On Monday's show, Josh and I laid out our trade deadline shopping lists. An outfielder was at the top of mine, and I guess I'm getting my wish, as the White Sox are acquiring Jarrod Dyson from the Pittsburgh Pirates for international money.
Jeff Passan broke the story, and Bob Nightengale has the White Sox's financial obligations, albeit incorrectly framed.
The White Sox again traded international money, and there's not a positive association with those moves, but it's benign this time. The money applies for the current signing period that was extended into January, not the next one, so the White Sox are not hamstringing Marco Paddy here. The Sox just needed to give the Pirates something for Dyson's services.
Dyson did cross my radar when scanning the depth charts of potential sellers, but considering he's hitting .157/.218/.375 over 21 games with the Pirates, giving him a .584 OPS since the start of the 2018 season, I didn't really have any inspiration to stump for him by name.
That said, if there's room for Luis González on the White Sox's 28-man roster, there's a spot for Dyson as a late-inning defensive replacement and pinch runner. González doesn't really fit the bill of either. Sure, González has adequate speed, and he's a better outfielder than Eloy Jiménez, but he also dropped the first fly ball hit to him in center. He's not yet a major-league player, so he's not a guy you call off the bench to trust with anything in particular during a major-league game, especially situations where his job is to simply not make mistakes.
Dyson patches that particular hole. There's no greater ambition to it, but as long as Jiménez and Luis Robert are healthy, and as long as you aren't hoping for a true challenger to Nomar Mazara's playing time, there doesn't have to be. The hope is that the White Sox will have leads for Dyson to protect, because an outfield with him and Adam Engel flanking Robert is death to flying things.
Hopes for any kind of Dyson revival at the plate rest on more speculative and specious elements, like the idea that maybe he'll get up for a contender that wants him. He sounded resigned to signing with the Pirates before the season.
There's also the dream that Dyson might have it in his heart to help the White Sox raise some hell after he tormented White Sox pitchers during his time in Kansas City. He hit .308/.434/.440 against the Sox during his time in the AL, and that OBP is 100 points higher than the next-best American League team (.333 against a few clubs).
Dyson benefited from sitting against the White Sox's tough left-handed starters of those days, but he found ways to get into games after they left. As evidence, he also dominated the Sox in the steals column, going 26-for-31 against them despite starting just 31 games. Here's that leaderboard, with starts in parentheses:
- White Sox, 26-for-31 (31 starts)
- Twins, 24-for-29 (52 starts)
- Indians, 23-for-27 (67 starts)
- Tigers, 20-for-23 (58 starts)
Dyson was 4-for-4 in the basestealing department this year, and while his Statcast page shows a slowing sprint speed, his defensive metrics suggest he's still using his legs well. That's about all the White Sox can expect, and now we'll see if White Sox fans can expect any other additions, as modest as they may be.
(Photo by Mark Alberti/Icon Sportswire)
