According to various reports and WSCR-AM in Chicago, the White Sox have acquired pitcher Mike MacDougal from the Royals in exchange for minor-league pitchers Tyler Lumsden and Daniel Cortes.
Not sure what to make of this right now, although its somewhat surprising to see the Royals cut MacDougal loose, and in the division at that. If there's a team that might overvalue MacDougal, its the White Sox, who respect "saves" and value guys who throw hard. Then again, Cooper and Ozzie are able to actually get results from these guys like MacDougal, whereas the Royals haven't been. And obviously, the White Sox need to win right now, while the Royals have no reason to care about the rest of the next 1.5 seasons.
My immediate reaction: a muted sadness. Mac was a funny looking guy who seemed to be the anti-Greinke, a goofy guy who always had fun, wasn't quite all there mentally and yet could electrify us at times. He had a cool nickname, and the requisite facial hair. His 2003 All-Star appearance, when the Royals held a huge lead in the Central, was an emblematic moment; at the time a semi-coronation, later on a sign of the fleeting nature of the Pena-Era success.
As he leaves the Royals, Mike MacDougal is 5th in team history with 50 saves. Fare thee well, Mac...
We say "goodbye" to Mac the Ninth with this hideous poster in his memory.
"The Cheat" who blogs on the White Sox, wrote this in the comments earlier in the day,
It's the first real sign that Dayton Moore is moving the club in the right direction. The royals can't compete in the central for the next few seasons. They need to concentrate on acquiring players who will be useful to the team in the years to come. I think it also foreshadows the style in which he will be building his club. Lumsden and Cortes are both guys who, if scouts have seen them in the last few months, are considered projectable arms, despite some lackluster stats. I think it speaks to a strong emphasis on scouting by Moore & Co., and a shrewd move to sell off a player who was about to become more expensive when he didn't figure to be a contributing member of the next Royals division title contender.
Thanks to "AndrewMiller" who shares the link on Lumsden at Baseball America.
South Side Sox reaction here.
Looking at Tyler Lumsden's minor league stats & splits this season you can see what the White Sox people mean by "unimpressive stats". Still, he hasn't been bad (allowing a .671 OPS), just not dominant for the Birmingham Barons of MJ fame. The K-rate of 5.33 is a nice place to start, and hopefully he can inch that closer to the 7.78 per 9 he's getting against left-handed batters in the future, full-time. I'm no expert on the Barons, but I'd have to guess that their home field is fairly pitcher friendly, as nearly all Lumsden's stats are significantly stronger at home.
As for Daniel Cortes, the immediate thing that jumps out at you is his K-rates. 8.00 overall and fairly evenly split between lefties and righties (7.94 & 8.04 respectively). After scuffling a bit in May and June, he's rebounded with 25 Ks in 24.3 July innings (9.25/9). Umm, for an organization starved for strikeouts, we'll definetly take that.
Hopefully this isn't the last move D-Moore makes this week, although only time will tell.