White Sox acquire 2B Cesar Hernandez from Indians, RHP Ryan Tepera from Cubs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The White Sox checked off two important needs before the trade deadline Friday, acquiring second baseman Cesar Hernandez from the Indians and right-handed reliever Ryan Tepera from the Cubs.

The Sox sent left-hander Konnor Pilkington to the American League Central Division rival Indians and lefty prospect Bailey Horn to the crosstown rival Cubs. Neither is on the Sox’ list of top-30 prospects.

The Sox have been exploring upgrade options at second base after Nick Madrigal went down for the season with a hamstring injury. Leury Garcia and Danny Mendick, both of whom profile as multipurpose players, have been playing second base.

A 31-year-old switch hitter who won a Gold Glove at second base in 2020, Hernandez is batting .231/.307/.431 with a career-high 18 home runs and 17 doubles. He owns a career .272/.347/.388 hitting line.

The Indians (50-49), the closest team to the Sox (60-43) in the division — eight games behind — seemed to signal giving up on chasing the Sox with the trade.

“Cesar Hernandez provides our club with a valuable combination of a power bat in the middle infield and Gold-Glove quality defense,” Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. “Adding a player like César gives Tony a strong and proven option at second base for the stretch run of the season and hopefully into October.”

On June 28, Cleveland was 41-31 and in second place, two games behind the Sox. The Indians would have preferred trading Hernandez to another team but did what they felt was the best move for them.

“We had to make the trade that made the most sense for us, so this is the direction we went,” Indians president Chris Antonetti said. “As we tried to be realistic about where we are, we’re going to continue to do our best to win as many games as possible.”

Hernandez is owed about $1.8 million of his one-year, $5 million contract that contains a $6 million club option with no buyout for 2022.

Tepera was named the National League reliever of the month for May. He threw 14⅔ innings, earning seven holds while striking out 19 and allowing a single earned run for the Cubs. He has a 2.91 ERA in 43⅓ innings with 50 strikeouts and a 0.785 WHiP.

“Ryan has been an extremely reliable bullpen arm this season and throughout his career,” Hahn said. “We are very pleased to add him to our talented and versatile group of relievers. Across his career, Ryan has succeeded in a variety of situations and has the ability to get both lefties and righties out at very high rates.”

Tepera owns a 3.54 ERA with 11 saves in 280 career relief appearances between the Blue Jays (2015-19) and Cubs (2020-21). He has appeared in three career postseason games.

It’s the first trade between the crosstown rivals since the Cubs sent Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease and two other prospects to the Sox for left-hander Jose Quintana in 2017.

“It’s clear the front office is doing what they can to get us better,” La Russa said.

“Cesar fits our needs real well. He’s having a good year, and I love what he can do from both sides of the plate. He’s got good athleticism. And Tepera, he’s got experience, he can fill out different roles. Depth is always good in the bullpen.”

The Sox might go for another pitcher before the deadline at 3 p.m. Friday.

Pitching prospect Tyler Johnson was released and right-hander Even Marshall was transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man roster.

Pilkington owns a 3.48 ERA over 62 innings pitched this season. Horn, 23, is 2-3 with a 5.63 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 14 appearances (10 starts) between High-A Winston-Salem and Low-A Kannapolis this season.

Hernandez will see his former team Friday when the Sox play the Indians to open a weekend series at Guaranteed Rate Field.