The White Sox rebuilding project began with a blast to its rotation as the Sox sent ace left-hander Chris Sale to the Red Sox for a package of four top prospects on Tuesday afternoon at the winter meetings.
Infielder Yoan Moncada, right-hander Michael Kopech, outfielder Luis Basabe and right-hander Victor Diaz join the White Sox in return. Moncada was ranked the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball in 2016 by Baseball America and MLB.com.
“When you trade a pitcher of Chris Sale’s ability, it can only be because we were motivated by an impactful return of young talent, and we have more than accomplished that,” Sox general manager Rick Hahn said in a statement. “We believe each of these players can be part of a quality core of future championship caliber White Sox teams.”
A top-five finisher in American League Cy Young voting for each of the last four years, Sale has been the face of the Sox franchise. But a rotation that also includes fellow All-Star Jose Quintana has not been able to lift the Sox out of a streak of eight straight years without the postseason, and that has the Sox embarking on a change of course.
With Sale gone, the Sox almost certainly will move on to a list of veteran players, some with several years of team control, that could also be dealt for more prospects. Hahn said Monday the organization was excited about a potential new course but also acknowledged such a project would take patience from the team and the fans.
“I know from the fans I hear from, the middle of the night voicemails I get and letters I receive, that people are ready for there to be a change in approach in how we’re doing things,” Hahn said. “We’re trying to do this for the long term, and if in the short term there’s potentially some hardship along the way, we know that’s the natural price you pay.”
Late Monday night, national reports indicated the Sox were progressing in talks to trade the ace left-hander to the Nationals for a package of prospects that would jumpstart the club’s efforts to restock their farm system with an eye on contending down the road.
But the Nationals weren’t the only team with interest in the five-time All-Star, and the Red Sox made a late push.
In his second season in professional baseball, Moncada, 21, hit .294 with 31 doubles, six triples, 15 home runs, 94 runs scored 45 stolen bases and a .918 OPS at the Class A and Double A levels.
He received a major-league call-up and played in eight games, hitting .211 with a double, an RBI and 12 strikeouts.
Kopech, 20, is a hard-throwing right-hander who was ranked No. 67 among MLB.com’s top prospects and No. 93 midseason by Baseball America.
He was limited to 12 minor-league games this year due to injury, posting a 2.08 ERA, 33 walks and 86 strikeouts over 56 1/3 innings with two Class A teams.
But Kopech was named to the Arizona Fall League’s All-Prospect team after posting a 3-0 record with 26 strikeouts in 22 innings for Surprise. Six of Kopech’s eight walks occurred in one game.
He was limited this year after fracturing his hand in a fight with his roommate. He has also served a 50-game suspension last year for violating the minor-league drug policy.
Outfielder Luis Alexander Basabe, not to be confused with his twin brother, infielder Luis Alejandro Basabe, is a center-field prospect who reached High-A in 2016. Basabe, 20, hit .264 with 24 doubles, eight triples, 12 home runs, 61 runs scored, 119 strikeouts and a .780 OPS.
Diaz, 22, is a reliever in his second season in the minors. He owns a 3.00 ERA, 17 saves, 41 walks and 98 strikeouts over 93 professional innings pitched.
Basabe was ranked the No. 8 prospect in the Red Sox system, while Diaz was ranked No. 28 among Red Sox prospects.
But to be certain, the Sox will miss Sale.
The No. 13 overall draft pick in 2010, Sale, 27 finishes his career with the Sox 74-50 with a 3.00 ERA, 14 complete games, two shutouts and 1,244 strikeouts in seven seasons with the club. He is the team single-season record-holder with 274 strikeouts, set in 2015.
“We cannot thank Chris enough for all he has done and what he has meant for the White Sox organization since we drafted him in 2010,” Hahn said. “We certainly wish (him) and his family all the best.”
He went 17-10 with a 3.34 ERA over a career-high 226 2/3 innings this year, at the end of which he acknowledged a trade was a possibility. The Sox had weighed the possibility at the trade deadline in August.
“This is sports — anything can happen,” Sale said after his final start of the year. “I don’t anticipate that happening or necessarily really want that to happen, but it could.”
But Sale also talked about hoping for a better 2017 season with the Sox under new manager Rick Renteria.
“We leave with an empty feeling inside,” Sale said. “But next year we have a group of guys in here, and we’ve talked about it in recent weeks to make some changes around here, doing some things better collectively as players to put a better product on the field.”
Sale leaves the organization after a tumultuous year in the clubhouse.
In spring training, he defiantly spoke out about Sox executive vice president Ken Williams after veteran Adam LaRoche retired because of a disagreement about his son’s clubhouse time. Sale said the team “got (bald)-faced lied to by someone we are supposed to be able to trust” and added, “Somebody walked out those doors the other day, and it was the wrong guy, plain and simple.”
The Sox eventually moved on from LaRoche’s retirement, but Sale wasn’t done creating headlines off the field.
In July, he cut up his and his teammates’ throwback jerseys because he was upset about being asked to wear a uniform he found uncomfortable while pitching. He was suspended five days for insubordination and destroying team equipment and later said he was upset with then-manager Robin Ventura for not standing up for his players in the dispute.
The Sox, however, acknowledged that such fire was also what made him an outstanding competitor on the mound. Sale now will bring that competitiveness to the Red Sox.
