The White Sox continued flipping major-league assets with the late night trade of reliever Tyler Clippard to the Astros Sunday night. Clippard, who worked just 10 innings for the White Sox after coming over in a seven-player trade with the Yankees on July 19th, was moved for a player to be named later or cash.
Despite a decent track record of success (2.78 ERA in 527.1 IP from 2010-2016), Clippard’s 2017 started like a nightmare. In 46.1 innings with the Yankees, Clippard logged a 4.27 ERA, the Yankees saw leads evaporate and fans lost patience at a record pace–even for Yankee fans. Still, after coming over to the White Sox, Clippard worked his bread-and-butter change-up back into shape and was reliable enough (10 IP, 2 ER, 10 K, 5 BB).
While the quality of player (or amount of money) the White Sox receive will certainly depend on Clippard’s performance down the stretch for Houston, credit GM Rick Hahn for moving a short-term asset for, well, anything.
It seems likely that Dylan Covey, whose been rehabbing at AAA Charlotte, will come up to take Clippard’s spot. Covey, who started the year as the fifth man in the White Sox rotation, is a Rule 5 pick and needs to be on the 25-man roster or be returned to Oakland at the end of the year.
-Jimenez Rakes
Eloy Jimenez, the power-laden outfielder who headlined the Jose Quintana trade, was having a wonderful season before being traded to the White Sox. Since the deal, he’s been nothing short of incredible. Over 100 at-bats with the Winston-Salem Dash, Jimenez has slashed .380/.446/.750. He’s hit eight home runs–the same number he’d hit in the 155 at-bats prior to the trade. It’s entirely possible that he’s ready for the test at double-A but the White Sox have said, many times, they’re not interested in rushing prospects through this rebuilding process.
