as the 10th best farm pre 2022 season. He just likes to be an outlier the Red Sox are going to be inside the top 15 in all other lists most likely.
Bruin: Thanks. I didn’t know Law was that bad. I like Fangraphs rankings the best. They rate each prospect so you can see how they got the farm system rankings.
White Sox most likely got the better end of deal . Bloom’s trade history isn’t very impressive .
Wacha is asking 2 yrs/ 30MM — that has ended any chance of signing..
Seriously… That’s his ask? No thanks. He hasn’t been able to string 2 quality seasons together in 8 years. What is his agents narrative that he’s going to be able to do it for 3 straight years?
GMs made the deals but it’s the pitching coaches that think they can change the guy.
msqboxer – Sometimes the manager too. Crazy considering he was a bench jockey utility infielder telling Sale how to pitch more effectively. TJ surgery resulted. Nice job Cora.
Another offseason move by the White Sox that does nothing to address their 5th starter, 2b, RF, outfield depth, closer, or complete lack of hitting vs RHP. Even if he is a decent arm that they got basically for free, it changes nothing. This team will be in sell mode in July.
I heard they just started flipping the barrel upside down for Rick Hahn to get easier access to the stuff sticking to the bottom of it..