The White Sox have now shipped out five pitchers, as Kendall Graveman joined Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López, Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly on their way out of town.
Just like Kelly is reuniting with the Dodgers, Graveman is going back to his old team, as the Astros acquired him for catcher Korey Lee.
Lee, a collegiate teammate of Andrew Vaughn and a fellow first-round pick, entered this season comfortably within the top 10 in of a depleted Astros farm system. But Lee dropped all the way to 29th in Baseball America's midseason re-ranking. His .283/.328/.406 slash line isn't that impressive within the context of Triple-A Sugar Land's park factors, and he went 4-for-25 with two doubles, a walk and nine strikeouts in his MLB debut with the Astros this year. He's currently on the injured list with an oblique strain, so he fits right in.
Assuming he recovers from that, what Lee gives the White Sox is an outstanding arm to go along with other playable defensive skills, so if the Sox are looking beyond Yasmani Grandal, Seby Zavala and Carlos Pérez, Lee gives them their most MLB-ready option without having to rush Edgar Quero.
