Chris Getz waited to strike his first deadline trade as White Sox GM, and he certainly made it count in terms of quality. Erick Fedde, Tommy Pham and Michael Kopech are all leaving town as part of the same deal, although they're not all going to the same destination.
The White Sox dealt Fedde and Pham to the St. Louis Cardinals and Michael Kopech to the Dodgers in a three-team, eight-player swap that took some time to hash out, but now looks like:
- Cardinals get: Fedde and Pham from the White Sox
- Dodgers get: Kopech from the White Sox, Tommy Edman from the Cardinals
- White Sox get: Miguel Vargas, Jaral Perez and Alexander Albertus from the Dodgers
(Note: This may or may not be the full trade, because the "full trade" has been reported multiple times. Noah Miller was originally reported as part of the deal, then he wasn't. Bob Nightengale says there's "potentially a fringe prospect" involved. Bruce Levine is the only reporter saying Joendry Vargas is heading to the White Sox, which either means Levine is mistaken, there are two Vargases in this deal, or Getz pulled a Kenny Williams Move by trading for the wrong Dodger.)
Vargas is the one who isn't a prospect. He's a 24-year-old utility man who is experiencing his first MLB success in his third attempt, hitting .239/.313/.423 over 80 plate appearances while playing left field. He's also played first, second and third base in other seasons.
If prospect rankings guide your excitement level for the return, this probably isn't going to do it for you.
Albertus, 19, is the 16th-ranked Dodger prospect according to Baseball America, and 23rd on MLB Pipeline's list. He's well regarded for his hit tool and control of the strike zone, but the question is whether he has enough power to stay at third base, or whether he'll have to float around the infield He's currently hitting .229/.317/.329 for Low-A Rancho Cucamonga.
Perez, also 19 and playing in Rancho Cucamonga, ranks 17th on Pipeline's top 30, and 18th on BA. There's a lot more to his production at the moment, as he's hitting .264/.380/.420 in the California League while playing mostly second base. The former list praised his combination of bat speed and advanced approach, the latter says scouts don't see a plus tool, but they also don't see a glaring weakness.
Perez seems to have the higher ceiling that you'd like to see when trading the most tradeable player for somebody in Low-A, but neither prospect has "future fixture" written on him. The same can be said about Vargas, although he's actually a worthwhile use of playing time in Chicago and will be one of the few players worth following over the final two months. Assuming this is actually the finalized deal, I'm looking forward to seeing how Getz spins it, because there isn't a natural framing that generates a lot of enthusiasm.
