The Kansas City Royals have acquired LF Melky Cabrera from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for RHP A.J. Puckett and LHP Andre Davis.
With LF Alex Gordon having a horrible year, the Royals wanted to acquire an outfielder. Also, Jorge Soler hasn\’t been as good as expected. Cabrera provides another outfielder with a solid bat. He also has a good batting average. In addition, this is a case of the old friend alert. Melky played just one season in Kansas City (2011), but it was arguably the best year of his career, setting career highs in homers, RBIs and stolen bases. He\’s also just a rental, and he could sign elsewhere after this season.
Cabrera, 32, has a .295 batting average, 13 homers and 56 RBIs in 428 Plate Appearances for the White Sox this season. In his 13 year MLB career for the White Sox, San Francisco Giants, Royals, Toronto Blue Jays, Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees, Cabrera has a .286 batting average, 127 homers, 739 RBIs and 97 stolen bases in 6614 Plate Appearances.
As sellers, the White Sox are trading all their veterans, especially the ones with their contracts expiring after 2017. Cabrera fits in that category. Puckett was the Royals 13th best prospect, and Davis wasn\’t in their top 30. They get two pitchers who could potentially be major leaguers one day.
Puckett, 22, has a 3.90 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 98 strikeouts in 108.1 innings in High-A this year. In his minor league career, Puckett has a 3.83 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 143 strikeouts in 167 innings.
Davis has a 4.83 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 87 strikeouts in 85.2 innings this year in Single-A. In his minor league career, Davis has a 5.27 ERA, 1.45 WHIP and 147 strikeouts in 141.2 innings.
I think this is an even trade. The Royals get a big need in an outfielder, and the White Sox get two low leveled prospects, so everybody wins.
CarterHud 