Sox Acquire MacDougal, On the Verge of Acquiring Soriano

By Jason Gage

Soxtalk.com

 

Multiple sources are reporting that the Chicago White Sox have acquired reliever Mike MacDougal from the Royals. At the same time as this acquisition, ESPN’s Tim Kurkijan is reporting that the Chicago White Sox are on the verge of also acquiring Alfonso Soriano from the Nationals.

 

The White Sox have reportedly acquired MacDougal for Tyler Lumsden (Birmingham, AA) and Dan Cortes (Kannapolis, Low A) while the Soriano package is believed to be centered around reliever/starting pitching prospect Brandon McCarthy.

 

The Soriano acquisition would mark the second time in three years where GM Ken Williams landed the premiere player of the trade sweepstakes (Freddy Garcia in 04). It is believed that the Tigers, Angels, Mariners and Dodgers are also interested in Soriano’s services and while Soriano would bolster the best offense in baseball, Ken Williams mentioned this weekend that he could acquire a player to prevent him from going to a contender (Detroit) only to spin him off to another club for more (Angels, Mariners, Dodgers).

 

If the deal becomes official and the Sox plan on keeping Soriano, he would likely replace leadoff hitter Scott Podsednik in left field. Ken Williams has constantly said that Brian Anderson will not be traded, so recent reports have Podsednik potentially being involved in one of these trades or a soon to be following trade. Soriano is batting .288 with 31 HR, 62 RBI and 25 steals (with a 78% success rate) and while Pods was the key to 2005’s small ball approach, Soriano is a more than capable base stealer who just happens to be able to hit 40 plus home runs.

 

Soriano is set to become a free agent at the end of the season. It is unclear whether the Sox are planning on offering Soriano an immediate extension or if they plan on letting him test the market. If the club offers Soriano arbitration in the off-season and he than chooses to sign with another club, the Sox would get two 2007 first round draft picks in return.

 

MacDougal, 29, would give the Sox yet another power arm in the pen. The Sox have had a need for a right hander reliever and MacDougal is coming off a 2005 season in which he posted a 3.33 ERA in 70.1 innings for the Royals. However, MacDougal has pitched in just 4 games this season and has had a history of arm trouble. At 29 there is no doubt, that when healthy he has the stuff to be an above average reliever, but the price of a prospect the caliber of Lumsden seems steep. In his most recent appearance MacDougal was clocked into the upper 90’s (as high as 98) and he will mix in

 

For those of you unfamiliar with the Sox pitching prospects, Lumsden is regarded as the best left handed pitcher in the system and features a low to mid 90’s fastball (4 seam and cutter), a good curve ball, and a developing changeup. The supplemental first round selection has posted a 2.69 ERA in 20 starts with the Barons. FutureSox.com has learned that Lumsden will report to the Royals AA affiliate, Wichita.

 

The other prospect, Dan Cortes, is a raw but talented right hander who has came on strong the past month for class A Kannapolis. Cortes, 19, has posted a 4.09 ERA in 20 games (19 starts) while striking out 96 in 107.2 innings. He features a good sinking fastball (90-94) a good spike curveball and a developing change. Cortes is a raw prospect with a good deal of upside.

 

Soxtalk.com will be updating this story as more information is released. The score’s George Offman has reported that the Soriano deal is still far from being made official.

 

 

Quite a hefty price.

 

Daniel Cortes and Tyler Lumsden probably had the best two arms of staring pitchers in the Sox's minors.

Levine also said KW has another move possible besides being close for Soriano.

Edited July 24, 200619 yr by Chisoxfn

Reported now by the Score....Offman doesn't think the Sox are as close to getting Soriano as previously thought, but nobody knows.

 

Only Lumsden was mentioned on the Score's report.

I'll say.

For this high of a price, I really believe we are trading a starting pitcher before this night is over.

This is getting very interesting.

Score said two prospects but didn't not confirm any names, besides mcdougal. also berstien mentioned that lumsden, thats the name right?, and offman never confirmed him.

Edited July 24, 200619 yr by Shamrock4Life

i hate this move! Cortes is nasty and lummy was enough to get him i think!

 

since the prospects arent confirmed yet ill wait

Edited July 24, 200619 yr by Sonik22

I may be an idiot for asking this (my wife would agree that i'm an idiot), but is McDougall healthy this year?

MacDougal for Lumsden? I hate giving up Lummy, hopefully MacDougal is healthy and ready to contribute...

i hate this move! Cortes is nasty and lummy was enough to get him i think!

i agree

and macdougal has always been inconsistant

i was kinda hoping 2 c lumsden for years 2 come but w/e

lets just hope coop can work his magic

How many years does MacDougal have left before free agency? These two pitchers are an awful lot to give up for someone who can't stay healthy and can't get hitters out consistently.

If so, good luck to Lump. He's an incredibly nice guy and it seemed like he had hit his stride. He'll probably be a Sox killer, cause he could possibly start for KC.

MacDougal came off the 60 day DL on July 13th and hasn't given up a run yet. In 4 innings, he has 2 hits, 2 K',s and a 0.00 ERA.

 

Fastball tops out at about 99 and he has an 88-90 mph slider. Think Matt Thornton, but right handed.

Lets see if MacDougal can be consistant for a WINNING team...Its hard to be focused in KC every game I bet when your always losing

KW's got one thing on his mind, win it again. NOW.

 

Go kenny go...

 

KW's got one thing on his mind, win it again. NOW.

 

Go kenny go...

Anyone who's pissed about trading prospects ... can someone name the last one we got burned with trading? There's no Liriano's or Bagwell's in Kenny's past.

 

I'll paraphrase Allen Iverson here:

 

"Prospects. We're talking about prospects here. Prospects. Prospects, man. Prospects. Prospects. We're talking about prospects here."

what a price...

Here's some stuff on MacDougal.

 

Updated: July 13, 2006, 11:08 AM ET

Royals activate closer MacDougal from DLSportsTicker

 

 

DETROIT -- At least the Kansas City Royals will have their closer for the second half of the season.

 

 

MacDougal

 

Mike MacDougal, who had 21 saves in 25 opportunities last season, was activated from the 60-day disabled list on Thursday.

 

Without MacDougal, the Royals used Ambiorix Burgos and Elmer Dessens as closers this season. Burgos leads the team with 14 saves, but has also blown six save chances. Dessens has two saves, but also squandered two chances.

 

MacDougal had been on the 60-day DL since March 24 with a right shoulder strain. He began a rehab assignment with Double-A Wichita on June 18 before moving on to Triple-A Omaha. MacDougal made eight appearances with Omaha and was unscored upon in his last six before the All-Star break.

 

Last season, MacDougal, 29, pitched a career-high 70 1/3 innings and went 5-6 with a 3.33 ERA. He converted 15 consecutive save chances from May 19 to Aug. 20.

 

In 2003, MacDougal made the American League All-Star team as a rookie. He set a club record with 68 appearances that year and recorded 27 saves.

 

******************

The good news is that if he was a rookie in 2003, he's tied up by arbitration for at least a couple more years.

I'm all for winning, but come on, I'd like to have some sort of future.

MacDougal is 29 and makes $352,000, MLB Debut: 09/22/2001 that to me says hes still in Arb for one more year correct?

We did get Thornton for nothing, so sometimes you gotta pay and sometime we get lucky.

 

But with Jenks, Thornton and now Macdugal are bullpen is f'n nasty. Not one of those three guys throw under 95 mph.

I'm all for winning, but come on, I'd like to have some sort of future.

we still have Broadway, McCulloch, Russell, Whisler, Harrell, Haeger, Phillips. We still have arms people.

I'm all for winning, but come on, I'd like to have some sort of future.

 

We'll either buy it or acquire it with more spects that we draft. I'm not sure whether I'm all for the method or not, but we are at a point where in 2 or 3 years when all of our contracts are up, we'll just buy whatever we need.

It's also going to be interesting to see Cooper working with MacDougal.

Anyone who's pissed about trading prospects ... can someone name the last one we got burned with trading? There's no Liriano's or Bagwell's in Kenny's past.

 

I'll paraphrase Allen Iverson here:

 

"Prospects. We're talking about prospects here. Prospects. Prospects, man. Prospects. Prospects. We're talking about prospects here."