WhiteSoxGM

The Pittsburgh Pirates Trade: 2B Andres Yanez (ML) + 100% 2023 salary retention The St. Louis Cardinals Trade: SP Shane Goldman (A+) We acquired Yanez this past off-season as a placeholder until either CJ Abrams and/or Rece Hinds was ready for a call-up. Hinds could use a little more time at AAA, especially with his early season injury, but Abrams has been on a tear and we're ready to keep the youth movement in Pittsburgh going. It was my intention all along to trade Yanez before or at the deadline, and doing so saves us his team option salary for 2024. We get back a pitcher who has struggled a bit thus far in his young career after being drafted in the 2nd round in 2020, but OSA likes him better than our scout and I'm trusting a bit in those ratings. If he develops into a back-of-the-rotation arm in the Majors, he'll have been worth the deal as, at this point, Yanez was blocking our call-up of Abrams and it was time to move on (despite Yanez's solid production). Thanks, Ayden, and best of luck to your Cardinals in 2023 (but not beyond).

The Pittsburgh Pirates Trade: SP Jeff Wallace (ML) + 100% 2023 salary retention The Oakland Athletics Trade: SP Tyler Brennan (AA) 1B Reese Dalton (A+) Similar to our trade with the Giants, Wallace's arbitration estimated salary for next year is about 250% more than what he's earning in 2023, and with our budget and replacements on the way, it seemed like a good time to see what was out there for him. We really like Tyler Brennan and hope he can develop into a SP3, the role that Wallace is currently filling. My scout and OSA both see him as having developed significantly since being drafted in the 4th round in 2020, and I'm hoping that development will just continue in our farm system. He is a few days away from turning 23 and we'll likely put him at AA -- the same level he's at for the A's -- but only for a couple starts before moving him up to AAA unless he gets rocked. We see Reese Dalton as a replacement for a couple of the prospects we gave up in the Yordan Alvarez deal with the cubs. Players like 3B Mayo and CF Jones had big time power projections and Dalton will bring that same promise of the long ball back to the Pirates system. He's slugged the hell out of the ball consistently since being drafted. He's at A+ ball right now but will likely be given a chance to move up to AA soon. Thanks, Scott, and continued luck + success in reversing the throne in the AL West.

The Pittsburgh Pirates trade: CF Mason Majerle (ML) The San Francisco Giants trade: RF Gary Matthews III (AAA) RP JT Ginn (AAA) RP Christopher Cruz (A+) This is no secret, but the Pirates are a small market team. Our budget ($150m in 2023) is 24th in the league. As such, we have to make very smart financial decisions or it can cripple the club. I took a big risk in signing SP Mark Appel this offseason that I still hope will pay off in the long run, and likewise with the acquisition of 1B Yordan Alvarez. Majerle is earning league minimum this season but begins his arbitration years in 2024. He was a 6.0 WAR player in 2022 and is on pace to be a 1.8 WAR player this season with a cool start. I think he falls somewhere in-between those two scores. But with him due to earn $3.8m in 2024 and then increasing salaries in arbitration from there, it seemed like a good time to go ahead and see what prospects we could get in exchange. Gary Matthews III is the reason we make this trade. He has hit very well at every minor league level and is playing terrific at AAA this year. We won't rush him to the Majors, we have other OFers we can utilize to fill the spot vacated by Majerle, but GM3 can expect to be in the Majors either late 2023 or to start 2024. Ginn should be an end-of-the-game type reliever -- something we've learned the hard way we need more of for this team to actually be able to compete -- and I prefer finding young relievers we can bring up on a league minimum salary than having to invest what little FA money we have on veteran relievers to fill the role. Cruz is a little bit of a flyer but we like his ceiling and hope he'll get there. He has the stamina to start and we may use him as a swing starter but most likely he'll remain in the bullpen and hopefully be a future Ml contributor. Thank you, Heinz, for your patience as I went back & forth on this deal for the better part of a week.

The Pittsburgh Pirates Trade: 2B Jonathan India (ML) The Detroit Tigers Trade: 2B Tyler Freeman (AAA) SP Joey Everts (A) The Pirates already had been looking to figure out where we were going to slot in India with Hinds (SS), Abrams (2B), and Gee Scott Jr. (3B) on the way up through the minors -- with Hinds & Abrams likely arriving this season -- and that became an even fuzzier picture when we drafted Groshans in the Rule 5 this season. The trade this weekend for Yordan Alvarez was the final move that left India without a place to play once Abrams & co. come up. India will begin his arbitration years in 2024, so it was somewhat a financial decision as well. We get back a player in Tyler Freeman who we see as the type of player we can have at the Majors as an excellent utility player to back up Abrams/Hinds/Scott/Groshans/etc who should be able to start if there's an injury. Everts is a 2021 3rd round draft pick who will probably top out as a back of the rotation starter if he can find enough control to be effective, but we liked his stuff & pitches enough to give him a chance to develop in our system. Thanks, Jim, and I hope you find continued success with Detroit. I hope India rakes for you.

The Pittsburgh Pirates accept this trade. This offseason, we signed SP Mark Appel to a multi-year contract before the team was ready to compete. We did it because he was available and we tried to feast on opportunity. This is another such opportunity. We move 5 prospects but we tried to make sure not to mortgage our future to acquire Alvarez. SS Marte was very unlikely to ever see the Majors for the Pirates because of SS Hinds, making his Top-100 talent expendable. CF Druw Jones also has a couple prospects in the system competing with him, and with Jones so far away (and us aiming for a 2024 contention), he seemed expendable. Mayo was tough as I really like his skillset, but again, we have Gee Scott Jr earmarked as our future 3B so Mayo became expendable only because moving him meant acquiring Alvarez. We do have 1B Saboto at AA, who is likely to receive a call up to AAA any day, and Saboto projects very well at 1B, but we always have the option of bringing Saboto along and using Alvarez as a DH in a year or two. Besides Saboto, who is at least a year away one would think, we really don't have any good options at 1B at the moment, so acquiring Alvarez was not just a move to better our lineup, but a position of need. Thank you to Justin Jabs for the communicative, healthy, and open talks throughout this process. Best of luck in your rebuild!

The Chicago White Sox Trade: SP Jeff Wallace (ML) 1B Aaron Saboto (AAA) The Pittsburgh Pirates Trade: SP Matt Cronin (ML) C Cooper Johnson (ML) The Pirates & White Sox again swap a few players. For the Pirates, this trade is about acquiring Saboto to -- hopefully -- be our future starting first baseman. Cronin has a high ceiling but hasn't quite yet reached it. We get back Jeff Wallace in the deal to replace him in the rotation, giving up 4 extra years of team control for 1 but hopefully giving us another strong bridge between the current roster and the roster we hope to compete with in 2024. Thanks, Greg, and good luck with your own respective rebuild.

The San Diego Padres Trade: 2B Andres Yanez (ML) The Pittsburgh Pirates Trade: 2B Jeter Downs (AAA) On the surface this may look like a backwards trade for a rebuilding club. However, the Pirates were looking for a veteran SS to occupy the position until Rece Hinds is ready at AAA (which we anticipate late 2023 or to begin 2024). Downs is blocked in our system by Jonathan India (current MLer) and CJ Abrams (at AAA and nearly ready). With only 1 option year remaining (2023), trading him for Yanez -- who has averaged 3.4 WAR over the past 3 seasons -- seemed like a fair swap. With any luck, Hinds will prove he's ready for the Majors by the end of July and Yanez has had a great first half of the season, and we can trade away Yanez for a similar return and call up Hinds, but only time will tell. Thanks, Sean, for the quick & easy deal.

Pirates confirm. Iona isn't owed too much money over the next two seasons so this was all about taking on a small-ish contract to get a prospect. Witt is no sure thing but he has some potential, and he's a 2-way player, so he'll be a fun addition to the organization. Thanks, Mitch.

The Pirates agree to this trade. Ben Richardson is of some familiarity.... the history probably does not need to be repeated. And while I would have never traded to re-acquire him while still acting as the GM of the White Sox, I felt at liberty to do so with a new organization of my own. Richardson will almost certainly remain in the bullpen and be groomed to be a late inning reliever who can supply more than just 3 outs when called upon, but that does not mean we may not experiment with an occasional start as he continues to develop in the minors. He last started in 2020 at A ball and produced a 114 ERA+ over 21 games started, so the stuff might play. We are fortunate to have a ML ballpark that does not give up an abundance of home runs, so his tendency to give up a lot of fly balls may not be as damaging in Pittsburgh as in a park like Colorado or Cincinnati. Larson is a good looking relief prospect but didn't mind giving him up in a one-for-one swap for Richardson to see if we can salvage his career. We have dumped a ton of money into our development budget this season and am hoping some of that tutelage can impact Richardson. Thanks, Matt.

The Pittsburgh Pirates Trade: SS Brice Turang (AAA) The Milwaukee Brewers Trade: RP Carson Montgomery (A+) As part of our trade block posted today, we were looking to unload a player or two from our 40 man roster ahead of the Rule 5 draft approaching in a few weeks. This helps us achieve that goal, and in the process we acquire a pitcher we think has plenty of upside with ample time to continue developing in the minors before any decision on their future needs to be made. Thanks, Cole.

Wild Card Round - Baltimore / Houston / Philadelphia / Dodgers LDS - Houston / Minnesota / St. Louis / Arizona LCS - Houston / Arizona WS - Arizona

The Baltimore Orioles Trade: RF Michael Toglia (AA) RP George Clark (A Delmarva) The Pittsburgh Pirates Trade: SP Javier Mejia (ML) Mejia is a young pitcher who is in his arbitration years, so he was certainly a piece we could have kept, or possibly looked to trade again in the offseason, but we like the 2 players we are receiving in exchange and it opens up a roster spot for the glut of pitchers we have at AAA who are ML ready (from the looks of it). Toglia will probably be given at bats in the outfield for the remainder of the season to see how he fares there, now that we know he can develop as a 1B (thanks to Baltimore playing him there). Clark has the potential to be a ML reliever with what he's done so far in his very young career, so we'll keep him at the back end of our minor league bullpens and give him an opportunity to come up through our system with a plan. Thanks, Drew, and best of luck down the stretch in the AL East!

The Pirates approve this deal. Montgomery has been great for us, but as a team not expecting to be competitive until 2024 at best, he was an expendable piece if we could get back a prospect who had a place to develop in our farm system. Wentzell is a former White Sox farmhand that we traded away a few years ago and are glad to get back. Despite all the trades we've made since taking over the Pirates earlier this summer, we really haven't brought on any first basemen, so Wentzell definitely has a place to get at bats at the higher levels of our minors and see if he can continue to develop and produce. Thanks, Jason, for these talks that took about 2 minutes. Best of luck in the NL Central & Wild Card race this year!

The Pirates approve this deal. Abraham is not a player we were actively shopping this deadline, but Bazley + Siegler were a pairing we had asked for from Atlanta in a separate trade discussion recently, and when Brenton came forward offering the same two prospects for Abraham, we decided to go for it. We have more LH relievers in our bullpen than we probably need (with Gallo, Guerrero, Mike Montgomery, and Chapman also there at the moment) so it seemed a piece worth moving for a couple prospects we like. Thanks, Brenton, for the quick & easy deal.

The Pittsburgh Pirates Trade: 2B Chad Scott + 100% salary retention The Minnesota Twins Trade: CF Lonnie White (R Elizabethton) This trade is solely about opening up another roster spot. Chad Scott is on the final year of his big league contract. We retain 100% of his contract in order to move him for a low level prospect. White will probably never see the Majors without a great deal of development, but we took on Scott just to even out the salary in a previous trade, so it's essentially like getting a prospect for free. Thanks for the deal that was done in about sixty seconds, Rocky.