Trades in early June are rare.
Both the Cubs and White Sox have been active but for different reasons.
The Cubs are trying to cover for some injuries while the White Sox are trying to plug massive holes in their sinking ship.
The trade for James Shields was supposed to have solidified the starting rotation. Shields debut was a train wreck, but not as bad as management must have thought since it DFA'd starter Mat Latos to call up Tyler Danish for bullpen duty (as the training before joining the rotation). Danish is one of the five quality starting arms in the minors.
The Cubs made a questionable trade.
The Cubs have brought back veteran infielder/outfielder Chris Coghlan in a trade with the Athletics, per an announcement from Oakland.
Young utilityman Arismendy Alcantara will go back in return.
Coghlan is batting .146!
Alcantara has been playing 5 positions in AAA with 5 HRs 21 RBI, .246 BA. He is a speedy left handed hitter who has more value to a team than a 5th outfielder struggling at the plate.
Alcantara is 24. Coghlan 30.
Perhaps the Cubs front office panicked when Jorge Soler tweaked his hamstring. But rookie Albert Almora has looked fairly polished in his Cub debut. It is odd then to trade for a player with little upside to send Almora back down the minors when he has not done anything to cause such a demotion.
Kris Bryant called Almora the best outfielder he has ever seen. With Almora in left, Fowler playing a deeper center and Heyward in right, the Cubs have a plus outfield defense which could win games when the offense struggles.
The White Sox moves make sense since Latos was falling quickly to his horrible 2015 form. The Cubs move makes little sense in where they are at in the standings and the players currently on their roster.
UPDATE:
The White Sox DFA'd Jimmy Rollins and promoted top prospect Tim Anderson. Anderson, who is hitting .304/.325/.409 with four home runs, 20 RBIs and 11 steals in 256 plate appearances, takes over as the starting shortstop.
