Red Sox trade left-handed reliever to the White Sox for minor league pitching prospect
The Red Sox and White Sox made another trade this offseason; this time Boston is sending left-handed reliever Cam Booser to Chicago for 18-year-old right-handed pitcher Yhoiker Fajardo. The trade was first announced by FanSided's Robert Murray.
The move frees up a spot on the Red Sox 40-man roster for left-handed pitcher Patrick Sandoval, who Boston signed to a two-year, $18.25 million pact on Friday afternoon.
Booser made his major league debut on April 19, where he posted a 3.38 ERA in 43 outings (42 2/3 innings) for Boston. He went 2-3 with one save, holding left-handed hitters to a .687 OPS, and right-handed hitters hit just .232 off the southpaw.
The lefty was named the 2024 Tony Conigliaro Award winner, becoming the fourth Red Sox player to win the award, joining Bret Saberhagen (1998), Jon Lester (2007), and John Lackey (2013). Current Red Sox reliever Liam Hendriks won the award last year while he was a member of the Chicago White Sox.
Fajardo, 18, was 1-4 with a 3.91 ERA in 13 starts in the Dominican Summer League last year.
The Venezuelan native signed with the White Sox for $400,000 and offers good velocity on his pitches. Fajardo pitches with his fastball anywhere from 90-95 mph and throws all of his pitches for strikes, according to Baseball America.
“He’s a good athlete with an easy delivery that he repeats well from a consistent release point on all of his pitches,” BA wrote this season. “His low-80s slider isn’t a particularly high-spin pitch, but it has a short, late break that has been able to miss a lot of bats. He’s mainly a fastball/slider pitcher with an occasional hard changeup that’s still in its early stages of development.”
