In span of day, White Sox system skyrockets

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — For the second time in as many days, the Chicago White Sox seriously upgraded their farm system by unloading an established Major Leaguer. On Wednesday, it was outfielder Adam Eaton getting shipped to the Nationals for a trio of right-handed pitching prospects.

Not just any pitching prospects. Lucas Giolito is the highest-ranked pitching prospect on MLBPipeline.com’s Top 100 at No. 3 overall. Reynaldo Lopez isn’t that far behind, at No. 38 overall. Dane Dunning was a first-round pick from the 2016 Draft who, while having a lower profile than his trade-mates, has the chance to be a very good big league starter.

White Sox Top 30 prospects

If it seems like the White Sox did well in this deal, it’s because they did. Yes, Eaton is a very solid player with an extremely team-friendly contract. But the prevailing thoughts around baseball were very positive in terms of Chicago’s haul.

• White Sox land Giolito, 2 more prospects for Eaton

In terms of pure stuff, Giolito is still considered to be the best pitching prospect in the game. His fastball has sat in the mid- to upper 90s in the past, though his velocity dipped at times in 2016, due mostly to some mechanical issues he seemed to address by season’s end. His breaking ball, a true power curve, has also routinely been graded as the best among all pitching prospects in baseball. His changeup has improved and is his third above-average pitch. More often than not, Giolito has very good command, though he struggled with that at times in 2016, particularly in the big leagues.

• White Sox acquire Moncada, 3 others for Sale

Giolito’s Major League struggles to maintain his elite velocity and his command, which came in a small sample size, led some to believe that perhaps the right-hander’s star had faded a bit. But one evaluator from an organization not involved in the trade said he didn’t …

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