Breaking down the Chicago White Sox prospect haul

The Chicago White Sox have completely revamped their farm system over the past 48 hours, adding four top-100 prospects.

By trading away Chris Sale and Adam Eaton, the Chicago White Sox have signaled that their rebuild is in full swing. General Manager Rick Hahn played his hand perfectly, leading the Washington Nationals to believe they were close to acquiring Sale before allowing the Boston Red Sox to sneak in at the last minute. From there, he went back to the Nats and was able to get almost the same package Washington was offering for Sale in exchange for Eaton.

Only one player mentioned in the above tweet, Zack Collins, was in the system before the trades of the past two days. It may be painful to be a White Sox fan over the next few seasons, but the players acquired — Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Luis Alexander Basabe, Victor Diaz, Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, and Dane Dunning — are the future.

With a few more assets to move, including Todd Frazier, Jose Abreu, and Jose Quintana, the South Siders could come out of the winter with one of the top five farm systems in baseball. Read on for a breakdown of the prospects going back to Chicago.

7. Victor Diaz, RHP

The 22-year-old Diaz will probably be remembered as a mere throw-in to complete the trade. He is coming off his first season in America and will be 23 early next season having never pitched above Single-A. Diaz pitched 60.1 innings last season, posting a 3.88 ERA with a good ground ball rate. We’ll see if there’s any long-term potential with Diaz in a year or two.

Diaz has a potentially great fastball that has been clocked in the triple digits. The rest of his pitches, slider, and splitter, are still raw and need a good deal of work. He has yet to make a start as a pro and is not likely to make that transition with the White Sox. Diaz might not pan out as a big leaguer with a long career, but if everything breaks right for him, he could blossom into a dominant late-inning reliever.