The White Sox have made their first deal before the deadline and it’s a big one.
According to multiple reports, the organization is trading Erick Fedde, Michael Kopech, and Tommy Pham as part of a three-way deal involving the Cardinals and Dodgers. Though details are still being sorted out, here’s what we know:
- St. Louis Cardinals receive: SP Erick Fedde (White Sox), OF Tommy Pham (White Sox), player to be named later or cash considerations (Dodgers), cash considerations (Cardinals)
- Los Angeles Dodgers receive: RP Michael Kopech (White Sox), IF Tommy Edman (Cardinals), RHP Oliver Gonzalez (Cardinals)
- White Sox receive: IF Miguel Vargas (Dodgers), IF Alexander Albertus (Dodgers), IF Jaral Perez (Dodgers), player to be named later or cash considerations (Dodgers)
As it stands now, Miguel Vargas is the key piece coming back in this deal. Currently ranked 37th by MLB Pipeline and once coming in as high as 29th on Baseball America’s Top 100, Vargas has always been an intriguing prospect in the Dodgers system. Let’s start by taking a look at his scouting report:
Vargas is an extremely advanced hitter with elite bat-to-ball skills and a good understanding of his right-handed swing and what he’s trying to do at the plate. He controls the strike zone, uses the entire field and handles fastballs and breaking balls with ease, though he did struggle a bit against changeups in 2022. He’s more hitter than slugger, but his bat speed, strength and penchant for making hard contact should allow him to get to all of his solid raw power and produce 20-25 homers per season.
Known mostly for his bat, Vargas has put in the time to improve his speed, athleticism and defense. Regarded as a fringy to average runner, he nonetheless recorded sprint speeds in the 94th percentile during his introduction to the Majors. He has fringy range but solid arm strength at third base, his primary position, but spent most of his big league time at first base and left field. He’s decent at first base, a work in progress in left field and comfortable (albeit with subpar range) at second base.
via MLB Pipeline
While there’s plenty to be excited about, Vargas has not yet lived up to the hype at the major league level. From 2022 to now, he’s slashed .201/.294/.364 with 11 homers and a .658 OPS over 129 games. The Cuban native has put up much more impressive stats with Triple-A Oklahoma City this season, hitting .290/.440/.566 with 8 homers, 38 RBI, and a 1.006 OPS through 41 games.
In Chicago, there’s no doubt that Vargas will have a much clearer path to playing time than he ever would’ve had in Los Angeles. The White Sox, who announced that he will be added to the team’s 26-player roster, will look for him to start putting up more consistent results as he gets acclimated with regular playing time.
The two other prospects coming back in this one, Albertus and Perez, are not as far along in their professional careers.
Albertus, 19, is slashing .298/.420/.409 with three home runs and 42 RBI over 51 games this season between the Arizona Complex League Dodgers and Class A Rancho Cucamonga. Ranked by Baseball America as the No. 16 prospect in the Dodgers system, the publication says he has the “highest floor” out of the Dodgers prospects at his level. The infielder possesses quick bat speed and despite not having a plus tool, there’s some power potential for him to tap into as he develops.
As for Perez, the 19-year-old infielder is a bat-first player who just so happened to lead the Arizona Complex League in home runs last season. This season, he’s batting .264/.380/.420 with 10 home runs and 42 RBI over 75 games with Rancho Cucamonga. He currently ranks among the California League leaders in homers (T7th), OPS (9th, .800), walks (T9th) and on-base percentage (10th). Both he and Albertus will be assigned to Low-A Kannapolis.
Following the trade, White Sox also announced that outfielder Dominic Fletcher, left-hander Sammy Peralta, and right-hander Touki Toussaint are all being promoted from Triple-A Charlotte.
This story is still developing. Check back for further updates.
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Featured Photo:Melissa Tamez-USA TODAY Sports
I cannot fathom what is going through Chrissey’s mind in this trade. Fedde (an excellent SP this year for a historic bad team) and Kopech (an on again/off again power pitcher who never lived up to his potential/ who is an RP that the Dodgers can fix and make great) as well as Pham to the Cardinals (with Edman going to LA). And what did Chrissey get? Vargas, who has had a chance to be 3B but is not a good fielder and his arm is not always accurate. He is sub-par defensively. As for his hitting, he still needs to prove that he belongs in the majors (the Dodgers believed that he would NOT contribute to their run for the WS so it is adios to playing championship baseball to becoming a member of the worst WS team ever, potentially), The 2 young players will need something we do not have which is a minor league that really creates players ready to contribute. We have what minor league disarray Chrissy left, and it doesn’t produce much……. I think this shows that Chris Getz is way out of his league as GM but then, that is what Reinsdorf seemed to want, a yes man who will help grease the rails to Nashville………