With the trade deadline approaching and the White Sox bottoming out in the second year of a full tear-down, trades have become scarce. What is left to deal might be untouchable in Jose Abreu, or unmarketable after a wave of injuries. Yet, there is still room for speculation.
Mark Bowman of ESPN fired the first salvo in a proposed trade with the Atlanta Braves and after close examination, the deal sounds better than expected.
Projected deal is Joakim Soria and Matt Davidson to Atlanta for LHP Max Fried, 1B Rio Ruiz and C Alex Jackson. Sign me up for that. #WhiteSox https://t.co/WJQPoRrVCP
— James Fox (@JamesFox917) July 19, 2018
What the White Sox are Getting
Max Fried, Alex Jackson and Rio Ruiz appear to be virtually irrelevant in every way until you recognize who Fried is. Fried was drafted nine spots before Lucas Giolito in the 2012 first round and was a classmate of Giolito’s at Harvard-Westlake High School in Los Angeles. And in two abbreviated seasons with the Braves he has a career 3.86 earned run average in 46 2/3 innings pitched — hardly enough to base a true conclusion off of.
Still, Fried is a power southpaw with quality secondary pitches. His curveball has ranked among the best in minor-league baseball and his changeup is currently a show-me pitch. Based on scouting reports, Fried appears to be a mid-rotation lefty, pairing well with Carlos Rodon near the top of the rotation (assuming he continues the dominant stretch he is currently on).
The best part is that he is a plug-and-play option that immediately balances the rotation. Southpaws are always valuable prospects and grabbing a player nearly polished is less risky than grabbing a lottery ticket at the bottom of the minors. Rest assured, the Braves are one of the best organizations to trade with given their track record of drafting and developing players.
The other two players are sweeteners with high upside. Jackson is a flexible player that is slated as a catcher/right fielder. Based on that profile it seems he has a strong arm, but his bat is a downright abomination. He was a former first-round pick by the Seattle Mariners in 2014 and he’s only 22 years old, but his career batting average is .237 with rough power numbers.
While Jackson has only reached Triple-A, Ruiz has seen time in the big leagues and seems to profile as a corner infielder. With a .199 batting average in the show in 2017, it seems he’s a defensive replacement rather than a slugging infielder. However, he has shown the ability to hit for average in minors, albeit at a .270 clip in 2018.
What the White Sox are Giving Up
This is where it begins to sting a little. Joakim Soria has been a dependable bullpen contributor with a 2.75 ERA in 36 innings pitched. He does a great job of limiting walks while demonstrating the ability to miss bats. But he isn’t the part that stings.
Matt Davidson would hurt a little bit — less from an impact on the lineup. Where Davidson will be missed is by the fanbase and curiosity on whether the White Sox would be selling low in his development.
Davidson is 27 years old and is working through his second big-league season. There’s no question he has massive power potential, but White Sox brass have to determine whether he fits into the long-term plan. Of course, if the White Sox played the Royals every day, there would be unanimous applause for Davidson given his ability to torture Royals pitching. Of the 14 home runs Davidson has hit this season, seven of them have come against the Royals. Meanwhile, he is in one prodigious power drought.
And what the White Sox give up in Davidson they can replace with Daniel Palka. Perhaps this is isn’t a one-to-one comparison, but Palka has the athleticism to help out at first base and when Avisail Garcia returns (whether he is eventually traded or not) Palka immediately becomes a bench player — similar to Davidson.
There are endless variables that could play out in several scenarios. Will the White Sox wait to see what kind of offers come on Abreu and hold Davidson as a backup plan? What if they jettison Davidson and trade Abreu later, are they positioned well enough to find someone to cover first every day? Is Palka that guy?
Who knows. Lots of things can happen in the next week and a half, but for now, given that Palka has more years of team control and similar power/contact ability, selling Davidson for a big-league ready southpaw is something to seriously consider.
