On Monday, the Chicago White Sox traded reliever Jesse Crain to the Tampa Bay Rays. In exchange, the White Sox will receive either a player or players to be named later or cash. Shortly after the trade was made official, there were rumors that the player or players the Rays would send to the White Sox would be dependent on how much Crain pitched for the Rays for the remainder of the season, but that doesn’t appear to case. As it turns out, the compensation for Crain will be determined over the course of the next few weeks. Since Crain is dealing with a shoulder injury and is currently on the disabled list, the White Sox likely won’t receive as much in return as they would have with a healthy Crain. It has been reported that the Rays have given general manager Rick Hahn a list of players to choose from. It is unclear at this time which players Hahn has to choose from as he did not comment on the situation.
Obviously, since we don’t know what kind of value the White Sox got in return for Crain, it is impossible to judge this deal at this time. For now, it should just be considered a slight victory that the Sox were able to even trade Crain due to his injury. The Rays are certainly taking a risk in acquiring Crain for the final weeks of the season, but he could have a tremendous impact provided he stays healthy. In 38 appearances, Crain has pitched 36.1 innings, while owning a 0.74 ERA and 1.15 WHIP on the season. He also has racked up 46 strikeouts to just 11. Those numbers are good for a career high 4.18 SO/BB ratio and ties his career high 11.3 SO/9 mark that he set in 2012.
In the best case scenario, the Rays have added a top-tier set-up man to their bullpen, and the White Sox will be happy to come away with anything that can help them in future.
-Eric Tichelbaut
Follow me on Twitter @etichel07
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