D-backs swap IF Matt Davidson for White Sox RHP Addison Reed
On Monday, general manager Kevin Towers and the Arizona Diamondbacks stayed on the hot stove, acquiring Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Addison Reed for third base prospect Matt Davidson.
Reed, who will be 25 on Opening Day 2014, managed a career-high 40 saves with the White Sox last season, also setting career highs in wins (5), appearances (68), innings (71.1) and strikeouts (72). He had eight blown saves and a 3.79 ERA in 2013.
Davidson, meanwhile, made his major league debut late last season with the Diamondbacks, hitting .237 with nine extra-base hits and three home runs in 76 at-bats. The 22-year-old infielder was the Diamondbacks’ first round pick in 2009’s First-Year Player Draft. He was named the Futures Game MVP last summer, hitting a go-ahead home run to seal the game for the U.S. team, also winning the Triple-A Home Run Derby during All-Star Weekend at Citi Field in New York. He was widely considered the Diamondbacks’ best power-hitting prospect.
Reed will presumably become the Diamondbacks’ closer while Davidson will join outfielder Adam Eaton in Chicago, likely becoming the White Sox’s third baseman.
Davidson is the fourth Diamondbacks prospect on Baseball America’s 2013 organizational Top 10 Prospects list, which was released prior to last season, to be traded away this offseason. He joins Eaton (3), Tyler Skaggs (1) and David Holmberg (6) among the departed prospects. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound infielder was also slated as the No. 4 third-base prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com. It’s presumed, however, that the prospect was blocked by Towers’ big acquisition last offseason, Martin Prado, and was thus a misfit on the Diamondbacks’ roster.
Reed remains under Diamondbacks control until 2018, first eligible for arbitration in 2015. He joins a Diamondbacks bullpen which blew an NL-high 29 saves in 2013. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound pitcher was selected in the third round by the White Sox in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft and was considered the organization’s No. 1 prospect following the 2011 season, according to Baseball America, who also called Reed’s slider the best in the Chicago farm system that year.
