Ivy League Cubs

By: Jake Russell

The White Sox have made two moves in order to beef up their outfield depth, per Jeff Passan.

In doing so, the Mariners also beef up their bullpen with the addition of Gregory Santos. In 2023, Santos had a 3.39 ERA across 66 innings, to go along with 66 strikeouts. Entering just his age-24 season, Santos has 5 years of club control left and strengthens the Mariners’ back-end (which, to be fair, was already very strong).

Santos is pretty much a two-pitch sinker/slider guy. At 91.4 MPH, his slider had the fifth-hardest average velocity last season (with a minimum of 100 pitches). The best way for a slider to be effective is to throw it hard, and Santos is certainly a great example of that. Eno Sarris and Max Bay’s Stuff+ model gave the pitch a grade of 159, third best among qualifying relievers. It was also the second most valuable slider according to Statcast’s Run Value, at 17 runs. It is the better of the two pitches, though his sinker isn’t bad either. Like his slider, it’s thrown very hard. It averages 98.9 MPH, which is also the fifth-best mark in baseball. It has a bit more sink and less run than most. It’s a good ground-ball getter, and Santos’ command is pretty good. This is a great addition for the Mariners.

As for the Diamondbacks, they received RHP Cristian Mena from the White Sox. Just 21 years old, Mena started 21 games between AA and AAA last year but pitched to a 4.85 ERA. He did, however, strike out 26.9% of batters. The issue was an 11% walk rate. The Diamondbacks likely see him as starter depth, perhaps a reliever, but it’s a solid return for Fletcher to beef up their pitching depth who likely didn’t have a spot anyway.

As for the White Sox, they made out pretty well in these two deals. For Santos, they got Prelander Berroa, Zach DeLoach, and the 69th overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft (a compensation pick). Berroa transitioned to the bullpen last year and pitched just 1.2 innings across two outings for the Mariners last season. Likely bullpen depth for the White Sox this year, and certainly not as good as Santos, but he flashed plus stuff in his short stint last season.

As for DeLoach, he is a 24-year-old outfielder who spent all of last season at AAA and posted a 111 wRC+. It certainly helps the White Sox’ depth, which is something they needed. DeLoach walked 13.3% of the time last season, and has some pretty good power–he displayed a 111.9 Max EV last season, a .429 xwOBACON, and a 9.8% barrel rate, though the swing-and-miss is an issue. There is certainly upside in both DeLoach and Berroa that is worth trading Santos for–plus the added benefit of essentially an early 3rd-round pick, where you can select your own prospect.

For Mena, they acquired one more outfielder–Dominic Fletcher, who debuted for the Diamondbacks last season. Though he had a 113 wRC+/.791 OPS, the underlying metrics didn’t like him as much–he had just a 4.1 barrel% and a bit below average Hard-Hit%. His raw power isn’t fantastic, but Fletcher is an excellent line drive/sweet spot hitter that could help him to be a good lineup option for the White Sox.

The White Sox made some good potential moves for their future, and all of these guys that they acquired have a chance at making the opening-day roster. Amid a rebuild, acquiring young guys with upside is always a good thing, and they made out pretty well in these two trades.

Picture credit: Nam Y. Huh, Associated Press