Despite Yonder Alonso being the brother-in-law of marquee free agent Manny Machado, White Sox general manager Rick Hahn stated there wasn’t an ulterior motive to their acquisition of Alonso from the Indians.
“Fundamentally, this is a baseball deal,” Hahn said Saturday during a conference call to elaborate on the the trade of Alonso for minor-league outfielder Alex Call. “We feel this makes us better. We feel Yonder fits in between the lines, in the clubhouse and helps further what we’re trying to accomplish in 2019 and beyond.
“The potential ancillary benefits to it, in terms of relationships with others, really can’t be part of pulling the trigger and making the decision to acquire a big-league player — especially a veteran one with this type of contract commitment.