TRADE: White Sox send Melky Cabrera to Kansas City

With 10 games remaining against the Cleveland Indians, the Kansas City Royals after watching Melky Cabrera go 4-for-4 against Corey Kluber last night decided to make a deal with the White Sox for Cabrera’s services. In return, the White Sox receive RHP A.J. Puckett, the Royals 13th ranked prospect according to MLB.com, and LHP Andre Davis.

Left field has been a mess for the Royals in 2017. Fan favorite, Alex Gordon, is having a miserable season batting .201/.294/.296 and worth 0.7 wins above replacement according to baseball-reference.com. On the other hand, Cabrera is hitting .295/.336/.436 with 13 HR and 56 RBI, while worth 1.1 wins above replacement. He’s still a defensive liability, but for the Royals they need Cabrera’s offense to pair with Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, and Mike Moustakas to counter Cleveland’s pitching. Donning the royal blue again, Cabrera had one of his best seasons playing with the Royals in 2011, worth 4.4 bWAR while hitting .305/.339/470.

As for the money part...

For Chicago, they receive A.J. Puckett who was a second round pick in the 2016 draft out of Pepperdine. The 22-year old is having a good year for the Wilmington Blue Rocks (A+) with a 3.90 ERA in 20 starts. In 108.1 innings, he’s allowed 107 hits with 98 strikeouts and 46 walks. Not known for his velocity, his fastball sits 92-93 mph, according to MLBPipeline his best pitch is the changeup which grades out to a 60 on the scouting scale. He’ll be an interesting comparison to Dane Dunning and Alec Hansen as he’ll be joining the Winston-Salem Dash.

Andre Davis is a 23-year old left handed pitcher currently playing at A ball. In 18 starts, Davis has a win-loss record of 5-4 with a 4.83 ERA in 85.2 innings pitched. Most likely a project, Davis has a good strikeout to walk ratio (87:23) but has allowed 96 hits this season with the Lexington Legends.

With the trade, Melky Cabrera’s career comes to a close in Chicago. Signing a three-year, $42 million deal with the White Sox in 2014, Cabrera was worth 5.1 bWAR and hit .287/.331/.427 with 95 doubles, 39 home runs and 219 runs batted in. He’ll be remembered most for his fun antics both on and off the field.

Adios, Cowboy.