The Los Angeles Angels and the Chicago White Sox agreed on the first big trade of the 2023 season, with right-handed pitchers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López going to LA and the White Sox getting two of the Angels’ best prospects. The Angels are also taking on the full prorated salaries of Giolito ($10.4 million) and López ($3.63 million).
Both Giolito and López are free agents after the season, and neither of them are having great seasons. Giolito is having the better season of the two, but he’s not pitching as well as his 3.79 ERA would indicate. His xERA is 4.44, the highest of his career since 2018, and his 1.49 HR/9 is the highest of his career in a full season. The 29-year-old has pitched 121 1/3 innings this season.
The 29-year-old López has a 4.29 ERA (3.98 xERA) this season in 42 innings for Chicago. His walks have jumped from 4.3% last year to a whopping 12.4% this season, and he has already allowed seven home runs this year after allowing only one in 65 1/3 innings last year.
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
According to MLB Pipeline’s rankings, the Angels gave up their No. 2 prospect C Edgar Quero and their No. 3 prospect LHP Ky Bush. Quero is a consensus Top 100 MLB prospect, including being ranked as high as No. 61 by FanGraphs and No. 65 by MLB Pipeline. Quero lands at No. 2 in the White Sox’s updated prospect list and Bush is No. 5. The White Sox farm system is ranked 17th overall by FanGraphs. On the flip side, FanGraphs now has the Angels farm system as the worst in baseball.
Giolito and López certainly make the Angels better, and once they decided they weren’t going to trade superstar Shohei Ohtani, they needed to go for it at the deadline, but the White Sox certainly have to be happy getting a Top 100 MLB prospect and a Top 5 prospect in their system. The deal makes it look like it will be a seller’s market, particularly so for pitching. That could be good news for the Mets if they decide to deal closer David Robertson and other potential pieces as well.
Another example of the seller’s market came earlier in the week when the Rockies were able to get the Braves No. 10 prospect RHP Victor Vodnik and No. 26 prospect Tanner Gordon in exchange for struggling reliever Pierce Johnson. The 32-year-old Johnson had a 6.00 ERA at the time of the trade, though his ERA away from Coors is 4.11 this year.
With the August 1 trade deadline creeping up, we are sure to see a flurry of trades soon, and it will be interesting to see if buyers continue to pay a premium.
