White Sox Trade Addison Reed; Gavin Floyd Signs With Braves
By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 16, 2013 8:40PM
While the current focus of local sports fans is on the Bears and Blackhawks, the White Sox have been quietly wheeling and dealing. Last week the team sent pitcher Hector Santiago packing to Anaheim in a three-team trade that brought Arizona outfielder Adam Eaton to the South Side. Today the Sox traded closer Addison Reed to Arizona in exchange for infielder Matt Davidson. The Diamondbacks announced the trade moments ago.
Reed was one of the few bright spots of a subpar Sox season, saving 40 in 48 chances last year with a 3.79 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 72 strikeouts in 71 1/3 innings. He’ll immediately be anointed the Diamondbacks’ closer. Davidson is the type of blue chip prospect GM Rick Hahn’s predecessors would have traded in the middle of a playoff run for an aging slugger who would provide nothing for the Sox. Davidson was a consensus top 100 prospect the past three seasons and hit .237 with six doubles, three homers and 12 RBI in 31 games in Arizona last season. He can play either corner in the infield but with Paul Konerko, Adam Dunn and Jose Abreu in a three-headed platoon at first Davidson may wind up starting the season at third.
After years of seeing Kenny Williams and Ron Schueler leverage the Sox farm system for short-term gain it’s nice to see Hahn trading away strengths in exchange for rebuilding the farm system on the fly. Reed was a solid presence last season but good lockdown closers are a dime a dozen.
The other blockbuster White Sox news sees starting pitcher Gavin Floyd sign a free agent deal with the Atlanta Braves. The righthander, who will turn 31 soon, signed a one-year deal worth $4 million. The Sox picked up their club option with Floyd prior to the 2013 season only to see Floyd’s season come to an end after he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and a torn flexor muscle in his arm. He underwent Tommy John Surgery in May and the recovery time was expected to be 14-19 months, meaning Floyd could possibly miss a significant portion of next season for the Braves.
Floyd was 63-65 with a 4.22 ERA during his time with the Sox but was seen by many as a basket case who couldn’t get out of his head during his starts. This is a move that can be seen as addition through subtraction.