Chicago White Sox Make Trade With New York Yankees

CHICAGO –– With the MLB trade deadline quickly approaching on Thursday at 5 p.m. CT, moves are beginning to happen.

On Wednesday morning, the White Sox traded outfielder Austin Slater to the New York Yankees in exchange for minor-league right-handed pitcher Gage Ziehl, who will report to the High-A Winston-Salem Dash. Ahead of their 1:10 p.m. CT game against the Phillies on Wednesday at Rate Field, the White Sox recalled outfielder Will Robertson from Triple-A Charlotte.

Being traded twice last season helped Slater better prepare for a deal this time around. He knew writing was on the wall that he could be moved, but he also called the trade bittersweet.

"Really enjoyed my time here and met some incredible people. Super fun clubhouse to be in," Slater said. "But then also really excited to go play for the Yankees. One of those teams as a kid you always dream about playing for. And they are right in a race for the playoffs. Excited to go there and try to help them out."

Slater, 32, was especially effective for the White Sox against left-handed pitching. The right-handed hitter slashed .261/.338/.522 with five home runs, eight RBIs, eight walks and 17 strikeouts in 77 plate appearances versus lefties. On Friday, he hit a home run off Cubs left-handed ace Shota Imanaga.

White Sox manager Will Venable mentioned outfielders Mike Tauchman, Andrew Benintendi and Brooks Baldwin could get increased opportunities against left-handed pitching with Slater headed to New York.

"Austin was great for us," Venable said. "We appreciated all his contributions, certainly on the field and in the clubhouse, especially with our young group to have a veteran presence and a guy with his experience and just a great guy that was willing to put young guys under his arm and really help our group. So yeah, gonna miss Austin, but excited for him and his opportunity to play for a contender down the stretch here."

Reflecting on his one season with the White Sox, Slater said he missed more time than he hoped with a torn meniscus. But when healthy, he felt he did his job of hitting left-handed pitching, and he's excited to bring that to the Yankees. While he won't be a part of it anymore, he has seen some gradual progress on the south side.

"Hopefully the fans and you guys, the media, have seen improvements little by little every day," Slater said. "There’s some really exciting players in this clubhouse and some guys who can be building blocks for this organization moving forward. Hopefully I was able to help a little bit. And wishing them the best."

Coming to Chicago in return is Gage Ziehl, 22, who was ranked No. 18 among Yankees prospects and No. 10 among New York's pitching prospects, per MLB Pipeline. He's now ranked No. 14 among White Sox prospects. He's listed as a 6-foot, 223-pound right-handed pitcher, who the Yankees selected in the fourth round of the 2024 MLB Draft.

Ziehl has pitched in three levels of the minor leagues this season, but the vast majority of his time has been spent with the Single-A Tampa Tarpons. Across 14 starts and 74.1 innings there, he recorded a 4.00 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP with 63 strikeouts and 14 walks.

He was recently promoted to the High-A Hudson Valley Renegades, where he pitched four innings with three hits, one earned run, zero walks and three strikeouts.

"Just looked at some video, looks like a cutter, sweeper profile, a right-handed pitcher out of Miami," Venable said. "So excited about him."

Here's part of Ziehl's scouting report via Baseball Savant.

"Ziehl's ability to command his fastball stands out more than its velocity and life, as it operates at 92-94 mph and reaches 96 with modest ride and run. He misses more bats with a sweeping mid-80s slider that grades as a plus pitch with two-plane depth at its best. He imparts fade and sink on a mid-80s changeup but has difficulty keeping it in the zone. At 6 feet and 223 pounds, Ziehl is compact but strong and durable. He's a tough competitor who repeats his high three-quarters delivery with ease, enabling him to locate his fastball and slide with precision. The Yankees have a history of helping pitchers upgrade their stuff, and doing so with Ziehl would raise his current ceiling of a No. 4 starter."

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