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White Sox restock farm with 6 of Top 10 traded prospects
- Updated: December 21, 2016
It was with good reason that the Chicago White Sox were widely praised as the winners of the 2016 Winter Meetings.
Seeing an opportunity to build for the future by capitalizing on this year’s dearth of free agents, White Sox general manager Rick Hahn dealt lefty ace Chris Sale to the Red Sox and outfielder Adam Eaton to the Nationals on back-to-back days, respectively. In the process, the organization added tremendous upside to a farm system that had been lacking in that area, particularly in its upper levels.
In return for Sale, the White Sox received a pair of Top 100 prospects in Yoan Moncada, MLBPipeline.com’s No. 1 overall prospect, and right-hander Michael Kopech (No. 30), as well as center fielder Luis Alexander Basabe and righty Victor Diaz, two more young, high-ceiling talents. The deal marked the first time in at least 25 years that baseball’s top overall prospect had been traded, based on the rankings done by MLB, MLB Pipeline and Baseball America.
The following day proved equally eventful for the South Siders, as they shipped Eaton to the Nationals for Lucas Giolito, MLBPipeline.com’s top-ranked pitching prospect (No. 3 overall), Reynaldo Lopez (No. 38 overall) and 2016 first-rounder Dane Dunning.
Moncada and Giolito are clearly the best prospects to be traded since the offseason began, but with plenty of other young talent dealt, here’s a look at the 10 best prospects moved, six of whom ended up with the White Sox:
1. Yoan Moncada, 2B/3B, White Sox (from Red Sox)
The recipient of the largest signing bonus in history for an amateur player ($31.5 million) when Boston signed him in 2015, Moncada hit .294/.407/.511 with 15 home runs and 45 stolen bases in the Minors last season in his first full pro campaign before debuting with the Red Sox in early September. The 21-year-old switch-hitter has easy 20-20 potential and arguably the best combination of tools among all prospects, though he still has some gains to make on both sides of the ball.
2. Lucas Giolito, RHP, White Sox (from Nationals)
The White Sox landed a team’s top-ranked prospect for a second straight day with the acquisition of Giolito, whose inconsistent velocity and subpar command last season during a 21 1/3-inning trial in the big leagues clearly lowered his value within the Nationals’ front office. Though his star has indeed faded a bit, the 22-year-old righty is still in the conversation for baseball’s top pitching prospect heading into 2017, and it’s far too soon to consider writing off his longstanding projection as a …
