White Sox acquire relievers Joakim Soria, Luis Avilan in three-team deal

Joakim Soria

It has been somewhat surprising that the White Sox have not addressed their depleted bullpen through free agency, but perhaps their plan all along was to acquire a couple of veteran relievers through a trade.

The Sox on Thursday added veteran right-hander Joakim Soria from the Kansas City Royals and left-hander Luis Avilan from the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a three-team deal.

It seems as if the Royals might be looking to clear some salary in order to make a bigger offer to free agent first baseman Eric Hosmer. In addition to sending Soria to Chicago, they sent left-handed reliever Scott Alexander to the Dodgers.

Los Angeles also receives minor-league infielder Jake Peter, who is the only player the Sox parted with in this deal. Peter had a nice year in 2017, hitting a combined .279 between Triple-A Charlotte and Double-A Birmingham, but he's blocked by Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson and Yolmer Sanchez in Chicago, and didn't appear to be part of the Sox's long-term plan.

Kansas City receives infielder Erick Mejia and right-handed pitcher Trevor Oaks from the Dodgers as part of the deal.

The only way this trade doesn't work out for the Sox is if Peter somehow becomes more than the utility infielder most people believe he is.

Although neither Soria nor Avilan figure to be part of the Sox's long-term plan, either, the two veterans provide a short-term solution in the late innings -- at least for the first half of 2018 -- and if they pitch well, they could be candidates to be traded midseason to contending teams in exchange for prospects who are more highly regarded than Peter.

Soria, 33, has 204 career saves, so I think we have a good idea of who has the ninth inning for the Sox when the season opens. Soria is not the pitcher he was in the past -- his ERA was an ordinary 3.70 for Kansas City last season -- but he has experience as a closer, and he kept the ball in the ballpark in 2017. He allowed only one home run in 56 innings, and at Guaranteed Rate Field, you want relief pitchers who keep the ball out of the air.

Avilan, 28, was 2-3 with a 2.93 ERA in 46 innings and 61 games with the Dodgers last year. The left-hander's main value comes in getting left-handed hitters out. In 2017, left-handed hitters slashed .195/.290/.280 against Avilan, while right-handers slashed .292/.376/.449. This is a pitcher that can be effective if manager Rick Renteria puts him in favorable matchup situations.

With this trade, here's how the Sox bullpen might look if the season started today:

Right-handers:
Soria
Nate Jones
Juan Minaya
Danny Farquhar
Greg Infante

Left-handers:
Avilan
Aaron Bummer

Assuming a 12-man pitching staff, those likely are your seven relievers. Other bullpen candidates include right-handers Thyago Vieira, Jose Ruiz and Dylan Covey, plus left-hander Jace Fry.

White Sox add Eloy Jimenez, four others to 40-man roster

Eloy Jimenez

The White Sox on Monday added five prospects to their 40-man roster ahead of the deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 draft.

Among them, of course, is Eloy Jimenez, the prized outfield prospect the Sox acquired in the Jose Quintana deal. The other four additions are first baseman Casey Gillaspie, pitcher Ian Clarkin and outfielders Micker Adolfo and Luis Alexander Basabe.

To make room on the roster, the Sox outrighted right-handed pitchers Chris Beck and Tyler Danish.

I say good riddance to Beck. I'm not a fan; he always reminded me of Mike MacDougal, and he had the 6.40 ERA over 65 innings with the Sox in 2017 to prove it. I won't rehash why I can't stand Beck, because I've made those points before, so I might as well just provide a link.

Danish struggled as a starter in Triple-A Charlotte this year, and he was in a car crash right at the end of the season that injured his non-throwing shoulder. He seems to be slipping down the organizational depth chart more and more with each passing day.

The Sox's roster is now at 39 players. It's a little bit surprising that neither left-handed pitcher Jordan Guerrero nor infield Jake Peter were added to the roster. Both are midtier prospects that are close to major-league ready, and both could be enticing to teams looking to raid some of the Sox's organizational depth in the Rule 5 draft.

Baseball America's list of top-10 White Sox prospects

There were few positives to come out of the 2016 season for the White Sox, but the organization's June draft class is one thing that stands out as a feather in the cap for the current regime.

It always takes three or four years to know for sure how good a draft class really is, but it's worth noting that half of Baseball America's list of top-10 White Sox prospects is made up of players who were drafted by the organization this past June.

Baseball America released the list Monday.

Catcher Zack Collins, the Sox's No. 1 draft pick out of the University of Miami in 2016, is ranked No. 1 on the list. The left-handed hitter has plus power, and posted an .885 OPS in 120 ABs at Class A Winston-Salem this year. According to the Baseball America report, scouts are encouraged by Collins' improving defense behind the plate, but we all know he was drafted for his bat.

Relief pitcher Zack Burdi ranks second on the list. The Downers Grove South graduate was selected with the 26th overall pick in the draft, and reached Triple-A Charlotte by the end of last season. He posted a 2.25 ERA in nine appearances for the Knights. Look for him in the Sox bullpen sometime during the 2017 season.

Other 2016 draftees to make the top-10 list include pitcher Alec Hansen (No. 5), outfielder Jameson Fisher (No. 8) and outfielder Alex Call (No. 9).

Hansen, a second-round pick, dominated in the Rookie League at Great Falls. He struck out 48 and allowed only 11 hits in 30.2 innings pitched. He was promoted to Class A Kannapolis, where he fanned 11 in 11 innings while posting a 2.45 ERA.

Fisher, a fourth-round pick, also had success at Great Falls. He hit .342 with a .923 OPS in 187 at-bats spanning 50 games. He collected 18 extra-base hits and 13 stolen bases, although he was caught stealing seven times.

Call, a third-round pick, was nothing if not consistent. He hit .308 in 27 games at Great Falls before earning a promotion to Kannapolis, where he hit, well, .308 in 46 games. He had a combined .839 OPS between the two stops.

Other players mentioned on the top-10 list are people we've discussed before: pitcher Carson Fulmer (No. 3), pitcher Spencer Adams (No. 4), pitcher Jordan Stephens (No. 6), third baseman Trey Michalczewski (No. 7) and second baseman Jake Peter (No. 10).

The Baseball America article notes the Sox face major obstacles to contention, one of them being a lack of depth in their farm system. However, they do acknowledge the farm system "received a much-needed face-lift" with the 2016 June draft.

If the 2017 season goes as poorly as 2016 did at the big-league level, at least we'll have this new group of prospects to track, even if only Burdi and Collins are likely to arrive on the South Side sometime in the next two years.