Indians Trade Cesar Hernandez To White Sox

The stove continues to heat up.

The Cleveland Indians have traded second baseman Cesar Hernandez to the White Sox.

In exchange, left-handed pitcher Konnor Pilkington was sent back to Cleveland. In 14 starts this year at AA, he’s 4-4 with a 3.48 ERA.

Hernandez hit his career high 18th home run of the year yesterday in the Indians 7-2 win over the Cardinals. The 31-year old is hitting .231 with 47 RBI’s in 376 at-bats. He also has a .738 OPS.

This is a win-now move for the White Sox. With Nick Madrigal out for the season, Hernandez fills the void left at second-base.

“Cesar Hernandez provides our club with a valuable combination of a power bat in the middle infield and Gold-Glove quality defense,” General Manager Rick Hahn said. “Adding a player like Cesar gives Tony a strong and proven option at second base for the stretch run of the season and hopefully into October.”

“I know the kind of year he’s having. While we waited for our night game we were watching the Cleveland game against St. Louis and he had a good game,” said White Sox manager Tony La Russa. “We’re in a contending situation and it’s real clear that our front office is doing what they can to get us better.”

It’s also clear that the Indians don’t think they have much of a shot at catching the White Sox in the AL Central. They sit 8.5 games behind them, while sitting 5 games out in the Wild Card race.

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