The White Sox continued their attempts to upgrade their offense by acquiring third baseman Todd Frazier in a 3 team deal yesterday.  Frazier, who hit 11 more home runs last year than White Sox third baseman managed in the past 2 seasons combined, comes to the from the Reds.  The Sox send Micah Johnson, Frankie Montas, and Trayce Thompson to the Dodgers, who, in turn, will send  Jose Peraza, Brandon Dixon, and Scott Schebler back to the Reds.

With this move, the previously acquired Brett Lawrie will move to second base, filling two long-term holes for the south siders.  If Frazier is able to match his production for the Reds over the past few years, he will easily surpass any White Sox third baseman since Joe Crede went down with a back injury in 2008.

Of the 3 prospects going to the Dodgers, the only big loss would appear to be Frankie Montas, a young pitcher acquired in the Jake Peavy deal.  Montas put up a 2.97 ERA for AA Birmingham last year while also appearing in 7 games for the White Sox.  He likely would have found a spot at the end of the rotation or in the bullpen in 2017.  Micah Johnson was the Opening Day second baseman for the White Sox last year, but defensive problems sent him back to the minors and injuries took part of the season away from him.  Trayce Thompson also spent time with the big league club in 2015, despite a middling minor league career.  He was red hot as a platoon player at first, but cooled down and seemingly looks to be a fourth outfielder at best.

To be fair, the White Sox appeared to be much improved last winter as well, and the 2015 season did not play out as anyone would have anticipated.  One can only hope that, with the upgrades at catcher and now second and third base, the 2016 season will turn out much different.