Rick Hahn keeps rolling.
The White Sox made another huge move Tuesday night, shipping third baseman Todd Frazier and relief pitchers David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle to the New York Yankees in exchange for a four-player package highlighted by outfielder Blake Rutherford, who's ranked as the No. 30 prospect in baseball.
In addition to Rutherford, the White Sox landed big league relief pitcher Tyler Clippard, minor league pitcher Ian Clarkin (No. 19 prospect in Yankees' system) and minor league outfielder Tito Polo.
“We made the determination that bundling these three players together was the best way to maximize our return on any transaction,” Hahn said in the announcement. “We felt this trade with the Yankees brought back the most quality as opposed to spreading our assets across multiple deals.
“Blake Rutherford is a player who has been high on our evaluation list since he was taken as a first-round choice by the Yankees as an amateur. Clarkin gives us another highly rated first-round selection (33rd overall) from the draft, Polo is a Class-AA outfielder who has shown he can get on base, and Clippard provides us with a veteran bullpen option for the remainder of this season.”
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The multi-player swap follows last week's blockbuster trade of starting pitcher Jose Quintana to the Cubs, a deal that brought back that organization's top two prospects. Rutherford was ranked as the third-best prospect in the Yankees' organization.
MLB
Frazier, Robertson and Kahnle were all expected to be trade candidates this July as the last-place White Sox were believed to further bolster their farm system as their rebuild rolls on.
The move, while not as rewarding as previous trades for Chris Sale, Adam Eaton and Quintana, echoes those deals and adds yet another highly ranked prospect to what is now a jaw-dropping list. With the addition of Rutherford, the White Sox now own six of the top 30 prospects on MLB Pipeline's list and 10 of the top 68.
While Hahn has pulled off two massive midseason trades in six days, he still might not be finished. Relief pitcher Anthony Swarzak and outfielder Melky Cabrera could still be used as trade chips to further bolster the system.