Todd Frazier deal makes White Sox better, sets up Reds, Dodgers for more dealing
Todd Frazier is going to the White Sox, and that's big news on its own because it's not every day that a guy who just hit 35 home runs gets traded.
It's nice for Chicago, adding an impact bat to the team that scored the fewest runs in the American League in 2015 without giving up either of its top two prospects, shortstop Tim Anderson and pitcher Carson Fulmer. Frazier has two years of team control before he hits free agency, and his $7.5 million salary for 2016 is a bargain for the production he brings.
The White Sox, who have Chris Sale, Jose Quintana and Carlos Rodon in their rotation, still could use a right-handed starter, but it's clear Chicago, which can move recently acquired third baseman Brett Lawrie to second, is planning to try to contend in the American League Central in 2016, a daunting proposition in a division in which every team is a legitimate playoff contender, including the defending world champion Royals. It may be ill advised, but it will be fun to watch.
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Where the three-way trade between the White Sox, Reds and Dodgers really gets interesting is in what might happen next, because the non-Chicago sides of the triangle face out toward future deals.
For the rebuilding Reds, dealing Frazier indicates that the Military Channel should send camera crews to Cincinnati and Atlanta to begin production on season four of Greatest Tank Battles. In both cities, first base should be a safe haven, with Joey Votto and Freddie Freeman as the long-term building blocks. Frazier was Cincinnati's second-best player in 2015 and arguably the face of the franchise. If he's gone, everyone else should keep a moving company's phone number handy.
A specific someone in "everyone else" is Brandon Phillips, who can veto any trade as a 10-and-5 man but is 34 years old and logically would want to spend the final two years of his contract, during which he'll earn $27 million, playing for a contender. By acquiring Jose Peraza, who turns 22 in April after making his major league debut with the Dodgers this August, the Reds have their projected second baseman for years to come and Phillips can be traded.
The Reds' acquisition of Scott Schebler, who hit three homers in 19 games in his first taste of major league action, also might make it a little bit easier to trade Jay Bruce, who has one year and $12.5 million left on his contract, plus a $13 million option for 2017.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, gave up Peraza, Schebler and Brandon Dixon, a player with Ben Zobrist-type versatility who had a disappointing age-23 season in Double-A but thrived in the Arizona Fall League. They got right-hander Frankie Montas, second baseman Micah Johnson and outfielder Trayce Thompson. All three could contribute for Los Angeles at the major league level in 2016 - particularly Thompson, who seems like a perfect platoon partner for Andre Ethier.
With Thompson in the major league picture in Los Angeles after hitting .295/.363/.533 with five homers in 44 games for Chicago, the possibility of trading Joc Pederson or Yasiel Puig only grows. As a highly regarded pitching prospect who has appeared in seven major league games, Montas adds to the Dodgers' stock of young pitching, which is more desirable than someone like Peraza, Schebler or Dixon in the kind of deal the Dodgers need to make - a deal for a top starting pitcher who can help them keep up with the Giants and Diamondbacks in the National League West.
The Jose Fernandez rumor mill will start spinning again immediately, but even if the Marlins' ace is not destined for Los Angeles, the Dodgers' reshaping of their prospect base paves the way for the kind of deal that can keep this offseason from being a disaster. A trade in which the Dodgers neither added nor subtracted any core players may prove to be the key to keeping Los Angeles atop the West for a fourth straight year.