CHICAGO -- Brandon McCarthy basically woke up to a phone call some time around 10 or 10:30 Saturday morning.
But the talented young right-hander still had to feel as if he was part of some weird dream when he heard the news coming from White Sox general manager Ken Williams on the other end of the phone.
Williams informed McCarthy, 23, that he had been traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for top pitching prospects John Danks, Nick Masset and Jake Rasner. A similar form of this trade was rumored as close to taking place back in November, but Jon Garland was the White Sox starter involved instead of McCarthy.
Danks, Masset, and Rasner all pitched for the Clinton LumberKings of the Midwest League. Danks is one of the top prospects in all of baseball. Masset made it to the Rangers for a few games during the 2006 season. Rasner had the no-hitter broken up by Curt Ledbetter's game winning home run in the bottom of the eighth at Fox Cities Stadium on August 25.
Plenty of quotes from Appleton Baseball Hall of Famer and White Sox GM Kenny Williams in the story.
Saturday's deal had talks going back as far as one year, according to Williams, with scouts and even a video crew sent out to watch the Rangers' young arms in action. Ultimately, the deal had less to do with getting rid of McCarthy as it did with the White Sox return on their investment.
"When you are dealing with prospects like we are, these are just good baseball deals," Williams said. "It has nothing to do with money or, in this particular case, with one club losing confidence. I have the utmost confidence in Brandon McCarthy.
"I had so much confidence in Brandon that I ended up trading Freddy [Garcia] to put him at the front of the line to challenge for the fifth spot. The whole makeup of our club made Brandon expendable, as we believe there are other equal options for the fifth spot. But we also get stronger for the future."
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