Braves trade five, including former All-Star, to White Sox for Aaron Bummer

The Braves acquired reliever Aaron Bummer from the White Sox in a late-night trade announced late Thursday night. 

As part of the deal, the White Sox received five players in return, including pitchers Mike Soroka and Jared Shuster, infielders Nicky Lopez and Braden Shewmake and minor leagu pitcher Riley Gowens.

The five-for-one deal seemed to surprise some, but the Braves get a solid addition to their bullpen for next season.

Atlanta also gets a player who will be on the books for $5.5 million this season and has club options in 2025 and 2026. 

Bummer had spent his whole career on the South Side after the White Sox drafted him in 2014 and made his MLB debut in 2017.

Since then, he has appeared in 289 career games with an ERA of 3.89. 

Last year, he went 5-5 with a 6.79 ERA in 61 appearances for Chicago, though he struck out 78 in 58 1/3 innings.

Bummer has dealt with injury issues over the past few years, which have limited his impact for the White Sox. 

Chicago, in return, gets three former first-round picks by the Braves in Soroka, Shuster and Shewmake. 

Soroka was once one of the most promising young pitchers in baseball — finishing second in the 2019 NL Rookie of the Year race to Pete Alonso — before suffering a spate of injuries, including an Achilles tear in 2020 and a complete re-tear in 2021.

He did not pitch in either 2021 or 2022 and spent the majority of last season in Triple-A Gwinnett, but appeared in seven games in the big leagues, starting six times with a 2-2 record and a 6.40 ERA.

Shuster spent time in both Triple-A and the majors last season, starting 11 games for Atlanta with a 4-3 record with a 5.81 ERA. 

Apart from two big league games, Shewmake played most of the year in Gwinnett, hitting 16 homers with a .705 OPS.