Today the White Sox made a three-team trade with the Cardinals and Dodgers that sent out Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham to St. Louis and Tommy Edman to Los Angeles. In exchange for Edman, the Dodgers got the possibility tab in the offer, sending out Miguel Vargas and teenage Low-A infielders Jeral Perez and Alexander Albertus to the opposite of the Camelback Ranch complex. You can check out the Cardinals and Dodgers parts of the trade here.

The White Sox had actually primarily gotten pitching back in their previous trades made under brand-new GM Chris Getz, however in this one they turned to striking, getting 3 batters whom I have actually been a bit lower on than the prospect-watching agreement. I like all 3 gamers however don’t love any of them, though I believe Vargas has a practical shot to be a good daily gamer, and quickly.

The seeds of this offer were planted when Chicago signed Fedde throughout the offseason. After an uninspired period in Washington, Fedde remade himself in a Scottsdale pitching laboratory and had an amazing 2023 season for the KBO’s NC Dinos, publishing a 2.00 period in 180.1 innings while setting out 209 and strolling simply 35. He was called the KBO’s MVP and won their equivalent of the Cy Young. Getz and the White Sox wager an extremely modest quantity ($15 million over 2 years) that Fedde’s enhancements would equate to the major leagues, and they were right. Fedde has actually pitched well and developed into a possibility piñata. Pham’s wage was a little over $2 million. Essentially paying to obtain potential customers (specifically players) is precisely what a group like the White Sox must be doing, and throughout about 8 months they’ve performed that with Fedde and Pham.

A huge part of the factor I was lower on prospect-era Miguel Vargas than my sources and peers was due to the fact that I didn’t believe he might play the infield well, if at all. That has actually ended up being real and, after attempting a couple of infield positions besides his native 3rd base, Vargas transferred to left field this season. This happened even as the Dodgers had major league injuries on the dirt, which I believe is informing. He isn’t terrific out in left either, however it’s imaginable he might enhance as he continues to play there. I haven’t spoken with anybody in the org regarding whether the White Sox will review the infield with Vargas. If they do it would strike me as a 2025 spring training job instead of something they ask Vargas to do right now.

Vargas is doing not have the raw power normal of a terrific left fielder. He’s not a specifically explosive swinger and depends upon his feel for sweet-spot contact to create extra-base power. The mix of Vargas’ plate discipline and this slick barrel feel develop enough offense for him to be a lower-impact daily left fielder. Here’s how a few of his efficiency and talent-indicating metrics compare to that of the typical MLB left fielder:

These are strong numbers that support the visual hunting report that this is a skills-over-tools kind of player. I believe he will have produced near to 20th at the position (provide or take) when we recall at all the left fielders throughout the league 5 years from now. The outfielders in front of Vargas in Los Angeles obstructed him from the major league playing time that his minors efficiency warranted for the majority of the last 2 seasons, and he must be offered a major league chance right away in Chicago. Andrew Benintendi is under agreement up until… (monitoring Roster Resource… holy shnikes) up until 2027, therefore the White Sox need to determine what they’re going to do about that. Benintendi is not playing all right to obstruct Vargas.

The other 2 infielders in the trade, Alexander Albertus and Jeral Perez, were both dipping into Low-A Rancho Cucamonga up until Albertus was identified with a lower leg fracture a little over a week earlier and place on the IL. Albertus’ name has actually been bandied about each of the last couple trade due dates due to the fact that he does things that attract both scouts and experts. The future 20-year-old infielder is a profession .303/.449/.415 player (primarily at the novice level) who puts the bat on the ball and manages the strike zone. He takes a hellacious cut and has actually been athletic enough to do so while preserving strikeout rates down in the 14-18% variety the last 2 seasons (MLB average is 22%). As hard as he swings, Albertus doesn’t create a lots of power and his swing course runs downhill. He’s a much cleaner protective fit at 3rd base than at shortstop, and he may wind up being rather great there. (He’s played all 3 non-1B infield finds the last number of seasons.) This is the Yandy Díaz branch of the infield possibility tree (OBP and contact abilities, 3rd base fit, less power than you desire) where Díaz is what takes place when the professional athlete ends up being really, really strong deep into his twenties. Paths to a daily function will most likely need that of Albertus. He is most likely to be a utility guy.

If you desire proof of Albertus’ shot to get strong, look no more than Jeral Perez. Perez has actually currently ended up being a lot more physical than I would have thought having actually seen him a heap in Arizona in 2015 when he was a compact Others of Note-type gamer in the Dodgers system. He now has typical major league raw power at age 19 and, physically, looks maxed out. Perez’s compact construct and strong leading hand through contact enable him to be on time with consistency, however his feel for moving the barrel around is not terrific. Though he’s published above-average contact rates up until now, I do fret that he is a prospect to be exposed by much better fastballs in the upper minors, ones found on the upper-and-outer quadrant of the strike zone. Perez is a likewise a variety on defense; he has acrobatic actions and can truly turn it around as soon as he’s protected the baseball, however he frequently has a hard time to do that. He has flub-prone hands (which will most likely improve) and average variety (which likely will not as he ages). This is the sort of 2nd baseman who does not have variety however who is terrific around the bag and generally typical general. I like his opportunities of getting to power enough that I have a concern grade on Perez (a 40+ FV resembles a mid-to-late 2nd round possibility in a common draft), however I consider his profile to have an excellent quantity of danger and difference. This is not the kind of professional athlete who winds up with protective adaptability, so he’s going to need to keep striking.

You can see how these guys stack in the White Sox system here.

In addition to Edman, the Dodgers likewise got 17-year-old DSL pitcher Oliver Gonzalez in this trade. He had actually worked 21.1 innings in a piggyback function before the offer. He’s an extremely projectable 6-foot-4 approximately, and his fastball presently sits 89-93 miles per hour with around 20 inches of caused vertical break and simply over 7 feet of extension. His curveball has a great structure of depth and shape, however he doesn’t have feel for finding it. It’s a respectable beginning area for any teenage pitching possibility. Again, the draft is a great method to determine the method we ought to consider Gonzalez, who would most likely get about $750,000 to $1 million in bonus offer cash. He has actually been included towards the bottom of the Dodgers list.