By Josh Boyd
July 1, 2003

The July 31 trade deadline is still a month away, but the first day of July sparked two significant deals, both involving the White Sox. Less than a week after the Rangers were unsuccessful in trading impending free agent Juan Gonzalez to the Expos, Texas sent Carl Everett to the White Sox, who acquired Roberto Alomar from the Mets earlier in the afternoon.

The White Sox will send three minor leaguers to be named later to the Rangers for Everett, who waived his no trade clause. Baseball America believes the Rangers will acquire three mid-level prospects along the lines of the players Chicago sent to the Mets for Alomar. Once the prospects are identified, we'll analyze them as well.

Everett, 32, is hitting .274-18-51 in 74 games for the Rangers. The White Sox have come up empty to find a center fielder, trying Aaron Rowand, Joe Borchard and Willie Harris there with undesireable results. The switch-hitting Everett has hit .277-151-596 in 1,023 games over his 11-year career. His .900 OPS would be second on the White Sox to Frank Thomas' .981 clip. Defensively, Everett has lost a step in center but still will be Chicago's best option at that position. It's yet unknown how much of his salary will be picked up by the Rangers. He's making $9.15 million in 2003, the final year of a four-year, $29.817 million contract he originally signed with the Red Sox, and becomes a free agent after the season.

July 24 update: The White Sox completed the deal by sending outfielder Anthony Webster and righthanders Josh Rupe and Franklin Francisco to the Rangers.

Webster, 20, was hitting .289-2-33 in 94 games at low Class A Kannapolis. Drafted in the 15th round out of a Tennessee high school in 2001, he was one of the top athletes in the White Sox organization. Webster batted .352-1-30 with 16 stolen bases in 61 games at Rookie-level Bristol last year. He's still considered raw at the plate, though he also displays a solid understanding of the strike zone and has a .353 on-base percentage in 2003. Webster has very good speed but still is learning how to apply it on the bases (20 steals in 32 attempts) and in center field. Scouts have compared him to a young Marquis Grissom.

Rupe is another 20-year-old off the Kannapolis roster. A 2002 third-round pick out of Louisburg (N.C.) JC, he has gone 5-5, 3.02 in 26 appearances (seven starts) this year. In 66 innnings, he has a 69-36 strikeout-walk ratio and has held opponents to a .212 average and no homers. He began the year in the bullpen before moving to the rotation, and projects as a starter in the long term. Rupe has a four-pitch arsenal that includes a 90-94 mph fastball and above-average slider.

Francisco, 23, has a live arm but has been inconsistent since being acquired from the Red Sox as part of the Bobby Howry trade last July. He has pitched better as of late and had a 7-3, 3.56 record in 16 starts at high Class A Winston-Salem. In 78 innings, he had a 67-36 K-BB ratio and .207 opponent average. Francisco can run his fastball up to 95 mph and his curveball can be useful, but he only succeeds when he has command.