The entirety of the 2022 season was something of a failure for the Chicago White Sox. A quiet trade deadline played a huge part in the club finishing the season with an 81-81 record, good for second place in the AL Central.
The lone move of importance that Rick Hahn and Co. made was shipping catcher Reese McGuire to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for veteran southpaw Jake Diekman.
At the time of the deal, both players were going to immediately help their new clubs fill a roster hole. Chicago needed a lefty and Boston needed another face behind the plate.
Of course, these two acquisitions were polar opposites in their new uniforms. McGuire took off for the Red Sox, looking stronger than he ever has before throughout his five-year big league career.
Prior to the trade, he appeared in 53 games with virtually no bat to speak of, hitting zero home runs and posting an OPS+ of 55.
After the deal, he played in 36 contests for the Red Sox, hitting three home runs with 12 RBI alongside an impressive .337 batting average and 142 OPS+. He also saw significant improvements across the board in his OBP, SLG, and OPS.
Jake Diekman hasn't had the best start with the Chicago White Sox.
For Diekman, he joined the White Sox with a reputation that preceded him. He is one of the more respected left-handed relievers in the game and has been consistently relied upon to give high-quality innings to any team he plays for. That is until he came to the south side of Chicago.
In 26 games for the White Sox last year, the 36-year-old went 0-3 with a ghastly 6.52 ERA, 5.08 FIP, and 62 ERA+. The 62 mark means he was a whopping 38 percent below league average on the mound. Not good.
He continued to be a strikeout machine (13.0 per nine innings) but allowed 25 hits, 14 earned runs, and four home runs in just 19 innings of work.
Spring Training has not looked much better for the upcoming free agent, either. In six outings and five innings of work, he is currently sporting a 5.06 ERA with three earned runs.
A one-for-one swap of two major league veterans typically doesn't consist of enough talent for the trade to either be huge wins or huge losses for either club.
However, McGuire is slated to be the everyday catcher for the Red Sox after a huge offensive showing for the club and Diekman is likely to function as a middle relief option who should avoid high-leverage situations.