White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said his phone call to left-hander Jose Quintana to let him know he was traded to the Cubs was one of the more difficult ones he has had to make in his tenure.
Since 2012, Quintana has been known as a well-liked, hard-working and consistently positive presence _ not to mention an excellent pitcher _ for the Sox, but the club decided to part with him for four Cubs prospects with a view on the future.
That future now includes seven prospects in Baseball America's Top 100, including the newest additions, No. 5 Eloy Jimenez and No. 83 Dylan Cease. Unranked Matt Rose and Bryant Flete were also included in the deal.
"We do feel we are closer in achieving our long-term goals today than we were yesterday," Hahn said. "This package of prospects we received today not only was far and away the best offer that we've discussed with any club since we've started this process, but it's one that allows us to add to the prospect base that we've accumulated in a potentially high impact way."
All of the Sox's top 100 prospects have been acquired since the winter meetings in December, when the club started its rebuild by trading Chris Sale and Adam Eaton.
No. 1 Yoan Moncada and No. 20 Michael Kopech arrived via the Red Sox for Sale. No. 45 Luis Robert was signed out of Cuba in May. And No. 59 Reynaldo Lopez and No. 75 Lucas Giolito were part of the Eaton deal with the Nationals.
In Jimenez, the Sox have a prospect Hahn compared to Moncada a year ago.
The 20-year-old corner outfielder signed as the top international prospect out of the Dominican Republic in 2013 for a $2.8 million signing bonus. Over 253 games since 2014, he has .293 batting average, 64 doubles, 32 homers, 173 RBIs and a .813 OPS. At high Class-A Myrtle Beach this year, he is hitting .271 with eight homers, 32 RBIs and a .841 OPS.
"We view him as one of the most exciting prospects in the game today," Hahn said. "He has potential to be a middle-of-the-order, impact bat, plus bat speed, feel for the barrel. He uses the whole field and has the tools to be a plus defender on the corner."
Hahn said they view Cease, a 21-year-old right-hander, as a possible front-end of the rotation starter. The Cubs drafted Cease in the sixth round in 2014 knowing he would need Tommy John surgery. He has been limited in his innings since making his rookie-league debut in 2015 and has posted a 2.79 ERA with 26 walks and 74 strikeouts over 13 starts this year at Class-A South Bend.
Hahn said Cease's season is similar to what Kopech is going through at Double-A Birmingham.
"It's a matter of him taking the ball every fifth day and getting a full year of development under his belt," Hahn said. "From a stuff standpoint, it's probably returned to the level that we projected it to get to during the draft. He certainly has three potential out pitches and a work ethic and makeup that allows him to potentially be that front-end type guy."
Flete is a 24-year-old switch-hitting infielder who signed as an international prospect out of Venezuela in 2012. He is hitting .305 with 15 doubles, six homers, 37 RBIs and a .355 on-base percentage in 70 games with Myrtle Beach this year.
Rose, 22, was an 11th-round draft pick in 2015. The first baseman is hitting .227 with 15 doubles, 14 homers, 38 RBIs, 15 walks and 63 strikeouts over 65 games with Myrtle Beach.
The Sox aren't necessarily done adding to the farm system yet either.
They have several other players they could move for prospects before the July 31 trade deadline, including David Robertson, Todd Frazier and Melky Cabrera.
"We've got work to do over the next couple weeks," Hahn said. "We're going to stay on it. We're not going to force anything, just as we didn't with the Quintana deal. We're certainly ready to move forward on the next one should the right opportunity arise."
