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Saturday, December 23, 2006 White Sox - Rangers Pull Off Big Holiday Trade The Chicago White Sox have acquired left-handed pitcher John Danks and right-handers Nick Masset and Jacob Rasner from the Texas Rangers in exchange for right-handed pitcher Brandon McCarthy and outfielder David Paisano.
Danks, 21, split the 2006 season between Class AA Frisco and Class AAA Oklahoma, combining to go 9-9 with a 4.24 ERA (66 ER/140.0 IP) and 154 strikeouts in 27 games (26 starts). He was 5-4 with a 4.15 ERA (32 ER/69.1 IP) and 82 strikeouts in 13 starts at Frisco before going 4-5 with a 4.33 ERA (34 ER/70.2 IP) and 72 strikeouts in 14 games (13 starts) with the RedHawks. Danks averaged 9.9 strikeouts per 9.0 IP at the two stops. Danks, a 6-foot-1, 200-pounder, was the Rangers first-round selection (ninth overall) in the 2003 draft. He is ranked by Baseball America as the No. 1 Prospect in the Rangers organization and was tabbed by the same publication as their No. 2 Prospect following both the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Baseball America also has cited Danks as possessing the Best Curveball in the Rangers system in each of last three seasons. A native of Austin, Texas, Danks is 21-30 with a 4.20 ERA (199 ER/426.1 IP) and 439 strikeouts in four minor-league seasons with Texas. He has averaged 9.3 strikeouts per 9.0 IP. Masset, 24, spent time in 2006 with Frisco, Oklahoma and Texas. He began the season with the RoughRiders, going 2-2 with a 2.06 ERA (11 ER/48.0 IP) and 40 strikeouts in eight starts before going 4-5 with a 4.81 ERA (36 ER/67.1 IP), three saves and 65 strikeouts in 24 games (seven starts) with the RedHawks. He also made eight relief appearances over three stints with the Rangers, going 0-0 with a 4.15 ERA (4 ER/8.2 IP). Masset, 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, was the closer for Mazatlan in the Mexican Pacific League, posting a 2.61 ERA (6 ER/20.2 IP) with 22 strikeouts and a league-leading 15 saves in 20 appearances. He is ranked by Baseball America as the No. 8 Prospect in the Rangers organization. Masset originally was selected by Texas in the eighth round of the 2000 draft. Rasner, who turned 20 on December 4, spent all of last season with Class A Clinton in the Midwest League, going 6-16 with a 5.41 ERA (87 ER/144.2 IP) and 117 strikeouts in 27 starts. He is 7-21 with a 6.14 ERA (131 ER/192.0 IP) and 148 strikeouts in 41 games (37 starts) over two minor-league seasons after being drafted by Texas in the seventh round in 2005. McCarthy, 23, went 4-7 with a 4.68 ERA (44 ER/84.2 IP) and 69 strikeouts in 53 games (two starts) with the White Sox in 2006. The 6-foot-7 McCarthy is 7-9 with a 4.39 ERA (74 ER/151.2 IP) and 117 strikeouts in 65 games (12 starts) in two seasons with the Sox. Paisano, 19, spent the 2006 season with the White Sox entry in the Venezuelan Summer League, batting .338 (66-195) with no home runs and 17 RBI. posted by Joe Hamrahi at 12:22 AM |
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3 Comments:
From the Kenny Williams press conference:
"For the right deal, I think that you can find a match for anyone. That's why you never want to use the word 'untouchable'." ... "We were bowled over. It was an obvious decision for us to make."
"These are conversations [about Danks and McCarthy] that go back over a year."
Mr. Williams didn't express anything resembling lack of confidence in McCarthy, and said that this deal didn't have anything to do with that. However, he did mention that the Garcia trade had made McCarthy "first in line" to win the 5th starter job (as opposed to saying that it made McCarthy a member of the rotation). He said that he was sure that McCarthy will go down to Texas and be everything they expect him to be, and solidify their rotation.
So, Kenny, who's going to be the 5th starter? He talked about 4 candidates, but I wasn't clear on who #4 is. He said that Masset, Danks, and Floyd would be 3 of them. And he expressed confidence that the "winner" of that competition would provide as much value in that rotation spot as McCarthy would have.
Most surprising to me was how Williams gushed over Masset. He said that with his power slider, he (and the scouting department) believed Masset was only a notch below Jenks in terms of closer potential, and yet would be given an opportunity to return to starting.
Rasner: "Scouting the player, not scouting the numbers". Mentioned his frame and age.
Williams had a couple quotes I loved, and which should give Sox fans confidence that their GM is really dedicated to doing a great job, long-term. One was to the effect that the current pitchers would get older and more expensive, and "that's a bad situation to try to crawl out from underneath".
Some off-topic comments from Williams:
* "No I'm not," entertaining offers for the other 4 starters.
* Sisco likely to be first guy out of bullpen, so he can use all his pitches and help prepare him as a potential starter. "[He] will be part of the club."
* The team might consider trading pitching for "other pieces [we] might need" in July.
What are the chances #5 goes to Danks out of spring training? Odds of him leaving spring with the big league club? Would knowing Danks was in Chicago increase or decrease his rookie ranking?
It will be interesting to see how the White Sox handle Danks going into Spring Training. He may be ready for "The Show" but he has yet to even get a taste of Big League action. If I had to bet on this one, I'd say that Gavin Floyd breaks camp as the #5 and Danks eventually takes over by mid-season.
I don't think the park or the pending rotation plays any factor in determining a prospect's status. I mentioned this on another post, but to me, a prospect is defined as a player who will be able to make a contribution to a team at the major league level. Those who we feel will make a bigger impact are considered better prospects than those that we feel will make less of a splash.
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