The Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies pulled off a minor trade on Tuesday, with reliever Tommy Kahnle going to the White Sox in exchange for minor league right-hander Yency Almonte.
Scott Merkin of MLB.com first reported the deal.
While not a blockbuster deal, the White Sox are strengthening an area of need. Bullpen depth was a problem last season with all five of their main relievers posting an ERA of at least 3.41, per Baseball-Reference.com.
Kahnle isn't a prominent reliever, but as Dan Hayes of Comcast SportsNet Chicago noted, the right-hander does miss bats and limits what arm-side hitters do against him:
Getting Kahnle out of Coors Field also figures to help lower his ERA total. The Rockies were able to flip an asset with no substantial value given where the franchise is at for a 21-year-old who had a 3.41 ERA and 120 hits allowed in 137.1 innings over two levels.
According to Baseball America, Almonte "is at his best" utilizing a fastball that touches 95 mph down in the zone with a slider as his strikeout pitch.
The White Sox spent big on their bullpen last year with closer David Robertson, so investing in a low-cost arm like Kahnle is smart business. The Rockies need to build around young power arms in hopes of overcoming the thin air in Colorado.
Almonte may not be the game-changing piece to turn the Rockies' system around, but he's a young power arm who may one day slot in the back of their bullpen.
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