White Sox acquire two young pitchers for international bonus pool space

Sharing a spring training complex with one of the deepest organizations in the major leagues can have its perks at times. The Chicago White Sox know the Los Angeles Dodgers' farm system better than others due to the shared usage of Camelback Ranch as a facility and spring training home in Glendale, Arizona. The two clubs also hammered out an agreement that sent veteran righties Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly to Los Angeles prior to this year's deadline and I'm sure other names were exchanged with even more players discussed.

On Friday afternoon, the White Sox and Dodgers hooked up on a different type of transaction but more talent has once again been added to the system that took the biggest jump at this year's deadline according to Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline. Martínez and Batista are varying levels of interesting at the moment. Both were pitching in the Arizona Complex League with the Los Angeles affiliate but Batista was recently promoted to Low-A.

Máximo Martínez is a 19-year-old righty who signed with the Dodgers out of Venezuela back in 2021. The 6-2, 185 pounder debuted in the Dominican Summer League shortly after. He was shutdown with an arm injury after throwing just four innings in the Arizona Complex League last season however. The right hander is back this year though and he accumulated 28 strikeouts in 26.2 innings but he's also walked 17 hitters and posted a 4.73 ERA.

Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs listed the Venezuelan as the 31st overall prospect in a really deep system in the pre-season. His fastball has jumped into the 95-98 mph range which was surprising as he profiled to be more of a polished, pitchability type. He was the youngest player who participated in the Dodgers' instructional league back in 2021 as noted by Longenhagen. As a strike-thrower without huge life on the fastball, his secondary offerings must improve. His breaking ball has flashed plus but not consistently.

Martínez has shown a repeatable and compact delivery and it appears that the White Sox will leave him in the Arizona Complex League to continue working for now. Batista is a 20-year-old Dominican signed back in 2021 that has made his stateside debut in a big way this year. The 6-2 185 pounder was solid in the Dominican Summer League last year with a 1.55 ERA in 40 innings pitched. In 39 innings in the Arizona Complex League so far this season, the righty has posted a 3.46 ERA while averaging 12.46 K/9 and 3.46 BB/9.

Batista is leading the ACL in strikeouts with 54 overall in his 39 innings. Baseball America noted that the 20-year-old is an "up arrow prospect hidden in the depth of the Los Angeles' system" in their trade write-up. He's shown a low 90's sinker that has touched 97 mph and he displays a low 80's slider with an inconsistent changeup as well. Both pitchers have been added to the rookie level roster for the White Sox's affiliate in the Arizona Complex League. Batista was named as the player of the month for Minor League Baseball in the ACL for July as well.

The White Sox have traded international signing pool space before but this type of deal brings back actual upside instead of dumping a finite resource to line the pockets of ownership. It still allows for skepticism on the outside though due to the perception of a flawed strategy in the international marketplace by Marco Paddy and the rest of the decision makers. As of mid-June, the White Sox still had well over $1 million remaining in international pool space according to Francys Romero and that's the most money available of any club.

The White Sox began the process with a total of $5,284,000 to spend. They used close to $4 million on prospects comprising their current Dominican Summer League roster. Their signing class consisted of more than 20 players and was highlighted by Dominican outfielder Abraham Núñez Jr and right hander Luis Reyes. Reyes is starting to figure things out and Núñez has been one of the better players in the league with on base skills and hitting ability on display that has led to a wRC+ of 138. It was just assumed that the remaining $1.4 million was being earmarked for another signing; likely a Cuban player who entered the fray later into the process.

It's unclear how much of the $1.4 million that the White Sox had remaining will be sent to the Los Angeles Dodgers in this exchange. The signing period will end on December 15, 2023. Due to free agent additions and a payroll over the luxury tax threshold, the Dodgers came into the signing period with just $4,144,000 to spend; the lowest of any club during this current international period. They might need the money to pay their outstanding commitments within the class or they could use it to sign another player that has become available to them in some way.

The White Sox landed two more intriguing pitching prospects and they're both really far away from contributing. This is a smart move for the organization to snag two live arms while allowing the Dodgers to spend more of their own money. It remains puzzling however that the White Sox, led by a well respected international boss like Marco Paddy often find themselves in the position of not having deals previously agreed upon with top players from the international market. This could be a totally fine outcome but the process to get here is questionable for an organization that hasn't earned the benefit of the doubt in recent years.