White Sox trades
Sox' FO might've said at some point they're open to trading anyone with less than four years of team control. Good enough for me. Let's tear it down.
Because you're likely less familiar with prospects, they have a more details in parentheses (position, most likely projection, ETA)
to the Red Sox for
Sam Travis (1B, league average, mid-2017)
Gives the BoSox their man, and the ChiSox theirs
Gives Boston a possible all-star 3B stopgap for Rafeal Devers
Gets the haul of high-ceiling talent Chicago's looking for Sale
Jose Abreu (1B) and
Melky Cabrera (LF/DH)
to the Yankees for
Luis Servino (RHP, former elite prospect/project, MLB)
Gives the Yankees offensive firepower (not one of their regular position players had an OPS+ of over 100 at year's end last year)
Abreu contract is hitting arbitration, so he's still a bargain, but still expensive.
Melky can still hit well. Hopefully. He's owed $15 mill in 2017.
Frazier's stock is rising.
Pitchers in the deal have interesting tools.
*Note: the deal with the Yankees originally had Jose Qunintana along with Abreu. Made things much more complicated. And expensive. It just about cleared out all the Yankees' better than league-average prospects. And all the Sox' 2017 wins.
to the Cubs for
Jorge Soler (OF, former elite prospect/project, MLB)
With Frazier gone, and Bryant/Baez/La Stella/the whole damn Cubs team not blocking him, Candelario can get some reps.
With Melky gone, and Schwarber/Bryant/Szczur/Travis Wood/the whole damn Cubs team not blocking him, Soler can get guaranteed playing time at Guaranteed Rate Field. Also, DH.
Cubs get relievers to replace the ones they're likely to lose to free agency.
Cubs are on the hook for Robertson's $12.5 mill/year for two.
Brett Lawire (2B/3B)
to the Dodgers for
Kyle Farmer (C/3B, backup, mid-2017)
LA gets an injury prone punk who can give you around league-average production when he's present. Has done 2B and 3B...
Exactly the positions LA might lose to free agency (Utley and Turner).
Sox get a couple of 'throw them at the wall, see if the stick' guys. If they're good, great, keep them for the contenting years. If not, thanks for helping get a better draft pick, we're not contenting until 2019.
Speaking of 2019...
I also had considerations for Eaton, too. Didn't put them here, though. Not sure I'll need to. Have damn nearly a Cubs-like core with this group. Here's what the 25 might would look like sometime in 2019:
RF: Eaton
CF: Frazier
LF: Soler/Charlie Tillson
DH: Soler/Jameson Fisher
3B: Candelario
SS: Tim Anderson
2B: Moncada
1B: Sam Travis
C: Zack Collins
Bench: Micah Johnson, Farmer, Adam Engel
SP: Quintana
SP: Carson Fulmer
SP: Kopech
SP: Carlos Rodon
SP: Spencer Adams
PEN: Servino, Abreu, Acevedo, Zack Burdi, Alec Hansen, Michael Ynoa, Chris Beck
Yes, I know other teams need to accept these trades. Yes, prospects often bust, and they at times outplay expectations (former happens more often than the latter unfortunately). But this looks like a team that'll contend for a few years.