New York Yankees upgrade bullpen and offense in huge trade with Chicago White Sox

The New York Yankees have bolstered their bullpen and offense in blockbuster trade with Chicago White Sox

The New York Yankees wanted bullpen and offensive help. The Chicago White Sox wanted to continue their rebuilding process. Both teams got what they wanted as the Yankees get Todd Frazier, David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Tyler Clippard, Blake Rutherford, Tito Polo and Ian Clarkin.

For the Yankees, Frazier could play first and some third. He’s hitting .207 with 16 homers and 44 RBI and has rebounded after a rough start. Robertson and Kahnle are both former Yankees and will both be key parts of the Yankees bullpen not only for the rest of 2017, but moving forward.

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Robertson is 4-2 with 13 saves and a 2.70 ERA. Kahnle is 1-3 with a 2.50 ERA thus far this season. Kahnle is fourth among relievers in K/9 ratio with 15 per nine. Robertson’s 12.66 is 16th among relievers this season. The Yankees will have Dellin Betances, Aroldis Chapman, Robertson, Kahnle, Adam Warren, Chasen Shreve and Chad Green out of the bullpen, and the top four are fearsome.

For the White Sox, Rutherford was the Yankees third ranked prospect according to MLBpipeline.com. The White Sox now have ten top 100 prospects. Rutherford is hitting .281 with a .733 OPS in 71 games in Charleston. Clarkin was the Yankees 19th ranked prospect. He is 4-5 at High-A Tampa thus far this season and has battled injuries throughout his career.

Clippard helps balance the money in all of this, and if I had to guess, won’t be a member of the White Sox for very long. Polo was not in the Yankees top 30. He is hitting .298 at two different minor league levels with 25 steals and an .803 OPS. Polo made his Double-A debut just a couple of weeks ago and is batting .382 with a .460 OBP through 14 games. That has led to 17 RBI in those 14 games.

For the New Yor Yankees, this is a big upgrade in the bullpen and at first base. They didn’t give up Clint Frazier or Gleyber Torres or anyone of that ilk to do this deal. Yes, they gave up Rutherford who was their first round pick last year, however, they are quite deep in the outfield not only at the major league level, but in the minors as well.

Their one glaring hole is in the starting rotation, and it wouldn’t shock me if in the next eleven days they make another move and get one, whether its Sonny Gray or someone not as costly like Jaime Garcia for example.

Next: White Sox call up Moncada

For the White Sox, they are absolutely loaded with prospects and have the best farm system in the game. They aren’t close to being done stockpiling assets. While the major league product won’t be great for a bit, the future is quite bright.

Overall, I think it’s a win for both sides, with the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox getting exactly what they wanted.