The Yankees' acquisition of third baseman Todd Frazier, reliever David Robertson and reliever Tommy Kahnle for reliever Tyler Clippard and three prospects (including two former first-rounders) probably does more to help their bullpen than their lineup -- particularly given Frazier's struggles at the plate this year. The White Sox, meanwhile, appear to be willing to take a chance on those two first-rounders – outfielder Blake Rutherford and pitcher Ian Clarkin -- while their value is low.

Since Frazier's 2014-15 peak, the 31-year-old has underperformed the past two seasons, posting strangely poor results in the White Sox's hitter-friendly home park. Never much of a breaking-ball hitter, Frazier has also failed to do much damage with fastballs in 2017; while he has put the ball in play more often, his .214 BABIP so far this year seems too low to be real. The version of Frazier we've seen this year isn't much of an improvement over Yankees third baseman Chase Headley, either on offense or at third base, so I assume the Yankees believe they're getting the 2016 version of Frazier (or even an earlier model) in the deal.

The deal does more to bolster the Yankees' bullpen, which has recently seen some shakier performances from Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances. It also represents a homecoming for Robertson and Kahnle, both of whom have ties to New York. Robertson has been throwing more strikes and fanning more batters this season after a down year in 2016, while Kahnle's 42.6 percent strikeout rate is fourth-best in the majors this year.

Kahnle is throwing harder in 2017 than he ever has before, and he's missing bats in the zone more than most pitchers do; while nothing in his history pointed to this, it appears that at least some of his elevated results are a direct result of his improved stuff. The Yankees also add by subtracting Tyler Clippard from their pen, and they are better-equipped for the regular season and October with this new-look relief corps that should shorten a lot of games to six innings.

The return for the White Sox revolves largely around Rutherford recapturing the promise he showed last spring and summer, fresh off his selection as the 18th overall pick in the 2016 draft. Rutherford turned 19 in May of his senior year of high school and has played in the South Atlantic League at age 20 this year -- about right for low-A -- without producing much (281/.342/.391). The left-handed hitter is making a lot of contact but not doing much with it, and is barely hitting lefties.

I saw Rutherford on Monday when the Lakewood BlueClaws no-hit the Charleston RiverDogs, the Yankees affiliate, in Rutherford's last game with Charleston before the trade. His swing is still simple and his approach is quiet, although he can open up his front hip too early, which may be why he's so vulnerable to left-handed pitching. There's no mechanical reason to explain the power outage. While he has played mostly center field this year for the RiverDogs, he will play a corner in the majors, which means he has to show more power going forward.

A left-hander, Clarkin is another former first-round pick, although he's also quite different from the player the Yankees thought they were getting when they took him one spot behind Aaron Judge in the 2013 draft.

Clarkin had a potential knockout curveball in high school, but injuries have changed his profile and he's now more of a fastball/changeup guy. He has shown a reverse platoon split in each of the past two seasons since missing all of 2015 with an elbow injury (which didn't require surgery). He throws everything for strikes but lacks a true out pitch. The White Sox have had a lot of success teaching pitchers to throw cutters and improve sliders -- Chris Sale is the most obvious example -- and perhaps they can find a third pitch for Clarkin that will make him more effective against left-handed hitters. If he can get to a solid to average breaking ball, he'd project as at least a fourth starter. Without it, he's more of a fifth/sixth guy.

The White Sox also get unheralded Colombian outfielder Tito Polo. Aside from his delightful name, Polo can run, and he has continued to hit at two minor league levels this year at age 22. He should end up as a fourth outfielder at the very least. The Sox also clear Robertson's $13 million salary for 2018 -- money a rebuilding club should not be wasting on the back end of its bullpen. It's still a high-risk deal for the White Sox, however, given Rutherford's and Clarkin's subpar performances in the Yankees' farm system so far.