The White Sox sell-off of veterans players has begun, perhaps a little earlier than anticipated.
Outfielder Robbie Grossman was traded to the Texas Rangers on Wednesday, in exchange for Double-A pitching prospect Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa.
Grossman, 34, batted .211/.329/.268 in 25 games with the Sox. He stood out in the free-swinging Sox lineup as one of the few guys who was willing to take a walk. He drew 13 walks in 85 plate appearances, and he saw 4.45 pitches per plate appearance.
That being said, Grossman was without a home run and had only four doubles, a far cry from his 23-homer peak with the Detroit Tigers in 2021.
Hoopii-Tuionetoa, 23, is a right-handed reliever from Hawaii. He was pitching at Double-A Frisco, where he made 10 appearances this season. He was 1-0 with 0.73 ERA. He had 16 strikeouts and four walks across 12.1 innings pitched. Reports say he's a fastball-slider pitcher, with his fastball velocity averaging about 96 mph.
He will report to Double-A Birmingham.
Texas rookie Wyatt Langford just hit the injured list, so that created a need for another outfielder on the Rangers roster. Grossman was with the Rangers last season when they won the World Series, so they know him, and they know he still has one above-average skill -- his ability to work counts and get on base.
This makes sense for the Sox, too, as Grossman's usefulness was likely to run out once Luis Robert Jr. comes off the injured list. Robert will eventually return to his usual spot in center field, with Tommy Pham shifting over to right field. That would leave Grossman without a role, so perhaps it's best to move him now. The Sox now have turned him into a relief prospect that they can try to develop. Nothing wrong with that.
Chris Flexen pitched six innings of one-run ball, and Paul DeJong hit a 2-run homer as the Sox salvaged the final game of a three-game series Wednesday night, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-1.
The Sox trailed 1-0 after four innings, before DeJong put them ahead to stay with his team-leading fifth home run of the season in the top of the fifth.
Rookie Bryan Ramos and Pham added RBI singles in the top of the sixth inning, as the Sox lengthened their lead to 4-1.
Flexen (2-3) allowed only three hits during his season-best outing. He struck out eight and walked one. Three Sox relievers combined for three scoreless innings, with Michael Kopech getting three outs in the ninth for his third save of the season.
The Sox are 9-28 after completing a 3-3 road trip to St. Louis and Tampa Bay. They will host Cleveland in a four-game set starting Thursday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.
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