So far so good.

Two things caught White Sox fans’ eye on the heels of the announcement:

1) The press release said it left the White Sox’ 40-man roster at 38 rather than the 39 fans counted.  The mystery was subsequently solved, as it was announced Ian Clarkin was claimed by the Cubs on waivers.  Clarkin was one of the supplementary pieces acquired in the Blake Rutherford deal with the Yankees.  He’ll turn 24 before the 2019 season starts, and between injuries and ineffectiveness he has yet to conquer Double-A after six years in pro ball, most recently posting a K:BB ratio just a shade over 1.00 in Birmingham.  A well regarded prospect once upon a time, it was understandable the White Sox would want to see if they could get him healthy and back on track.  The Cubs will have to see if they can pull it off.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a solid lefty reliever one day, but even if you knew he could be that in a year or two, just among lefty relievers on the organizational depth chart Clarkin would come in behind Jace Fry, Aaron Bummer, Caleb Frare, and Medeiros at a minimum.

2) A notable omission from 40-man protection was Spencer Adams.  Some outlets believed the White Sox had a steal when they took Adams in the second round of the 2014 draft, and the highly athletic prep arm has climbed all the way to Triple-A, pounding the zone relentlessly along the way.  Even if the control (i.e. not walking people as opposed to command) has been very good, and that has yielded some solid ERAs along the way, he has yet to show he can miss bats consistently, and scouts said he looked stiffer in 2018.  Still, this author, at the very least, thought he would be added to the 40-man roster, given that some were very excited about him not too long ago, and his proximity to the majors.

That said, the Rule 5 draft is an easy source of fear.  It plays on all of our concerns about losing talent for the low price of a 40-man spot, particularly if a player lost in such a way were to go off and become something significant.  But, the White Sox have been good about this of late.  Some began making concerned noises when Jordan Guerrero and Jake Peter were exposed to Rule 5 last year only for neither of them to get taken.  There’s a good chance Adams makes it past Rule 5 and just returns to Charlotte next season, and hopefully he takes a step forward and reaches his potential as a back end starter with the White Sox, or polishes himself up into a nice trade chip. Or, if he does get taken, there’s reason to believe the White Sox have a basis to decide it’s a loss they are willing to stomach.

And, this leaves room for them to make other additions, or even claim someone they like even better in the Rule 5 draft themselves.

On Thursday, the White Sox did just that in sending Soria to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for minor league pitcher Kodi Medeiros and Wilber Perez. It’s not the kind of needle-moving trade that turns the White Sox already booming farm system into something more formidable. Neither Medeiros nor Perez are “can’t miss” prospects, or they wouldn’t be available for a 34-year-old reliever. But it’s a very clear “cashing in” of an asset who was destined to be traded all along.

Medeiros is a 22-year-old former first round pick (12th overall in 2014) who, while he has been working as a starter primarily, is almost certainly a reliever. The type of reliever he ultimately becomes is reliant on him harnessing his command, something that’s eluded him frequently during his four-plus seasons as a professional. From the 2018 BP Annual:

Medeiros possesses many major-league qualities as a pitcher: He spins a nasty slider, severely suppresses home runs and is a lefty with low-90s velocity. Such a package should give him a high floor as a big-league reliever, with intriguing upside as a late-inning guy if enough clicks. Fairly or not, as an unexpected first-round pick, the story with Medeiros has always been what he lacks. His slight frame and side-armed delivery make it unlikely that he’ll stick as a starter. Moreover, his control often has a “Dick Cheney while hunting” vibe to it. The latter could cause him to stall out in the upper minors—he has never posted an ERA below 4.44 in his professional career—but his positive qualities still should help him give left-handed hitters fits out of the big-league bullpen someday.

The home run suppression is very much true — he’s allowed just 22 in 427 career minor league innings — and he’s posting the best K/BB rate of his career this season at Double-A (2.38), albeit the improvement has been very minute. How the White Sox handle him once he joins the organization is yet to be seen, but whether they continue to give him a shot as a starter or fast-track him to the majors as a reliever, he’s the type of headlining piece worth targeting in exchange for a player who’s not in the long-term plans.

Perez, on the other hand, is a bit of an unknown. The 20-year-old right-hander was an international signing a year ago and has thrown all of 56 innings for the Brewers’ Dominican Summer League team. The White Sox internal scouting reports of Perez are more thorough than that, of course, but he’s the type of lottery ticket that’s worth taking on in a deal like this.

Lead Photo Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports