White Sox Trade Joakim Soria To Brewers For Former 1st Round Pick Kodi Medeiros #PRAY4THELEAGUE
***Editors Note*** Obviously this is a @BarstoolWSD blog, but he’s locked out of his account right now so he emailed me a word doc with this blog because he loves all of you very much.
Going into Tuesday’s deadline, the White Sox had four trade pieces that could potentially net a good return
- Jose Abreu
- Avisail Garcia
- Joakim Soria
- Carlos Rodon
I recently put the percentage that Abreu is dealt around 10-15%. He had a dog shit month of June that killed his numbers and the juice wouldn’t be worth the squeeze for him on the trade market. I do feel they should still deal him, as he’s an aging and expiring asset, but maybe let him get hot in the offseason. Past precedence is the best way to judge a trade, so recent history would suggest that he wouldn’t net a major package even if he was typical Abreu in the 1st half.
Garcia has been hurt, but when he’s been healthy he’s been murdering the ball. Everyone and their mother knew Avi’s numbers would probably regress to the mean this season after he had a league leading ~.390 BABIP in 2017, a number about 65 points higher than his career clip, but Avi has showed power, power and more power when healthy this year. His GP/FB rate is way down, his hard hit rate is way up and he’s hitting baseballs out of the park at a rate you’d want a 6’4’’, 240-pound corner OF/DH to hit bombs. That said, he hasn’t been on the field. Doubt they get anything for him, so Hahn will try again this winter and before next deadline.
Rodon falls in the same category for the most part: injury prone and needs to prove he can stay healthy and hit his ceiling if/when he’s moved.
Which brings us to Soria. The Sox acquired Soria for one purpose and one purpose only last winter, to flip him. What Hahn just did was turn AAAA infielder Jake Peter into former 1st round pick Kodi Medeiros, who’s performing exactly how you want a former 1st rounder to play at an age appropriate AA:
He’s missing bats at a >1K/IP rate, limiting free passes at a respectable clip, keeping the ball in the stadium for the most part, and he’s been devastating on left handed hitting, surrendering 16 hits in 30.2IP with a .160 BAA and .82 WHIP. The Sox farm is right handed-heavy, so adding a LHP of his ilk is a more than welcome addition.
What Do Scouts Say About Him?
I know a couple Brewers scouts and shot them texts asking about Medeiros today, and they both said the same thing more or less, that he’s a high floor/lower ceiling pitcher who at worst will turn into a long reliever/shut down LOOGY and at best a back of the rotation starter. Not the sexiest stuff, but 4 pitches that are all a tick better than average at the present. One of them told me they do grade his slider as “plus” at times, but he’s had repeatability issues in his mechanics that have caused him to lose his feel for his fastball, making it harder to attack hitters with off speed because he was always behind in counts. “When it’s on it’s nasty” was the exact quote. Even though he needed refining in his mechanics, they’ve improved year to year, with him finally finding his release more often than not in 2018. They both said his pitchability has improved immensely in the last two years as he’s filled out physically, though his fastball hasn’t gained much velo from HS to now.
The Sox also returned a lottery ticket A baller. The same two scouts don’t know much if anything about him, but his numbers in the DSL have been good this year. A lot of LatAm players are incredibly raw and need a ton of coaching/refinement, so when I see he’s only walked 13 hitters in 41IP in the DSL this year, I assume he’s more polished than most.
From a Brewers scout:
Pitch mix is pretty generic. Low 90s, loose breaking ball that gets slurvy. Creates some angles to the plate, body still has a little projection and arm works. Maybe he gains more upper body strength to hold velo but I don’t think it’s a guy who will develop into a power arm. Guessing he’s a guy who the office flagged as a performer. Always a shot in the dark with a nearly 21 year old DSL arm who hasn’t made it to the States yet…
All in all – yet another great flip job for Hahn. He turned this:
Into a pitcher with starter upside + a lottery ticket. Awesome job all around. Shout out to my good friend Rick (Hahn).
Moving forward – he’ll keep adding depth, depth and more depth in the next year, especially with a penalty free international class coming up, and sooner than later (AKA this offseason) the Sox are gonna spend BIG on free agency to supplement the insanely deep farm system they now have. Fuck you Carl, fuck you Chief and fuck you everyone who doesn’t think they will. Watch it happen.
#Pray4TheLeague