The Luis Basabe era is over for the White Sox. Basabe was traded to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for cash considerations.
Basabe was acquired from the Red Sox as one of the four pieces acquired in the Chris Sale trade in December 2016.
The 24-year-old had been an interesting prospect in what was a crowded organizational position for the White Sox. He saw his stock rise in 2018 after hitting 15 home runs with an .800 OPS and 16 stolen bases across High-A and Double-A. He entered the 2019 season ranked as the No. 9 prospect in the stacked White Sox system in our rankings.
Basabe’s impressive size, strength and speed made him a tantalizing outfield prospect for the White Sox at all three positions. He also was considered to have plus speed and a strong arm, but his defense in centerfield wasn’t quite good enough for him to stick at the position. Ultimately, injuries prevented Basabe from establishing himself as a piece of the young core at the major league level.
Basabe’s finest moment in the organization was when he hit a home run off of a 102 mph fastball from Hunter Greene in the 2018 Futures Game.
Basabe’s bad injury luck included a broke hamate bone, torn meniscus, and a bone bruise in his foot. The broken hamate bone was a particular setback for Basabe, as questions remained about his swing even after he returned from the injury. The injuries ultimately left Basabe as one of the odd men out in the White Sox organization.
In a season where there would be no affiliate play, Basabe’s opportunities in the organization were going to be very limited. Basabe was behind Nomar Mazara and Adam Engel on the major league level. And was falling behind Blake Rutherford and Micker Adolfo on the organization depth chart due to his inability to stay on the field. Basabe also struggled for much of 2019 and found himself falling on prospect rankings.
Basabe had been designated for assignment by the White Sox last week. The move was considered a bit of a surprise at the time, but he would be out of options after 2020, meaning this was a make or break year for him with the White Sox. Given that move, the trade to the Giants makes sense as the team was happy to acquire something for Basabe rather than just releasing him. The Giants are a rebuilding team that will be looking to get something out of Basabe at minimal risk.
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I believe that Luis Alexander Basabe had options remaining through the rest of this season. He was optioned off the White Sox 40-man roster in 2018, 2019 and earlier this March during spring training. Most players have 3 option years so if Basabe was optioned in March he could have been throughout the 2020 season. Clearly they needed a 40-man roster spot for some non-rostered dregs that most recently included DFA’d pitchers Brady Lail and Drew Anderson. The front office could have easily avoided this problem by simply promoting players already on their reserve roster like Zack Burdi and Jose Ruiz who they just recalled anyway.
Yep, good catch. That was an editing error. Obviously he wasn’t out of options this season because he had already been optioned at the beginning of the year.
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