One year after trading for left-hander reliever Cam Booser, the White Sox have nothing to show for it — while Boston has a fast-rising pitching prospect.
On December 21, 2024, the Chicago White Sox made a deal with the Boston Red Sox for left-hander Cam Booser, hoping to add a cheap and controllable bullpen arm. The Sox sent right-handed pitching prospect Yhoiker Fajardo to Boston, and at the time, the move was largely celebrated.
Booser was coming off a stellar rookie season in Boston, posting a 3.38 ERA over 43 appearances with 9.1 strikeouts per nine. Yes, he was already 32 years old, but he’d become a fan favorite with an unlikely story, big velocity from a deceptive delivery, and a sweeping breaking ball that played against both lefties and righties.
The Red Sox were going to miss him, and the White Sox believed he would help stabilize their bullpen in 2025 and beyond.
It didn’t happen.
Booser struggled badly in Chicago, finishing with a 5.52 ERA in 2025 while bouncing between the majors and Triple-A. His strikeout numbers actually improved to 10.2 K/9, but his lack of command was glaring — he walked 5.5 batters per nine innings. Even with some evidence of bad batted-ball luck, the barrel rate and walk rate were among the worst in the league, and those are the kinds of underlying issues that sink relievers quickly.
When he was on, Booser was a light out arm. But the White Sox waited all season and never saw that guy consistently show up to the ballpark.
On Friday, the White Sox chose to non-tender Booser to open a 40-man roster spot, making him a free agent and effectively ending his time on the South Side after just one season. It’s a tough look for the front office in hindsight, and it becomes even tougher when you look at what Fajardo has become.
Fajardo was an unknown when the White Sox dealt him — a raw arm who had only pitched in the Dominican Summer League. But with Boston in 2025, he climbed quickly, pitching in both the Florida Complex League and Low-A Salem.
Across the two levels, he posted a 2.25 ERA in 72 innings with 10.4 K/9.
Baseball America recently ranked Fajardo as the No. 9 prospect in the Red Sox system. MLB.com listed him at No. 25 at the end of the season, but he’s expected to rise sharply in the next update. Evaluators describe him as unusually advanced for an 18-year-old pitcher, with starter traits and a ceiling that could land him at the front of a rotation if the development continues.
The White Sox do have a surplus of young pitching, so trading from that area wasn’t unreasonable in theory. But in practice, this one is already a loss. Booser didn’t work out, and the prospect they gave up now looks like a legitimate asset for Boston.
Not exactly Chris Getz’s finest moment — and it may look even worse with time.