The Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees made a trade today that should be beneficial for both clubs. The White Sox continued their trend of trading international bonus pool money for potential future relief options. According to Jack Curry of the YES Network, the Yankees will receive $1.5 million in pool space from the White Sox.
Source: Yankees have sent Caleb Frare, a LH reliever who was just promoted to AAA, to the White Sox for $1.5 million in international signing bonus money. Frare pitched one game for Scranton. He was 4-1 with a 0.62 ERA at AA.
— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) July 29, 2018
The 25-year-old Frare was an 11th round selection of the Yankees back in 2012. The 6’1” 210-pound southpaw missed the 2013 and 2014 seasons recovering from Tommy John Surgery. The Miles City, Montana native threw 43.2 innings for the Trenton Thunder of the Eastern League in the Yankees system so far this season and has been dominant in a relief role for the Double-A affiliate. The left-hander has compiled 57 strikeouts and only 15 walks while posting an ERA of 0.62 in just over 43 innings. He’s averaging 11.75 K/9 to go with a FIP of 2.24 and xFIP of 2.97. Frare has a WHIP under 1 (0.94) and has only allowed three earned runs all season. He was recently promoted to the Yankees AAA affiliate at Scranton where he pitched one inning. Frare will join the Charlotte Knights which is the Triple-A affiliate of the White Sox.
The #WhiteSox have acquired left-handed pitcher Caleb Frare from the New York Yankees in exchange for international signing bonus pool money. Frare will be assigned to Class AAA Charlotte.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) July 29, 2018
James Chipman of 2080Baseball got a look at Caleb Frare back in 2016 when he was pitching for New York’s High-A affiliate at Tampa. James noted Caleb’s “bulldog mound presence” in predicting his future as a possible high-leverage reliever. The left hander works quickly from a high three-quarters arm slot. His pitches have downhill life and deception. James surmised that Frare’s fastball sat in the mid 90’s and touched 97 mph on occasion. He has late “arm-side action” and strong makeup. At the time, he flashed a fringy changeup to go along with an inconsistent hard slider that had plus potential. The lefty still sits in the mid 90’s with his fastball but his slider is much improved. He has the makings of a back-end bullpen option from the left side.
Scouting word on Caleb Frare is he’s a lefty reliever who can get his heater up to 93 mph with a decent slider, and has good deception that makes both offerings play up a bit. In the mix with Aaron Bummer and the dominant Jace Fry among the White Sox’ young lefty relief options
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) July 29, 2018
Scouting Video courtesy of 2080Baseball.com
And another look from James Chipman at 2080Baseball.com
Interview from days with the Trenton Thunder
Trades like this one are fascinating because the White Sox were able to add a potential bullpen piece to their organization and they didn’t really have to give up anything. They traded $1.5 million in international bonus pool space which basically just gives the Yankees the right to spend an additional $1.5 million of their own money. The organization already has a decent group of possibly left-handed relievers for the future including Jace Fry, Aaron Bummer and the recently acquired Kodi Medeiros. Once the White Sox are trying to contend on the big league level, it will be nice to not have to spend free agent dollars on left-handed relievers.
In our 2018 international preview, we highlighted some of the international amateurs that the White Sox would be signing during the current period. As a team that is still under the penalty in regards to international bonus amounts, trades like this have been a familiar occurrence for Rick Hahn and the front office over the last year. During the 2017-2018 signing period, the White Sox traded about $3 million in bonus pool space to acquire pitchers Thyago Vieira, Ryan Burr, Ricardo Pinto and infielder Yeyson Yrizarri. The organization still possesses in the neighborhood of $2 million in international signing capital that can be traded to other clubs during the current period. This transaction is unlikely to be the last of its kind in regards to talent procurement and it’s an interesting way to further add to the prospect pipeline.
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