Two Santa Margarita grads involved in Major League Baseball deals

As the headliner in this deal, Todd Frazier becomes the third baseman for the White Sox. The former two-time All-Star’s addition to the White Sox will shift the recently acquired Brett Lawrie to second base.

The White Sox are also sending Micah Johnson and Trayce Thompson to the Dodgers as part of the trade, according to reports.

CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reported on Monday that the Indians and White Sox “seem most heavily involved”, but having the World Champion Royals and free-spending Dodgers in the mix doesn’t bode well for Cleveland’s chances.

In return, the Reds will receive infielder Jose Peraza, outfielder Scott Schebler and infielder Brandon Dixon from the Dodgers, who acquired Peraza from the Braves in July.

It has been relatively quiet on the trade front, but it was apparent the the Reds were going to trade fan-favorite Todd Frazier this off-season.

Frazier had a huge first half for the Reds, making his second All-Star team and winning the Home Run Derby at home in Cincinnati, but then slumped in the second half and finished with totals right in line with his good but not great career norms.

“Certainly, we feel a lot better”, White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. Peraza was the Dodgers’ fourth-ranked prospect last season, and Schebler was ranked 13th.

The Reds have already tried to trade second baseman Brandon Phillips without success. Every year since he has been in the Majors, Frazier has improved on his previous season’s home run and RBI totals. Frazier is set to earn $7.5 million this upcoming season and after that, he is arbitration eligible. In addition, he had eight hits at the plate this year – after entering with 12 in his previous 17 big league seasons. Thompson batted.295/.363/.533 with 17 runs scored, 5 home runs and 16 RBI in 44 games with the White Sox. He played 104 games in Triple-A Charlotte and batted. “Given the limitations of their market and their budget, they’ll never really spend enough to contend with the best teams in the National League, and with Frazier, Votto and the collection of young pitching they have developed, they’ll probably never be so bad that they’ll pick near the beginning of the draft”. 260 with 13 homers and 39 RBIs.

The 24-year-old Thompson, a Los Angeles-area native, made his big league debut in August and hit.

Montas was 0-2 with a 4.80 ERA in two starts and five relief appearances for Chicago last season and 5-5 with a 2.97 ERA in 23 starts at Double-A Birmingham.

Johnson was described by Friedman as a “plus-plus” runner, evidenced by his 31 steals this year between triple A and the major leagues. Much like Peraza, Schebler received a cup of coffee with the Dodgers in September, hitting three HR and driving in four runs in 36 at-bats.