The White Sox went back to spending international money they couldn't figure out how to use on the conventional market by trading it to another team for a low-level prospect or two.
In this case, some of the $1.41 million they didn't spend on their most recent international class will go to the Dodgers for rookie-ball righties Maximo Martinez and Aldrin Batista.
Both of them have pitched relatively well in the Arizona Complex League...
- Martinez: 26.2 IP, 21 H, 0 HR, 17 BB, 28 K, 4.78 ERA
- Batista: 39 IP, 33 H, 1 HR, 15 BB, 54 K, 3.46 ERA
... but Martinez is 19 and in his second year in the ACL (his 2022 was injury-hampered), while Batista is making his stateside debut at 20. Baseball America has promising things to say about each:
Martinez: "Martinez works with a lively fastball in the 95-98 mph range and an inconsistent upper-80s slider that scouts have seen flash plus."
Batista: "He was an up-arrow prospect hidden in the depth of Los Angeles’ system. He works primarily with a low-90s sinker that has touched 97 and a low-80s slider, but he’ll mix in a nascent changeup every now and again as well."
This could be a nice little move for all we know, but considering the Sox traded a bunch of international money during the time they were supposed to be loading up their farm system for this contention window, it feels more like an organizational shortcoming manifesting itself in a very specific way once again.
Rocket City 9, Birmingham 4
- José Rodríguez went 1-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- Terrell Tatum, 2-for-4 with a K.
- Brayn Ramos and Edgar Quero both were 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- So was Wilfred Veras, making his return to Double-A.
- Luis Mieses went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Yoelquli Céspedes was 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Matthew Thompson: 4 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, 48 of 89 pitches for strikes.
Bowling Green 6, Winston-Salem 0 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- Jacob Burke and DJ Gladney both were 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
- Loidel Chapelli, 1-for-2 with a walk.
- Wes Kath, 0-for-3 with a K.
Bowling Green 10, Winston-Salem 5 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Loidel Chapelli doubled, walked twice and struck out once.
- DJ Gladney was 1-for-4 with a homer and two strikeouts.
- Kohl Simas: 4.1 IP, 11 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 2 HR
Charleston 5, Kannapolis 3
- Brooks Baldwin went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Calvin Harris went 1-for-4.
- Peyton Pallette: 3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 1 HBP, 39 of 61 pitches for strikes.
ACL Athletics 2, ACL White Sox 1 (7 innings)
- George Wolkow went 0-for-2 with a walk, HBP and strikeout.
- Mikey Kane went 3-for-3 in his pro debut. Hang 'em up now.
- Norge Vera in a rehab stint: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K
DSL White Sox 5, DSL Orioles Black 4
- Stiven Flores brought his average back up to .400 after going 2-for-4.
- Juan Uribe Jr. went 1-for-4 with a K.
