White Sox Trade Jackson, Teahan

AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File

The White Sox have been a maddening lot all season. Everyone from manager Ozzie Guillen down to the 25th man on the roster has said that the team has not performed as expected, a sure sign of a mediocre ballclub.

One constant within the organization is GM Kenny Williams' quick trigger finger for trades. With Sunday's trade deadline looming, Williams shipped starting pitcher Edwin Jackson and third baseman Mark Teahan to the Toronto Blue Jays for reliever Jason Frasor and minor league pitching prospect Zach Stewart. Jackson was later traded to the St. Louis Cardinals along with Marc Rzepczynski, Octavio Dotel and Corey Patterson for Colby Rasmus Trever Miller, Brian Tallet and P.J. Walters. If you're trying to read if the trade makes the Sox buyers or sellers with the deadline looming, this trade raises more questions than answers.

Williams said the trade was made partially to "make a dent in the payroll." Teahan's three-year, $14 million deal stood as a polar opposite to his riding the pine while Brent Morel is getting game experience as the Sox' third baseman of the future. Jackson, a free agent at the end of the season, was the subject of trade talks from the moment the White Sox went into their annual April tailspin. The six-man rotation Guillen and pitching coach Don Cooper have used for most of this season only made the trade rumblings surrounding Jackson louder.

But the Sox also traded away a reliable pitcher who could eat innings and, when he was dealing, provided a measure of relief to the bullpen. With Jackson gone Jake Peavy, who turned into dust after 70 pitches like a vampire exposed to sunlight with a six man rotation, now appears to be the weak link in a five man crew that also includes Mark Buehrle, John Danks, Gavin Floyd and Phillip Humber.

Frasor will be put to immediate use, with Tony Pena out for the season. With the six-man rotation in effect, the Sox' bullpen has been a man short most of the season. He's 2-1 with a 2.98 ERA in 44 games, allowed one earned run in his past seven appearances, is a reliever who can pitch more than an inning and, most enticing to Williams, has a club option in his contract for 2012.

Stewart, meanwhile, is a move for the Sox' future. He's listed as the Blue Jays' number four prospect and had a 5-5 with a 4.20 ERA in 16 starts with Double-A New Hampshire.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@chicagoist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Chuck Sudo in News on July 27, 2011 2:40 PM

Comments [rss]

ChicagoD

If Frasor and/or Stewart are still in the organization after the deadline, this was a sell. The thing is, this team is not particularly good. If they can start flipping some of their roster so be a 90 win team next year, it is probably time well spent. 60 games to go, out 4.5 with two teams ahead of you . . . maybe a winnable division, but Boston, New York, and Texas are all SO much better.

Navin_Johnson

Red Sox, despite being better, have lost 13 out of the last 15 meetings with the White Sox. White Sox have some voodoo with them or something. Otherwise, unless there's a mojo change, like now-ish, I think the White Sox won't be able to luck their way up.

chicagoist_tips

If the White Sox were in the AL East with this team and payroll, they would have been in fire sale mode sooner, and both Kenny and Ozzie would have been gone. They benefit from being in a terrible division, a game under .500 and 3-1/2 games out of first. - Chuck

ChicagoD

In fairness, if anyone other than (possibly) the Phillies were in the AL East they'd be roadkill.

Navin_Johnson

Indeed ChicagoD.

Chuck, but yeah, no illusions here, notice how I say they can't "luck their way" to wins. I was saying that it's a 'fluke' that they have such a good recent record against Boston. I think you'd have to be pretty out of it to not know how just how different these two divisions are.