Pirates Nab ‘Lottery Ticket Type’ Prospect From White Sox In Nova Deal

Image credit: Ivan Nova (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

The White Sox took a small step toward bolstering what was a leaky rotation in 2018 by adding Ivan Nova from the Pirates.

Nova adds stability to the back end of a rotation that suffered from inconsistency from its two youngsters—Reynaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito—and already lost righthander Michael Kopech, who was expected to be a big part of the rotation in 2019. Kopech had Tommy John surgery and won’t return until 2020.

WHITE SOX ACQUIRE:

Ivan Nova, RHP
Age: 31

If nothing else, Nova has been durable over the last two seasons with the Pirates. The righthander has combined for 348 innings, and in 2017 he led the NL with two complete games. He’s signed through 2019 for $8.5 million, giving the White Sox a cheap, steady hand at the back of a rotation that in 2018 was one of the worst in baseball. Nova still allows a lot of home runs, but he also throws plenty of strikes.

PIRATES ACQUIRE:

Yordi Rosario, RHP
Age: 19

Rosario, who signed with the White Sox in 2016 out of the Dominican Republic, spent three seasons in the Dominican Summer League before making his stateside debut in 2018 in the Rookie-level Arizona League. He’s athletic and projectable, though he pitches with a below-average but sneaky fastball in the 86-91 mph range. He also throws a curveball that has a chance to be average at 71-74 mph and a changeup at 83-84 mph. He’s a lottery ticket type of acquisition who will get more interesting as he adds strength.