Deadline Coverage: White Sox Get a Second Baseman

Just starting with the trade as it has been reported:

The Guardians trade Cesar Hernandez to the White Sox for Konnor Pilkington

While the White Sox filled a void at second base that was created when Nick Madrigal was lost for the season, the trade might be a linear move for Hernandez’s fantasy value.

So far this season, Hernandez’s fantasy value has him as the 28th middle infielder boosted by his 18 HR and 60 Runs (T25th in the majors). Hernandez’s biggest valuation gain will come from the other White Sox hitters. They are just better than those in Cleveland and should give him a better chance for at-bats, Runs, and RBI. So far this season, the White Sox have averaged 4.94 R/G while the Guardians are at 4.28 R/G. Also, the White Sox have not been at full strength. They just got Eloy Jiménez back from the IL and Luis Robert could return soon.

While the park is an upgrade on the surface, it shouldn’t make a major difference. The new park would not have allowed just one additional projected home run on the season. His value will hinge on where he gets slotted into the lineup.

For Cleveland, he led off 74 games and was able to rack up a ton of Runs. Maybe LaRussa will slot him into the #2 spot. This season, 12 different players have rotated through that spot including the soon to return, Luis Robert. If he hits there, great, his production should remain constant. If not, he might be relegated to one of the last couple spots. The only White Sox lineup slot that has scored over 60 runs this year has been the leadoff spot with only 53 coming from the 8th slot.

As for his replacement in Cleveland, there isn’t an obvious replacement. Hernandez started 89 of the 99 games at second for the Guardians with Ernie Clement (.224/.286/.259 0 HR and 0 SB) having the next highest total at six. Clement doesn’t seem like the answer. Possibly Yu Chang (.187/.217/.293) will slider over to second. Also, the 22-year-old Andrés Giménez, who is hitting .274/.335/.492 with 9 HR and 6 SB in AAA, will get another shot after struggling to start the season (.179/.226/.308). Cleveland doesn’t have a good or obvious replacement for the leadoff spot or to play second base.

One final consideration, the rest of the Guardians lineup will struggle even worse to generate runs thereby cutting into everyone’s counting stats. It’s tough to figure out how the lineup will shake out for people who can make immediate adds but for those fantasy managers who have moves later in the week, the playing time situation should be clearer.