Chicago White Sox: Avilan, Soria this year’s Anthony Swarzaks?
Luis Avilan and Joakim Soria could help the Chicago White Sox in a number of ways, including as trade chips.
When fans found out that Chicago White Sox were working on a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers last night, I’m sure people were expecting a more interesting result than what actually transpired.
In the end, though, the Sox just shipped off a minor prospect, infielder Jake Peter, for veteran relievers Luis Avilan and Joakim Soria (and $3 million). What a buzzkill, right? Or, depending on how scared you were of the rebuild getting messed up, what a blessing.
It was just a minor move that didn’t really immediately affect anything about the rebuild. Peter wasn’t a top prospect, and neither Avilan nor Soria will hugely change this team’s fortunes.
That doesn’t mean that they can’t help the team out significantly, though. In fact, they can do so in more than one way.
First of all, both pitchers have track records as solid relief guys, which any team can use.
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Avilan brings a valuable left arm to the Sox bullpen, posting a 2.93 ERA and holding lefties to a slashline of .195/.280/.571. Those numbers are more or less in line with his career stats, too, so there’s no reason to think he can’t keep providing that for the Sox.
Meanwhile, though Soria doesn’t quite dominate the way he used to as a lockdown closer for the Kansas City Royals, he still has value. In particular, his strikeout totals over the last three seasons (64, 68 and 64, respectively) are reminiscent of his early Royals days despite a rising ERA and opposing batting average.
If they can hold down the fort for the Sox late in games, that could help them stay competitive. It might not necessarily make them a playoff contender, but who knows what could happen?
After all, the Chicago Cubs competed for a title a year earlier than we expected them, right? And if they do, solid bullpen arms will come in handy.
But even if the White Sox don’t shock the world next year, both Avilan and Soria could still get them closer to a championship the Anthony Swarzak way: getting flipped at the trade deadline for more prospects.
Just look at what happened with Swarzak, who had a career year last season. The 31-year-old left-hander fetched a legitimate outfield prospect in Ryan Cordell from the Wild Card-chasing Milwaukee Brewers.
Bullpen help is always one of the primary needs for postseason-bound teams. And as the Cubs showed last year in the Jose Quintana–Eloy Jimenez swap, win-now teams don’t always mind trading the future for the here and now.
As such, Avilan and Soria could end up very attractive trade pieces if they pitch well next season. More than likely, that’s how their story with the Chicago White Sox will unfold.
Next: White Sox make trade for bullpen arms
So while yesterday’s trade doesn’t look like much right now, let’s just wait and see what happens next season. This could very well end up being another low-key, smooth move by Rick Hahn that turns into a win-win.