White Sox roll out warm welcome back for Melky Cabrera
From July 13-30, the Chicago White Sox said so long to seven veteran players as general manager Rick Hahn ramped up the rebuild and piled up prospects.
On Friday night, the Sox said welcome back to Melky Cabrera, the last vet traded.
"It's kind of difficult because I played for them for 2½ years," said Cabrera, who was sent to the Royals on July 30 for minor-league pitchers A.J. Puckett and Andre Davis. "Like I say, it's part of the business, but I have a lot of good memories. I know the guys there, the manager, Robin (Ventura) last year and now Ricky (Renteria)."
Cabrera batted cleanup for Kansas City and played right field. After signing a three-year, $42 million contract before the 2015 season, Cabrera primarily played left field for the White Sox.
Cabrera, who turned 33 Friday, heard the cheers from the home crowd when he came up to hit in the first inning and he waved his batting helmet to the crowd. Before the second inning, there was a video tribute.
The jovial switch-hitter has fit right in with the Royals, a team he played for in 2011.
"We had Melky here back when these kids were all coming up," Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. "He was a great presence in the clubhouse when Hos (Eric Hosmer) and Moose (Mike Moustakas) and Salvy (Salvador Perez) all came to the big leagues. They loved him for it. They were tremendously excited when they heard that he was coming back. He's the same guy. Just a pleasure to be around."
Minor trade:
The Sox acquired minor-league relief pitcher Ryan Burr from the Diamondbacks on Friday in a trade for international signing bonus pool money.
Burr, a 23-year-old right-hander, was a combined 2-2 with a 1.89 ERA and 5 saves in 39 appearances this season with Class A Kane County and A Visalia.
The 6-foot-4, 230-pounder is 7-4 with a 1.97 ERA over three minor-league seasons. Burr entered the year ranked as Arizona's No. 22 top prospect, per MLB.com.
Roster move:
To clear a roster spot for Reynaldo Lopez Friday, the White Sox outrighted left-handed pitcher David Holmberg to Class AAA Charlotte.
In 33 games (6 starts) with the Sox this season, Holmberg was 2-3 with a 3.55 ERA.
Night off:
Right fielder Avisail Garcia was held out of the starting lineup Friday.
"Just trying to give his legs a break," manager Rick Renteria said. "He had gone 11 or 12 days without actually playing (thumb injury). Inserted him in four days in a row and his legs started fatiguing a little bit. Instead of putting him in harm's way in terms of maybe the fatigue in his legs affecting him, we decided to give him a day off."