Among the trades were Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop for Steve Clevenger and Scott Feldman in 2013, Anthony Rizzo and Zack Cates for Andrew Cashner and Kyung Min-Na in 2012 and Kyle Hendricks and Christian Villanueva for Ryan Dempster in 2012.
While it seems like the Cubs dominated this list, the White Sox three way deal crashed the party. Petriello had this to say about the trade:
Before this offseason’s Eaton trade, there was this one. After two seasons of part-time play in the desert, Arizona traded Eaton to Chicago in part of a three-way deal that also netted them Mark Trumbo and cost them Tyler Skaggs. That didn’t work out so well for the D-backs, but it worked out extremely well for the White Sox, who got three years of very good play from Eaton (.290/.362/.422, 117 wRC+, 12.8 WAR) in exchange for a prospect who never made it in Jacobs, and a pitcher they didn’t really miss in Santiago. Eaton’s value, of course, was extended further when he was traded to Washington this winter in a deal that netted Chicago top prospect Lucas Giolito and two others.
Eaton’s value isn’t solely netted into Giolito, Lopez and Dunning, but it’ll likely be what he is remembered for in Chicago. Assuming atleast Giolito and Lopez pan out, the White Sox got an absolute steal with this trade.
While Santiago was a decent pitcher, it isn’t like he was on Chris Sale or even Jose Quintana’s level. He wasn’t going to take Chicago to the playoffs anytime soon. The White Sox also made the right move in trading Jacobs while his value was still high.
By taking a chance on Eaton, the franchise got one of the most underrated players in the league for three seasons, before flipping him for two future aces.
It’s funny that in a deal surrounded around Mark Trumbo, Adam Eaton may be the most valuable piece of the deal. While he no longer plays for the White Sox, his impact won’t be forgotten for many years to come.
The baseball world has given Rick Hahn more than enough credit for the job he has done this offseason. However it appears as if his best trade may have come all the way back in 2013.
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