FanHouse Tyler Flowers

Wondering which young players could have an impact in the majors this year? Let MLB FanHouse guide the way in Better Know a Prospect. In this edition we look at three players from the Chicago White Sox system.

Aaron Poreda, SP: The White Sox go into 2009 with some concerns at the back end of their rotation, which could mean the southpaw Poreda will be called up sooner than later. The 22-year old excelled at both Winston-Salem (Single-A) and Birmingham (Double-A) in 2008, taking of advantage of a very high groundball rate (52%) to allow just six homers in his 161 innings; he also had a strikeout-to-walk ratio of nearly 3:1. While Poreda could probably use a full year at Triple-A to refine some of his secondary pitches, early struggles from or injuries to Clayton Richard and/or Bartolo Colon may force Chicago's hand.

When the Chicago White Sox jettisoned Javier Vazquez off to the Atlanta Braves for prospects Tyler Flowers and Brent Lillibridge, Kenny Williams left a bit of a hole in the team's starting rotation. Sure, there were questions about Vazquez's ability in big games but those 15 wins and 200+ innings every year aren't easy to replace.

Which is why some thought that Williams had an ace up his sleeve and was planning on making a move for a free agent pitcher like Derek Lowe to fill the gap. He didn't, but he did make sure that he found a big man to fill that large void in Bartolo Colon. Oh, and the oft-injured Colon had just finished having surgery on his right elbow which will keep him from being available at the start of spring training. Neat!

Wait, what?

Were the Braves really this far away from landing Jake Peavy via trade that they had to settle on Javier Vazquez?

Pending a passed physical from Vazquez, that's exactly what has happened. Boone Logan is headed to Atlanta with Vazquez, while the package headed back to the White Sox includes Jo-Jo Reyes and Brent Lillibridge. Reports indicate an unnamed "top prospect" is going to Chicago as well.

The trade has been in the works for a few days, and rumors were no secret. It should be noted that neither Reyes nor Lillibridge have been the centerpieces in talks by the Braves to acquire Peavy. On the other hand, we know the Braves are interested in signing either Derek Lowe or A.J. Burnett.

I'd be pretty surprised if the Braves traded these two young players, inked a Lowe-type contract, and traded the required windfall to net Peavy.

Thus, the significance of this deal -- to me -- is that it effectively eliminates the Braves from the Peavy sweepstakes.