- A Red Sox trade for White Sox third baseman Todd Frazier seems “almost inevitable,” according to Rosenthal. (Rosenthal’s choice of words is strikingly strong here.) The Red Sox need a short-term infusion of power at third, with top prospect Rafael Devers as their long-term answer at the position. Frazier, who is eligible for free agency next winter, fits the bill perfectly, in Rosenthal’s view. Frazier has batted a modest .210/.331/.438 in 326 plate appearances this season, but he has a solid history of hitting for power and has batted a robust .248/.377/.540 since June 4 after getting off to a slow start to the year.
White Sox Rumors
White Sox Acquire Yeyson Yrizarri From Rangers For International Bonus Slot
The Rangers have announced that they’ve traded minor-league infielder Yeyson Yrizarri to the White Sox for an international bonus slot. The move gives the Rangers additional flexibility to sign international amateur talent. Their July 2 class is currently headlined by Venezuelan outfielder Wilderd Patino ($1.3MM), Venezuelan shortstop Keyber Rodriguez ($1M) and Mexican right-hander Damian Mendoza ($1M).
That Yrizarri would be traded for the rights to international bonus spending is somewhat ironic, since he himself was the product of an earlier international spending spree. The 20-year-old Dominican signed for $1.35MM during the Rangers’ 2013-14 signing period, in which they spent more than $8MM on international talent. He has played this season for Class A Hickory and Class A+ Down East, posting a cumulative line of .258/.285/.399 with 57 strikeouts and just six walks.
Despite a worrisome lack of strike-zone control, though, Yrizarri does rate as a real prospect — MLB.com rated him the No. 17 farmhand in the Rangers organization, praising his bat speed and noting that he seems likely to stick at shortstop. He’ll join a White Sox prospect list that’s heavy on players also acquired in recent trades, including Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Eloy Jimenez, Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dylan Cease, although, of course, he’ll rank lower on the list than any of those players.
White Sox Release Everth Cabrera
The White Sox have released veteran shortstop Everth Cabrera, according to Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago (via Twitter). He had been playing with the team’s Triple-A affiliate.
Cabrera, 30, had hoped to make a comeback with the Sox after sitting out the 2016 season. Things obviously did not turn out that way for the fleet-footed switch-hitter, leaving his future in doubt.
Through 202 plate appearances in the minors this year, Cabrera carries only a .196/.279/.240 batting line. He is now far removed from a productive 2013 season that was ultimately marred by a PED suspension. Cabrera has appeared in just 119 MLB contests since that time.
Reactions To And Effects Of The Jose Quintana Trade
After a nearly silent All-Star break on the rumor front, the Cubs and White Sox stunned the baseball world by announcing a blockbuster deal that sent left-hander Jose Quintana from Chicago’s American League club to its National League team in exchange for minor leaguers Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease, Matt Rose and Bryant Flete. Over the past 24 hours, both teams have addressed the media, pundits from around the media have weighed in on the swap, and others have reported details on alternative talks that each team had leading up to the blockbuster move. Here’s a before-and-after, if you will, of how what might be the summer’s biggest trade transpired…
- The Yankees, Brewers and Astros were all involved in varying levels of trade talks regarding Quintana before the Cubs ultimately acquired him, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com (via Twitter). The Braves, too, were in on Quintana “until the end,” USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. Meanwhile, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post tweets that the Rockies were “never really in” on Quintana despite a potential need for some rotation upgrades with some of their younger arms sputtering lately.
- The Cubs tried to engage the Tigers in trade talks on Michael Fulmer before acquiring Quintana, reports Nightengale in a full column. However, Detroit gave no indication that it was willing to listen unless the Cubs were willing to include both Javier Baez and Ian Happ in trade talks. They also inquired on Justin Verlander, per Morosi (also via Twitter), though he notes that, similarly, talks between the two sides “never gained momentum.”
- While many were stunned to see the Sox and Cubs line up on a trade — their first since 2006 — White Sox GM Rick Hahn scoffed at the notion that their shared city would serve as an impediment to trade talks, writes Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. “This notion that we wouldn’t do business with them because they’re in town — or somehow we would actually take an inferior baseball deal for non-baseball reasons because of emotion or a rivalry or something totally unrelated to putting the best possible team on the field for the next several years — is laughable,” said Hahn. The South Side GM went on to laud Jimenez’s upside, calling him a potential middle-of-the-order bat with power potential and the ability to hit to all fields. Hahn adds that yesterday’s package was “far and away the best offer, the best possibility, that we’ve discussed with any club since we’ve started this process roughly a year or ago or so.”
- The Cubs believed that they were out of the running to acquire Quintana after talking to Hahn in June, president of baseball operations told reporters (via Gordon Wittenmyer of the Sun-Times). Hahn, though, re-engaged with Epstein on Sunday night, and the two talked over the next few days, including a conversation that included Hahn ducking behind an exhibit at All-Star FanFest in Miami to avoid being seen (per ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers, on Twitter). Ultimately, it became clear that the Cubs would have to part with two of their very best prospects to get the deal done. “This deal had zero-percent chance of happening without both Eloy and Cease in it,” said Epstein. The Cubs president went on to say that they’ve been trying to acquire a pitcher like Quintana for “a long time” and added that his analytics and scouting teams “[dug] deep” to determine whether there were any changes that led to Quintana’s slow start t the season. “Our assessment on both fronts was that he is the same guy, and our staff felt that way with conviction,” Epstein said.
- Also via Wittenmyer’s column, Epstein said that the team isn’t necessarily done yet, though their play in the next two weeks will dictate what other moves are or aren’t made. “We need to play well coming out of the gates here, and we’ll assess what we’re trying to do in large part based on how we play and where we are in the standings, and how realistic we think a World Series run is this year,” Epstein said. “Everything is still on the table for this year.”
- ESPN’s Keith Law opines (Insider subscription required and recommended) that both clubs did well in the trade. The Cubs picked up a durable arm that has a near-ace-level track record over the past three years whose raw stuff “didn’t really waver” even through his struggles earlier this season. Quintana can help offset the loss of right-hander Jake Arrieta after the season, joining Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks in the rotation for the next several years. His contract is also affordable enough that the team can comfortably pursue rotation help on the free-agent market this winter. Law projects Jimenez as a middle-of-the-order bat and suggests that he alone could’ve been an acceptable return, though the inclusion of Cease sweetens the deal. Cease has questions about his command as well as his durability and may end up in the ’pen, though his velocity and pair of potentially above-average secondary offerings make him a nice upside play. Law notes that he’s been leapfrogged by a pair of pitching prospects on the Cubs’ organizational rankings, which might’ve made him easier to deal.
- Both Nightengale and Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network opine that it’s ridiculous that this is just the second trade these two teams have made this decade and offer praise for Hahn and Epstein for their pragmatic approach to dealing with one another. Teams are making more rational and data-driven decisions than ever before, Rosenthal notes, ultimately surmising that that trend should also include a willingness to deal within the same city and within the same division.
- Yahoo’s Jeff Passan writes that Quintana’s contract was every bit as important to the Cubs as Quintana himself. With significant arbitration raises looming for players like Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Kyle Hendricks, Javier Baez, Carl Edwards Jr. and others looming in the next two years, the team’s enviable young core is going to rapidly become considerably more expensive. Shedding money from aging veterans like Arrieta, John Lackey and Ben Zobrist will obviously free up some cash, but Quintana’s contract meets an important nexus of future payroll flexibility, remaining under the luxury tax and improving the near- and long-term roster.
Cubs Acquire Jose Quintana
In a stunning development, the Cubs have acquired lefty Jose Quintana from the crosstown rival White Sox, per club announcements. Top prospects Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease are going in return, with first baseman Matt Rose and infielder Bryant Flete also included in the package.
On its face, the deal is rather a straightforward one: The defending champion Cubs needed starting pitching, with a controllable arm making obvious sense. And the White Sox have marketed Quintana since last fall, holding out for a big prospect return.
But that hardly accounts for the true drama inherent in this transaction. There has been chatter of late as to whether the two Chicago stalwarts would do business with each other; clearly, any such questions have been answered.
The scuffling Cubs have said the main focus is on internal improvements, but have now acted forcefully in advance of the deadline. As for the White Sox, they now possess a bevy of elite prospects after swinging yet another significant trade. And those wondering about Quintana’s trade value now have their answer as well.
This time last year, the Cubs were lining up another deal that sent out an elite prospect (Gleyber Torres, in the Aroldis Chapman deal) in hopes of spurring a World Series run. This time, though, the piece coming back isn’t a rental. Quintana is just 28 years old and will remain under the Cubs’ control through 2020. His extension includes a $8.85MM guarantee for 2018 and successive options ($10.5MM and $11MM, respectively) for the ensuing two years. In addition to bolstering the Cubs’ staff now, Quintana will also help cover the organization as starters Jake Arrieta, John Lackey, and Brett Anderson reach free agency after the season.
Quintana has not been quite at his best in 2017, with a 4.49 ERA over 104 1/3 innings thus far. But most indicators suggest he has mostly been his usual self, and his recent good form helps support that view. Quintana owns a 15.5% K%-BB% mark on the year, just as he has in recent years while consistently posting low-3 ERAs. And he has racked up 45 strikeouts with a 2.70 ERA over his last forty innings.
The deeper history is yet more promising, of course. Since landing with the South Siders as an utterly unheralded free agent, he has done nothing but produce results. Quintana carried a 3.41 lifetime ERA entering the 2017 season and has not missed a start over the past five seasons. With the contract control baked in, Dave Cameron of Fangraphs just ranked Quintana the 42nd most valuable trade asset in the game.
Understandably, then, the Cubs paid a hefty price to draw the southpaw up town. Jimenez, clearly, is the headliner. A consensus top-ten prospect leaguewide, the twenty-year-old corner outfielder is viewed as a future middle-of-the-order bat. He has impressed thus far in his first attempt at the High-A level, posting a .271/.351/.490 batting line with eight home runs over 174 plate appearances.
The package doesn’t end there, though. Cease is also generally valued as one of the game’s hundred best pre-MLB players, making him arguably the Cubs’ second-best overall prospect and most promising young hurler. While he’s seen as something of a risky asset, given his injury history and relative lack of polish, Cease is tabbed with top-line upside. He carries a 2.79 ERA with 12.9 K/9 against 4.5 BB/9 at the Class A level.
Rose and Flete aren’t without their interest, either, though neither registers as a significant prospect at this stage. The former is a corner infielder who has slashed .227/.281/.481 with 14 long balls through 254 plate appearances this year as a teammate of Jimenez at Myrtle Beach. The 24-year-old Flete has also played there, putting up the best season (.305/.355/.425) thus far in his minors career while playing all over the diamond (including at shortstop).
The move leaves quite a few other teams still looking for controllable starters, with one key asset now off the market. Sonny Gray of the Athletics is perhaps the clearest alternative trade candidate, while quality arms such as Gerrit Cole, Michael Fulmer, and Chris Archer do not appear to be as readily available. Organizations such as the Yankees, Brewers, Twins, and Astros will be looking hard at those and other possibilities over the next two-and-a-half weeks. Today’s big intra-city swap sets an important market marker for those talks.
Nate Jones Out For Remainder Of Season After Surgery
White Sox reliever Nate Jones has undergone nerve repositioning surgery in his balky right elbow, MLB.com’s Scott Merkin reports (Twitter links). Recovery from the procedure will drag into the offseason, so he will not return to the mound this year.
Notably, the 31-year-old does not have any damage to his replacement ulnar collateral ligament, per the report. But with nerve issues continuing to linger well after he had been expected to return, Jones did require another significant surgery. (He underwent a Tommy John procedure in 2014.)
It had already seemed certain that Jones wouldn’t be marketed this summer by the rebuilding South Siders, given the injury uncertainty. Now, it seems, he won’t become a trade option for quite some time. And Jones also won’t be an option to step into the closer’s role if incumbent David Robertson is traded. (Tommy Kahnle appears to be next in line at this point.)
The news also has a direct effect on Jones’s contract situation. He is guaranteed $3.95MM next year regardless. But his 2019-21 options will now give the team an opportunity to retain him for less than it could have if Jones had stayed off the surgeon’s table for his elbow. He can now be controlled for the league minimum (2019), $3.75MM (2020), and $4.25MM (2021), with a $1.25MM buyout applying to any of those three years.
That complicated extension — similar in concept to those signed by fellow relievers Sean Doolittle and Adam Ottavino — had made (and still makes) Jones an interesting asset for the Sox. After all, he has largely been outstanding when healthy. Those are tantalizing salary numbers for a pitcher who carries a 2.49 ERA with 10.8 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9 over his last 101 1/3 innings. If Jones can make it back to full health, there’s reason to hope that his huge sinker and often-devastating slider will again make him a premium relief arm.
Twins Showing Interest In Controllable Starters
The Twins are “checking in” on a few starting pitchers around the game, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Minnesota is seemingly limiting its interest to controllable arms at this point.
That’s not terribly surprising to hear. After all, the Twins are still treading water in the AL Central and AL Wild Card races. And GM Thad Levine said recently that the organization “would be very open to spending aggressively on assets that we could use to propel our team forward this year and for years to come.”
As noted in that above-linked post, the Twins have an obvious need — both now and in the near future — for reliable starting pitching. While there’s little reason to think that the team would part with significant future talent just for an immediate upgrade, it makes sense that the club would value the chance at contending this year while also considering arms that could bolster the roster for a few more seasons to come.
Rosenthal notes that Jose Quintana of the White Sox and Sonny Gray of the Athletics are two pitchers who’d likely appear on Minnesota’s list of possible targets, though it’s not clear whether the Twins have eyes for either in particular. He also suggests Dan Straily of the Marlins as an option, though again there’s still no indication that he’s specifically on the radar of Levine and chief baseball officer Derek Falvey.
Of course, those sorts of pitchers — Quintana and Gray, in particular — figure to draw interest from many other organizations. Those two have done so for quite some time, in fact, with the continued demand perhaps also representing a big reason that their respective organizations have felt comfortable waiting to deal them.
At this stage, there’s still a lack of clarity as to how the market will develop. Quintana and Gray might spur bidding wars; certain contenders could pivot to more affordable rental pieces (or even relievers); and/or we could see other long-term rotation assets (such as Julio Teheran or Gerrit Cole, among many other possibilities) reach the market to meet the demand. The level of involvement of teams such as the Twins will very likely play a role in dictating those developments, though the question remains whether Minnesota will press to get a deal done for a new starter.
White Sox Maintain High Asking Price On Quintana
The White Sox remain undeterred in seeking to obtain a big haul for sturdy lefty Jose Quintana, according to a report from Jon Heyman of Fan Rag. With three years of affordable control remaining after the current season, the rebuilding organization probably doesn’t need to deal Quintana this summer.
To this point, the team has stood on that notable piece of leverage, continuing to ask for “two very top prospects” in its conversations with interested rivals. The South Siders have pressed the Astros for Francis Martes and Kyle Tucker, while asking the Yankees to headline a deal with either Gleyber Torres or Clint Frazier.
That strategy seemed in danger of backfiring earlier this year, as Quintana stumbled out of the gates. But the 28-year-old has righted the ship of late, perhaps restoring any lost shine.
Quintana has thrown only 104 1/3 frames over 18 starts, putting him shy of a 200-inning pace, though he has yet to exhibit any health issues. (More broadly, durability is one of the lefty’s chief attributes.) His 15.5% K%-BB% is a near-exact match for the numbers he carried over the prior three campaigns. A rise in home runs allowed (1.21 per nine) is perhaps the largest single factor differentiating Quintana’s current campaign from the five strong seasons that came before.
If teams buy into the improved form Quintana has shown since the start of June — 45 strikeouts and just 12 earned runs over forty frames — then perhaps they’ll be willing to meet the steep asking price. Then again, his less-than-dominant form over the course of the current season raises yet more questions about just how hard contenders should push to get him.
For the Astros, Heyman notes, Quintana may not really be as impactful an arm as the team would prefer to acquire. That makes sense: Houston is running off with the AL West and has many quality rotation options, but would love to add a true lock-down starter to the top of its staff.
In fact, the ’Stros have gone so far as to ask the Mets about star righty Jacob deGrom, per the report. (Tom Verducci of SI.com had previously reported some level of interest.) He’d likely be a more impactful addition, though there’s still no reason to think the Mets have any interest in even considering a deal.
As it stands, teams like the Astros and Yankees are continuing to “look around for alternatives,” per the report. But the lack of obviously available pitchers of comparable or better quality — with the exception, it seems, of Sonny Gray — represents another key element of the White Sox’ bargaining position. Just how things will turn out remains to be seen, but to this point the long standoff continues.
Yoan Moncada Tops BA/BP Midseason Prospect Rankings
Yoan Moncada sits atop both the midseason top 100 prospect rankings from Baseball America and the top 50 list from Baseball Prospectus. The two lists have different methodologies in compiling the rankings (for instance, BA includes 2017 draft picks while BP doesn’t) but obviously are in agreement about the value of several top minor leaguers, with Moncada as the consensus choice. The White Sox prospect has a very solid but not dominant .282/.380/.451 slash line over 334 plate appearances at Triple-A this season, and with 93 strikeouts on his record, plate discipline is still something of a question mark. Of course, Moncada struck out in 12 of his 20 big league plate appearances last season during his first taste of MLB action. Though the White Sox have been somewhat non-committal about when Moncada will get called up, the 22-year-old is likely to make his debut in a White Sox uniform at some point late this season.
Nate Jones' Elbow To Be Re-Evaluated
- White Sox reliever Nate Jones felt discomfort in his right elbow during a flat-ground throwing session on Friday and will be re-evaluated during the All-Star break, Chicago manager Rick Renteria told reporters, including MLB.com’s Scott Merkin. Jones pitched just 11 2/3 IP out of Chicago’s bullpen this season before going on the DL in late April with right elbow neuritis. His rehab has already been interrupted by one shutdown in June, and should this latest setback require more time off from throwing, time may be running out for Jones to return to the mound this season.
