The Cleveland Indians haven’t made as many trades as the Seattle Mariners, but they do keep moving players. And on Friday afternoon, their latest trade sent Yonder Alonso to the Chicago White Sox. The Sox made the announcement official this morning.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) December 15, 2018
As for Alonso’s 2019 salary, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports that the White Sox are covering all of it.
The White Sox are taking on Yonder Alonso's entire salary, which means the Indians have saved about $21.5 million for 2019 from their offseason trades. If they use that flexibility to address the outfield/bullpen, great. If they don't, well, it'll get ugly.
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) December 15, 2018
But as many are pointing out, such as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the White Sox may have another reason for acquiring Alonso. After all, he just so happens to be Manny Machado’s brother-in-law. Of course, this could also mean absolutely nothing. But it’s the offseason and we need a narrative.
Bringing this back from yesterday… https://t.co/7vaecEDEAY
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 15, 2018
Last season, Alonso put up just a .250/.317/.421 triple-slash but with 19 doubles and 22 home runs. He broke out in a big way in 2017, hitting .266/.365/.501 with 22 doubles and 28 home runs between Oakland and Seattle. The Indians then gave him a two-year contract that following winter. Now that Carlos Santana is back in the fold, there’s no reason to keep him on board.
As for the White Sox, they’re still in on both Machado and Bryce Harper. But we don’t know how realistic either of those pursuits truly are. They do have the money to spend, but they’re also still a decent ways out from competing. If everything breaks right, then they could very well surprise us next season. In the meantime, they’re coming off a 62-100 season and are further away then they’d probably like to let on.
