CABRERA GOES TO ROYALS FOR MORE PROSPECTS
Sox get 2 pitching prospects from Royals for Cabrera
At some point, general manager Rick Hahn will put down his phone.
But he’s not ready to relax just yet after making six trades in 18 days.
“It’s not 3 o’clock on Monday yet,” Hahn said in reference to the trade deadline. “We’re going to continue with our conversations and see if any of them lead anywhere.”
The White Sox have acquired 12 minor- league prospects this month alone and still have time to add more before the deadline. That number does not include the offseason trades of Chris Sale to the Red Sox and Adam Eaton to the Nationals, which yielded seven additional prospects.
The stockpile increased Sunday as the Sox traded Melky Cabrera to the Royals for right- hander A. J. Puckett and left- hander Andre Davis. Puckett was the Royals’ top pick ( second round, No. 67 overall) in 2016, and Davis was an eighthround pick in 2015.
“As I told Melky directly this morning, he has been outstanding for this organization since he first put on our uniform, not only in terms of his performance between the white lines but for what he did in the clubhouse,” Hahn said. “He’s a great ambassador for the game, very enthusiastic, passionate player, and he’ll be missed.
“That said, as we’ve made no secret about over the last several months, this is about preparing ourselves for the future, and we were able to pick up another couple of interesting arms.”
Puckett, 22, was ranked as the 13th- best prospect in the Royals’ organization, according to MLB. com. The 6- 4, 210- pounder was 9- 7 with a 3.90 ERA in 20 starts for Class A Wilmington and was named to the Carolina League All- Star team this season.
Davis, 23, was 5- 4 with a 4.83 ERA in 18 starts with Class A Lexington.
Take a look at Hahn’s whirlwind July, during which he has landed eight hitters and four pitchers:
He traded away Jose Quintana ( Cubs), Todd Frazier, David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle ( Yankees), Anthony Swarzak ( Brewers), Dan Jennings ( Rays) and Cabrera ( Royals).
He acquired Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease, Matt Rose and Bryant Flete ( from the Cubs), Yeyson Yrizarri ( from the Rangers for international bonus- pool signing money), Blake Rutherford, Ian Clarkin and Tito Polo ( from the Yankees), Ryan Cordell ( from the Brewers), Casey Gillaspie ( from the Rays) and Puckett and Davis ( from the Royals)
The Sox also acquired one bigleague player — Tyler Clippard — from the Yankees.
Clippard is a possible candidate to be flipped before the deadline, as are veteran starters Miguel Gonzalez, Mike Pelfrey, James Shields or Derek Holland if a contender is interested.
Even if Hahn is finished making moves, he’s happy with this month’s prospect haul.
“We’re pleased,” Hahn said. “I don’t want to say we’re surprised. This was our mission. This is what we set out to do. This is what we felt was important for the long- term health of our organization.”
In the short term, the Sox ( 4062) have slid to the bottom of the American League. Matt Davidson’s walk- off home run Sunday gave the Sox only their second victory since the All- Star break.
“Some of these young kids, it’s tough losing,” Shields said. “When I got called up in Tampa in 2006, we lost [ 101] games. But we knew that eventually it was going to turn around, and two years later, we were in the World Series. These guys have to understand that this is a process and to keep grinding, keep getting better on the field, and things will turn around.
“It’s unfortunate that we lost the guys that we lost, but we’re moving forward. This organization is looking very promising.”