With the White Sox sitting in first place in the AL Central Division, and rumored to be looking for an extra hitter, they made somewhat of a surprising move as the deadline comes down to the wire. This afternoon they acquired RHP Edwin Jackson from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for a current rotation guy, Daniel Hudson, and prospect David Holmberg.
Tigers fans are familiar with Edwin Jackson, as he had his best MLB season with Detroit just last season (13-9, 3.62 ERA) before getting traded to the D-Backs in December. Jackson, however, has been struggling this season in the NL (despite pitching one effectively wild no-hitter). Since his 149 pitch no-hitter, Jackson's accumulated four losses in his last five starts with a 7.24 ERA.
There have been rumors that the White Sox traded for Jackson so they could flip him to Washington for slugger Adam Dunn. According to the Nationals, though, they are not trading Adam Dunn to the White Sox. If the White Sox can't pawn Jackson off to the Nationals for the power-hitting rental, they'll be responsible for Jackson's $8.35 million next season (barring another trade this off-season). That's a hefty price to pay for a pitcher when the Sox had a Top 100 prospect giving them virtually the same results.
If the White Sox do trade Jackson to the Nationals for Dunn, they'll have to plug somebody else in at the five spot. If you're a Tigers fan, though, you probably should be hoping the White Sox can't pull that deal off -- Jackson is notoriously bad in the 2nd half and the White Sox lineup is tough enough as it is.