White Sox Acquire Aldrin Batista, Maximo Martinez From Dodgers

Although the deadline to make traditional, player-for-player trades passed on Aug. 1, teams can still exchange players for international pool money. The Dodgers and White Sox did just that on Aug. 4, with Los Angeles sending righthanders Aldrin Batista and Maximo Martinez—both of whom were pitching in the Arizona Complex League—to Chicago for cap money.

White Sox Acquire
Maximo Martinez, RHP
Age: 19
Martinez was signed by the Dodgers out of Venezuela in 2021. He pitched in the Dominican Summer League that year, then made just two starts in the Arizona Complex League in 2022 while dealing with injuries. He returned to the level this year and had struck out 28 in 26.2 innings while also issuing 17 walks. Martinez works with a lively fastball in the 95-98 mph range and an inconsistent upper-80s slider that scouts have seen flash plus.

Aldrin Batista, RHP
Age: 20
Batista, who hails from the Dominican Republic, signed with Los Angeles in 2022, shortly after he turned 19 years old. At the time of the trade he led the Arizona Complex League with 54 strikeouts and was an up-arrow prospect hidden in the depth of Los Angeles’ system. He works primarily with a low-90s sinker that has touched 97 and a low-80s slider, but he’ll mix in a nascent changeup every now and again as well. Among pitchers with 30 or more innings, his swinging-strike rate of 32.6% was second only to Kansas City’s Emmanuel Reyes, who has since been bumped to Low-A.