The first major moves of the Major League Baseball offseason have taken place with the White Sox a part of that mix.
However, a couple smaller moves that took place Thursday morning had more impact on the minor league side of the organization. First, the Rule V Draft took place with the White Sox losing right-handed pitcher Blake Smith to the Padres in the Major League phase. In the minor league phase, the Sox picked up RHP Manny Martinez from the Phillies. Just after the Rule V concluded, news broke that the Sox swapped RHP Myles Jaye for lefty Will Lamb from the Rangers.
So what do these moves all mean? Honestly, not a ton. The Sox shuffled some minor league pitchers, none of which were highly regarded prospects, but still have some value.
Starting with Smith, who the Sox lost. Matt Cassidy called it that Smith might be a target in the Rule V in his preview. Smith, who turned 28 yesterday, is a converted outfielder who got as high as AA as a hitter. Last year the Sox turned him into a pitcher and he showed strikeout stuff in AAA with 42 K in 30 innings. His 3.30 ERA and 15 walks as a reliever show that he could be worth a shot on a Major League roster. This is a nice belated birthday present for Smith, who gets a much better shot at an MLB roster spot with the Padres.
As for the player the Sox added in the Rule V, Martinez, he’s much further down the system. The left-hander is a 23-year-old Venezuelan who pitched in Low-A last season as a reliever. He made his U.S. debut in 2012 as a starter with mixed results and has been a reliever since. This season was the first time he didn’t have a K/9 rate above 9. He struck out 36 batters in 43 innings while walking 19 and posting a 2.51 ERA in the South Atlantic League. J.J. Cooper called Martinez a hard-thrower and wild.
The trade of the day might have been related to the Rule V in a roundabout way. Jaye was listed as a possible target in our preview, and the Rangers may have been doing due diligence on him and got on the phone with the Sox to work something out. This is Jaye’s second trade, having come over from the Blue Jays in the Jason Frasor trade in 2012.
Since joining the Sox, Jaye has been up and down. A rough 2012 was followed by a decent 2013 as he moved through A ball. In 2014 he posted a 5.32 ERA in AA and had just 73 strikeouts against 53 walks in 132 innings. This season, however, he became one of the best pitchers in the Southern League. He improved across the board with a 3.29 ERA, 104 K and 47 BB. Jaye, who turns 24 in a few weeks, put himself back on the prospect radar in 2015, but doesn’t have eye-catching stuff and has a limited ceiling going forward.
In return the Sox landed another reliever in Lamb. Lamb was a second round pick out of Clemson in 2011. He was used primarily as a starter in his first two minor league seasons, but moved to the bullpen in 2013. Lamb posted both high strikeout and walk numbers early in his minor league career, but last year toned both down. Between stops in AA and AAA, Lamb had 51 strikeouts and 26 walks in 57 innings. In that sense he’s similar to Martinez in the hard-thrower and wild mold.
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