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2020 OOTP sim: Off-day trade

Polanco, Kela, Ponce come in from Pittsburgh for Cishek and Mazara

Before flying to Detroit to begin a three-game set, the White Sox announced a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday.

Chicago acquired right fielder Gregory Polanco, right-handed reliever Keone Kela and right-handed Triple-A starter Cody Ponce in exchange for reliever Steve Cishek and right fielder Nomar Mazara.

Polanco, 28, is slashing .245/.332/.420 with 10 homers and three steals in 66 games this season. His 0.8 WAR projects to a starter-level 1.9 for the season, meanwhile bringing plus speed, defense and arm to right field. Though three years older than Mazara, Polanco is graded out by scouting director Mike Shirley as a far superior option in right field. Mazara, 25, .229/.291/.395 with four homers in 49 games in his first season with the White Sox.

Polanco is making $8 million, roughly $2.5 million more than Mazara, and is owed $23.5 million through 2022, with a team option (no buyout) for $13.5 million in 2023.

"We want to give our young outfielders time to develop," Rick Hahn tells the Chicago Gazette of the Polanco strategy. Unsaid is that not a single blue-chip hitter in the system, save for Andrew Vaughn, has had a strong first half in the minors this season, and it could well turn out that none of Micker Adolfo, Luis González, Blake Rutherford or Luis Basabe pan out as future starters.

Kela, 27, has designs on closing games. But his 2020 has so far been disappointing: three saves, 5.43 ERA, -0.8 WAR. However, the big righthander has outstanding stuff (his overall repertoire and curveball rate 75 on the scouting scale) and is just a year removed from a 2.12 ERA, 1.10 WHIP out of the pen. Kela is paid $3.725 million this season and is a free agent after the season.

Cishek like Mazara was brought in during the offseason, but never found his stride in the White Sox pen (1-2, one save, 5.01 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, 0.1 WAR). With the club having bolstered its Triple-A arms (among many, Blake Taylor, acquired from the Astros in the James McCann trade), the need for the 34-year-old Cishek was lessened.

Finally, an X-factor in the trade is 26-year-old Triple-A starter Ponce, who has gone 2-2 with a 2.02 ERA and an amazing 50 strikeouts against five walks in 49 innings this season. He fits the profile of an organizational arm, but is on pace for a 3.5 WAR season at Triple-A and could fill in with the big club as needed.

The sum budget hit for Chicago with the deal is minimal, taking on about a million in extra salary for 2020.

Other news from around OOTP baseball:

  • Mookie Betts was named the NL Batter of the Week for the final two weeks of May, and thus was also named the NL Batter of the Month. The new Dodgers right fielder logged a .364 average, 12 homers and 41 RBIs in May.
  • Other recent NL Batters of the Week include J.D. Davis of the Mets and Andrew McCutchen of the Phillies.
  • Recent American League Batters of the Week include Lourdes Gurriel Jr. of the Blue Jays and Brian Dozier of the Rangers.
  • May's American League Batter of the Month was Matt Chapman of the Oakland A's. He had 16 homers and 29 RBIs in the month.
  • Reynaldo López, as previously reported here, was the AL's Pitcher of the Month for May after going 4-0 with a 1.19 ERA and 40 Ks in 37 ⅔ innings.
  • Jordan Romano of the Toronto Blue Jays was the AL's Rookie of the Month, with a 2-0 record, 0.83 ERA and 30 Ks in 21 ⅔ innings for the month.
  • In the National League, it was another young starter, Michel Baez of the Padres, who took home Pitcher of the Month honors. Baez went 4-0 with a 1.17 ERA, with 35 strikeouts in 30 ⅔ innings. For the season, Baez is 7-0 with a 1.72 ERA. Baez also took home May's Rookie of the Month honors for May.
  • Sean Doolittle was a late MLB sign this season, inking a one-year, $5.8 million deal to return to the Washington Nationals.
  • Chris Archer moved from Pittsburgh to the Atlanta Braves in a prospects deal for the Pirates. Archer was 2-5 with a 4.29 ERA at the time of the trade.
  • At the end of May, Texas starter Corey Kluber went down with a herniated disk. He may miss the rest of 2020. His first season with the Rangers has clocked in at 3-2 with a 4.14 ERA.
  • The Cincinnati Reds took a flier on Jackie Bradley Jr, swapping pitcher Anthony DeSclafani.
  • A pair of Matts — St. Louis' Carpenter and Toronto's Shoemaker — were suspended five and six games, respectively, for a brawl on June 2.
  • Hanley Ramírez, who had appeared in just two games for the Twins, announced his retirement. Just days later, starter Edinson Volquez retired as well.
  • Defending NL MVP Cody Bellinger was lost for the season when he tore a posterior cruciate ligament in a game on June 6. Bellinger was hitting .335 with 19 homers and 61 RBIs at the time of the the injury.
  • White Sox fourth round pick, prep righthander Kyle Harrison, rejected his signing bonus and will attend college in the fall.
  • On June 12, Kansas City sent closer Ian Kennedy to the Cardinals for left fielder Austin Dean.
  • On June 13, George Springer signed a four-year contract extension with Houston. A day later, Springer was named the AL Batter of the Week.
  • As of last tallies, the only White Sox player in the running for an All-Star berth via fan vote is Eloy Jiménez, second among AL left fielders and 17,506 ballots behind Austin Meadows of the Tampa Bay Rays.
  • Yadier Molina recorded his 2,000th career hit in a 6-3 Cardinals win over the Cubs on Sunday.