Rangers trade for Alex Rios

The White Sox have traded Alex Rios to the Rangers with $1 million for a player to be named later. The Pirates were, of course, widely connected to Rios.

The White Sox's return here is a far cry from the Gregory Polanco / Nick Kingham stuff we heard about before the trade deadline. Players to be named are rarely impact guys. The name that initially appeared in reports about the trade was that of Leury Garcia, an infielder who's likely to stick in the majors at some point but who has limited upside. Garcia may in fact turn out to be the PTBNL.

Rios is a frustrating player, but he isn't really overpaid, and so, while I thought the Polanco/Kingham stuff was pretty silly, I did think the White Sox could do better than this. It's a shame the Pirates couldn't have acquired Rios at the trade deadline, but there were reports then that the White Sox's asking price was much higher. Unless the PTBNL turns out to be someone spectacular, this looks like a pretty poor deal from the White Sox's perspective.

It appears the Pirates couldn't have traded for Rios in August, by the way -- the Rangers had a higher waiver priority.