No doubt looking to shed some salary after signing Adam Dunn and re-signing A.J. Pierzynski yesterday, the White Sox have traded veteran reliever Scott Linebrink to the Braves for mid-level pitching prospect Kyle Cofield.
Chicago will reportedly send some cash to Atlanta to cover part of the one season and $5.5 million left on Linebrink’s four-year, $19 million deal and he’ll slot into the Braves’ bullpen as a setup man.
He posted a strong 147/48 K/BB ratio in three seasons in Chicago, including a 52/17 mark in 57 innings this year, but Linebrink struggled to keep the ball in the ballpark while serving up 28 homers in 160 innings and had ERAs of 4.40, 4.66, and 3.69.
Moving from the AL to the NL and from Chicago’s power-boosting ballpark to Atlanta’s pitcher-friendly home will definitely help hide Linebrink’s long-ball weaknesses, and he should be a solid (if overpaid) seventh-inning setup man.
In exchange for Linebrink the White Sox get some payroll flexibility and minor leaguer Kyle Cofield, a 2005 eighth-round pick whom Baseball America ranked as the 24th-best prospect in the Braves’ farm system. A ground-ball pitcher with poor strikeout and K/BB numbers, he currently projects as a potential middle reliever down the road.