The Yankees and White Sox have agreed to a trade that will send Keynan Middleton to the Bronx, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link). Right-hander Juan Carela will head from New York to Chicago in return, according to YES Network’s Joe LoGrippo (via Twitter).
Middleton becomes the latest player moved in what has been a significant pre-deadline selloff from Chicago, while the Yankees have now made their first notable deadline move. While New York had been reportedly looking to add some controllable pieces, the Bombers will instead make a short-term move in Middleton, who is a free agent after the season.
Signed to a minor league deal by the White Sox over the winter, Middleton was looking to rebuild his career after a trio of rocky seasons with the Angels, Mariners, and Diamondbacks. Breaking into the majors as a member of the Angels’ bullpen in 2017, Middleton showed some intriguing promise in his rookie season but Tommy John surgery sidelined him for most of the next two years.
Now 29 years old, Middleton finally started to get back on track this season in Chicago. He has a 3.96 ERA over 36 1/3 innings, with an excellent 30.3% strikeout rate and elite chase and whiff rates. Control has been an issue, as Middleton’s 10.3% walk rate is well below league average, and he also has a 9.8% barrel rate despite good hard-hit ball numbers overall.
A lot of that damage has come within the last month. Middleton had a 2.33 ERA through his first 29 appearances and 27 innings, but he has since posted an 8.68 ERA over his last 9 1/3 innings of work, allowing at least one earned run in six of 10 appearances. These recent struggles surely impacted Chicago’s asking price, but the Yankees felt comfortable enough to take the plunge on the low-cost addition.
The right-hander joins a New York bullpen that has been one of the game’s better relief corps this season, and since the Yankees were otherwise very quiet with their deadline moves, it seems as though the club is doubling down on its strong pen to try and sneak into a wild card berth. Clay Holmes and Michael King get most of the save chances and highest-leverage work, but there’s plenty of flexibility for Middleton to earn him more looks in key late-game situations.
The 21-year-old Carela has a 3.67 ERA over 83 1/3 innings (starting 16 of 17 games) with the Yankees’ high-A affiliate in Hudson Valley this season, with a 9.1% walk rate and an impressive 31.1% strikeout rate. MLB Pipeline ranked Carela as the 29th-best prospect in New York’s farm system, describing the right-hander as a possible back-end rotation piece if he improves his control and command. Carela has a plus slider as well as a sweeper, a pitch taught to many hurlers in the Yankees organization in recent years.
That’s all???
Hold the presses!!!!
Yanks are back in it!
I was worried they were going to remain stagnant by the trade dead line.
They are stagnant and it is a dead line…
Your saying that’s all? Try being a freaking Giants fan….
Who did you expect, Ohtani?
I would expect adding to an area of need. Not adding to a strength.
I know,right? And of course Cashman gets 2 relievers. He always does things in pairs.
So stupid
Pot calling kettle….
I guess sending Boone and Cashman to Chicago is out of the question?
I think Sox fans would take Boone and Cashman at this point.
What did the Sox get in return?!
Poor reporting.
“More to come”
Not good enuf!
Just be glad Cease is still on the team. They should have signed Gio but Reinsdorf is too damn cheap to pay the players who deserve an increase.
in my eyes, Giolito is not worth what it would cost to extend him. Sox did well in moving him.
For the return, you’re right. Now they have the prospects and can sign whatever FA pitcher they want this offseason.
Carela. The next Pedro Martinez
All season I’ve been saying if the Yankees get Kenyon Middleton they’ll win the series and Cash pulled it off. Unbelievable!
But nobody listens to you……why??
?????
First
Not
Last
THE YANKEES ARE BUYERS!
OMG Cashman finally woke up from his nap and still did nothing of value.
Can he veto if he refuses to shave his beard and locks?
they did it, cashman did a trade
Hoping for Tyler O’Neill and Willson Contreras, and we get…Kenyon Middleton!
Best of luck to Keynan
That’s an interesting move from the Yankees. Can never have enough good arms even if that’s been a position of strength for them.
Cashman is crushing it this year
Smh
For some reason Sox didn’t move Clevinger or Grandal. Should have gotten something even if its a low level lottery ticket.
Apparently, there was nothing to get.
Grandal should have been out the door, not just because his contract is finally up but because he’s a terrible catcher.
Lack of interest was.the culprit.
Yeah, guessing that is why Anderson is still on the Sox as well. Only Burger was sought after (likely Robert too) speaks volumes about this Sox club….
Cease was sought after, too, as well as the several other pitchers they moved. Sox just didn’t get an offer they liked well enough for Cease.
I was referring to position players. Its obvious the Sox pitching was wanted, and Im guessing that the Sox asked for a LOT for Cease.
I’m shocked they’re sending Volpe to the Sox. It seems lopsided.
I am sure Hahn tried to move both of those players, but Clevinger literally only has one start since being injured. Not many teams were going to want to jump on him. Grandal should have had slightly better odds of being moved, but his defense is terrible. To get any real value for him, the Sox would have had to pay down part or most of his remaining salary. Truth is that neither of these players warranted much demand. Hahn loves making trades, so it was definitely not for the lack of trying.
Surprised Clevinger wasn’t grabbed for rotation depth on a contender.
Grandal will give innings at C/1B/DH and a passable “league average” left handed bat. Injuries happen and depth will be the difference in a couple of teams playoff chances.
Money is not a limit for ANY team in baseball. Owners maybe.
Money may not be, but prospects are, and I doubt Hahn could get anything for them.. maybe bus fare to ship them to wherever they were to go.
If Clevinger made more than one start post injury, then I would agree with you. No team was going to give up anything of value for him based on his long injury history, so Hahn is begrudgingly keeping him as an innings eater down the stretch than simply give him away for nothing.
Grandal: Again, unless the Sox paid for a hefty portion of the remaining salary, it is doubtful Hahn would be able to get more than a filler prospect at best. Even if the Sox paid down most of Grandal’s salary, it is still possible the return was little more than a filler prospect. We will never know. In any event, the Sox were not going to simply give him away for nothing. There is a chance that Grandal gets outrighted in the coming month to open up playing time, but in itself, it is not exactly surprising to see such limited demand for Grandal’s services. I think you are overvaluing Grandal’s trade value.
No clue what your money comment means. No team was going to pay for Grandal’s remaining salary and give up anything of value…
Baltimore and Tampa have a new pitcher to throw batting practice
Hey now, he’s been alright, if anything the Yankees lineup will continue its anemic offensive output. Strikeout galore for Tampa and Baltimore.
Can he play left field tho?
Who cares
I have legitimately never been more disgusted by this team. Hal absolutely needs to clean house this offseason
This strikes me as funny NOT. Ahahaha!
Boosting pen is something at least. Could have used at least another bat.
Trade deadline ain’t over ’til the Yankees force someone to shave their beard
Trades always seem to trickle in for the next hour. Paperwork…
Yes, maybe Cease was traded…
Time for the Yankees to realize it isn’t the 1890’s anymore. Even players 100 years ago had mustaches and beards and, oddly enough, it didn’t hurt their performance.
I really hate that “tradition” of theirs. This isn’t the military…
They learned their lesson from Don Mattingly’s sideburns. Too long, too close to a beard, and look what happened to him!
If he stood pat and literally did nothing else, I am going to be beyond furious! This team needed serious help, and he’s going to say something like, “We feel like our players we’re getting back from the IL are like Deadline acquisitions.”
You guys just got Judge back! Be happy and pay no mind is what Cashman would say.
Middleton hasn’t been half bad this season. You could certainly do worse for more money.
Based on his name I’d say he is half bad. And half good. But don’t worry, Boonedoggle will make quick work of him and he will throw his arm out. Or half out. And half in. Or something.
FIRE CASHMAN!!!
FIRE TRASHMAN!!!
Bull crap…..this isn’t Cashman’s fault. You have a bunch of very experienced and solid players having terrible years. Judge has missed half the year so far. Everyone wanted Cashman to resign LeMahieu and Rizzo. Both are well below average this year. Volpe was everyone’s favourite in the spring, now hitting .209. Stanton has been injured and played terrible when in the lineup. Problems happen and they need a thorough remake in the off-season. But don’t blame Cashman.
Rizzo is 33.
DJ is 34.
Donaldson is 37.
Stanton is 33.
Volpe is a rookie that had a bad year in AAA.
It’s possible that Cashman could’ve anticipated some of this.
Notable move?
More to come…
Dude going to look different without his beard.
Atleast they addressed their one weakness…oh wait that’s the complete opposite of what they did.
Too many holes to fix with the trade deadline. That roster needs a lot of heavy lifting.
for a second i actually thought “can’t blame cashman he had nothing to sell and nothing with which to buy” before i remembered he caused this mess to begin with
I wouldn’t call this notable.
Laughable, definitely
What an absolute joke.
World series back on
Good to see the Yankees diving in with both hands,
WHO DAT????
I guess judge will have to give up 99
It sucks when dudes with great hair go to the Yankees. He probably spent a lot of time growing those dreds, now he has to cut them due to the Yankees’ archaic policies. I felt bad for Bader when he got traded last year. He had some luscious locks.
blah
dumb of me to expect more from the deadline
So we traded a top 30 prospect for a bullpen backender who will be a free agent. Well, at least cashman didn’t do as much damage as last year.
I don’t get it. Middleton has a 7.80 ERA in his last 16 games, in a role where he is not really needed.
We need hitters, so what does Cashman do, he gets 2 crappy pitchers.
1. Thin, largely over-priced market for players
2. Too many bad, over burdensome contracts on the books (Stanton, LeMahieu, Rizzo, Donaldson) and some for multiple years.
3. Minor league prospects have been sent out for essentially zero return (Montas, Effross).
4. Leadership (sic) has boxed the Bombers in for the foreseeable future.
It’s a race to the bottom for MLB in NYC. As bad as the Mets have gone, think Yanks may be worse.
That is one take. Another one is that they are only a couple of games out of the wild card and are adding Aaron Judge, Nestor Cortes, and Jonathan Loaisiga to the roster. Don’t be surprised if this roster has a run in it. Not sure any team wants to face the Yankees in a short series with Cole leading the rotation. Wish the veterans you listed were playing closer to their career averages, but counting the Yankees out might be a mistake.
The Yankees have won the WS most among all the teams. That means they have so many example lineups to copy from and yet they try to explore something new like small baseball. Why? Especially when the answers are in their history.