White Sox fans are happy their team traded for Joakim Soria
If Joakim Soria had ended up with just one stint with the Royals, he’d have been a beloved figure in Kansas City forever.
Soria had 160 saves and a 2.40 ERA in 298 games with the Royals from 2007-11. After leaving the Royals, Soria pitched for the Rangers, Tigers and Pirates before returning to Kansas City ahead of the 2016 season.
Over the last two seasons, Soria had 14 blown saves and a 3.89 ERA. He became a lightning rod for the frustrations of Royals fans, who had become accustomed to unprecedented success from a bullpen combination of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland.
So when Soria was traded to the White Sox as part of a three-way deal that included the Dodgers, a number of Roals fans took to social media to express their happiness at Soria’s departure.
The mood on the south side of Chicago was considerably different.
White Sox fans were happy to get Soria. Here is what they were saying on Twitter:
Solid trade by the White Sox. Welcome to the Southside, Soria and Avilan! #WhiteSox
— Bike M (@dick_van_bike) January 5, 2018
As a White Sox fan, I'm cool with landing Soria. Without Ned Yost stubbornly trying to pound him into a role he's not suited for, I trust Cooper and Rentaria to figure out where he fits. And then flip him for value. #WhiteSox #Royals
— B. Clay Moore (@bclaymoore) January 5, 2018
Rick Hahn managed to get RP Joakim Soria among others for depth in IF Jake Peter. Soria has had lights out stretches in the past. Had 3.70 ERA, 2.23 FIP, 10.3 K/9 with >50% groundball rate last season. Flip piece but also has 2019 team option. #WhiteSox
— Owen Schoenfeld (@The_Xsport) January 5, 2018
The #WhiteSox part of tonight's trade was so good. I'm not sure how they were able to do it. Peter was very expendable. Avilan and Soria both good and very flippable. Not sure what Kansas City is doing though.
— James Fox (@JamesFox917) January 5, 2018
Also joining the south side is 33 year old pitcher Joakim Soria. Who’s been in the league since 2007 and has a career ERA of 2.86. Soria will be a good mentor to the young talented pitchers in the #whitesox organization.
— windycitysoxfan (@windycitysoxfan) January 5, 2018
Hahn really did nice work with this deal. It will look even better when they trade Soria for prospects. #WhiteSox https://t.co/l9TcLlISbK
— T. Thor (@Thor1323) January 5, 2018
Joakim Soria and Luis Avilan. Nice quick boost to the #WhiteSox bullpen that it desperately needed
— Mark Bussey (@Mark_Bussey) January 5, 2018
After all these years I can finally root for Joakim Soria! #WhiteSox
— Carl Bruce (@carl_bruce1979) January 5, 2018
Not only do the #WhiteSox improve their eviscerated bullpen and add a couple of potential trade pieces, they seemingly made the #Royals worse. Not sure of the plan down in KC.
— Brian Bilek (@BrianBilek_) January 5, 2018
Joakim Soria and Luis Avilan combined to allow only 3 combined home runs to 426 combined batters faced in 2017. #WhiteSox
— Dom (@WhiteSoxDom) January 5, 2018
So the #whitesox add 2 potentially flippable relievers in Soria and Avilan, plus get $4M of their salary paid down, for Jake Peter. Not bad.
— South Side Sox (@SouthSideSox) January 5, 2018
Don Cooper is going to rebuild Soria and he’ll be flipped at the deadline. Cooper doing what Cooper does best
— Sox Nation (@soxnation35) January 5, 2018
I like this move a lot for the White Sox. They can likely flip Avilan at the deadline, and a $1 million buyout for Soria is chump change after 2018.
— James Neveau (@JamesNeveau) January 5, 2018
Love this. Two solid innings eaters and cash for a guy bound to be a 4th outfielder. pic.twitter.com/kV39MCyiu8
— Mike Rothschild +++ (@rothschildmd) January 5, 2018
Pete Grathoff: 816-234-4330, @pgrathoff