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In the first trade prior to the July 31 deadline, the Chicago White Sox have traded left handed reliever Matt Thornton to the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Brandon Jacobs. The White Sox are also sending a undisclosed amount of cash to Boston as well. Thornton was in the last year of his contract and at age 37, it seemed unlikely that the White Sox would keep Thornton past this season after the prospects of making the playoffs this year evaporated.
Brandon Jacobs is 22 years old and was the 10th-round draft pick of the Red Sox in 2009. He began the season at High-A Salem in the Carolina League where he put together a .244/.334/.440 line with 11 home runs. He was recently promoted to Double-A Portland. He played for Portland tonight and went 1-for-2 with a double before being pulled from the game. Going into the season, he was listed as the 11th-best prospect in the Red Sox organization according to MLB.com. The quick bio there makes him sound like the kind of toolsy outfielder that the White Sox love.
When the Red Sox went over slot to sign Jacobs away from a football scholarship, they likely knew it would take some time to put his considerable raw tools to consistent use on the baseball field.
Jacobs will be assigned to the minors with Birmingham being his likely destination. The White Sox will be making another move tomorrow to fill Thornton's spot on the 25-man roster. This move also leaves the White Sox 40-man roster at 38.
UPDATE: The cash is disclosed.
#chisox sent precisely 750 grand to boston toward the approximately $3.5M to go on thornton contract.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) July 13, 2013
The additional move seems to be decided on as well.
Donnie Veal will come up tomorrow to join Purcey as the left-handers in the White Sox bullpen
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) July 13, 2013