The White Sox are potentially lined up to be sellers at the deadline, though exactly how much they commit to that task remains to be seen. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that, as of right now, they might only be willing to move impending free agents. Those plans could always change as discussions take place, but it’s a noteworthy stance at the moment. The trade deadline is August 1.
At this point, it’s not even necessarily a lock that the White Sox will be sellers at all. Despite their poor 30-40 record, they are only 5.5 games back of the Twins in the weak American League Central division. But the Wild Card race is much stronger, putting them 9.5 games out of a spot there.
A hot streak could get them right back in the divisional race but those have been hard to come by this season and the front office needs to at least consider the possibility that they stay on the outside looking in. Like all clubs, the players on the roster have varied contractual situations that affect the trade calculus. It seems that the club is currently leaning towards trading players on expiring contracts but keeping players with more control in order to take another shot at contending next year.
Even by limiting themselves to a softer sell, they would still have plenty of players to discuss in trade talks. Lucas Giolito, Mike Clevinger, Yasmani Grandal, Elvis Andrus, Reynaldo López and Keynan Middleton are all set to reach free agency this winter and would be the club’s best trade chips. Clevinger’s deal has a mutual option for 2024 but those are rarely picked up by both parties.
Giolito would be one of the top names on the market this summer if he were available, having established himself as a reliable and effective starter in recent years. In each season from 2019 to 2021, he had an ERA between 3.41 and 3.53. That figure jumped to 4.90 last year, but that coincided with his batting average on balls in play jumping to .340, well above any of his previous seasons. This year, he’s dropped his ERA right back down to his norm as he’s at 3.54 through 14 starts.
Now 28 years old, Giolito has gone year-to-year in arbitration. He’s now in his third and final arb year, making $10.4MM. By the time the deadline rolls around, there will be roughly $3.5MM left to be paid out.
Just about every contender will be looking to bolster their rotation for the final months of the season and the playoffs, which should give Giolito widespread interest. Even teams on the lower end of the spending spectrum could fit that salary figure onto their books, meaning few clubs would be eliminated from the list of logical suitors. That makes Giolito the White Sox’ best chance at recouping some future value from what could end up being a disappointing season.
Some of those other names may have some appeal as well. Clevinger has a 3.88 ERA but with subpar peripherals, striking out 19.3% of opponents while walking 9.5%. A .275 batting average on balls in play and 81.2% strand rate are helping him out, with his 4.89 FIP and 5.07 SIERA less optimistic. He’s making a salary of $8MM this year but has a $4MM buyout on his mutual option. He has a bit of an uncertain health outlook at the moment, as he was removed from his most recent start due to biceps soreness. It seems there’s no structural damage, per Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times, but he might still land on the injured list.
Grandal struggled last year but is having a decent bounce back, hitting .271/.330/.410 so far this year for a wRC+ of 106. Trading catchers at midseason can be tricky since they would then have to learn an entirely new pitching staff on the fly. However, Grandal is 34 years old and hits well enough that it could make sense for him to factor into a club’s designated hitter mix, especially since he’s a switch-hitter. The final year of his four-year deal pays him $18.25MM annually.
Andrus is also an impending free agent but his interest will surely be muted as he’s hitting .196/.277/.247 this year. López has a 5.10 ERA but his 28.3% strikeout rate will surely lead to some intrigue. Middleton’s 1.93 ERA is buoyed by an unsustainable 96.3% strand rate but he is striking out 31.9% of opponents and getting grounders at a 54.5% clip. All three of these players are making modest salaries of less than $4MM this year.
There are also a couple of borderline cases who could be considered rentals. The Sox have an $18MM option on Lance Lynn for next year with a $1MM buyout. His 6.75 ERA this year makes it less likely that gets picked up but it also diminishes his trade appeal. Joe Kelly is in a somewhat similar situation as he can be kept around for 2024 via a $9.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout. He has a 4.57 ERA but strong peripherals and a 53.7% strand rate, leading to a 2.86 FIP and 2.80 SIERA.
The club also has a $15MM option on Liam Hendriks, though with a $15MM buyout. The only difference is that triggering the buyout would allow them to spread the payment out over 10 years instead of just in 2024. He’s been floated as a trade candidate this summer but he’s currently on the injured list due to inflammation in his pitching elbow. Given the injury, the PR hit of trading him away after his feel-good return from cancer and that buyout, it seems likely that he’s with the Sox again next year.
If the Sox ultimately stick to their plan of only trading rentals, that would mean that other speculative trade candidates are off the table. Many observers have wondered if the club would consider moving shortstop Tim Anderson, who can be retained for 2024 via a $14MM club option with a $1MM buyout. Trading him now would be a difficult decision because it would hurt the club’s chances of returning to contention in 2024 and the return would surely be diminished since he’s hitting just .251/.290/.296 this year. Instead of trading him when his value is at a low ebb, there would be sense in the club hanging onto him and hoping for a return to form next year.
Dylan Cease has also been suggested as a trade candidate but that would require the club to really commit to a lengthier rebuild. He still has two more passes through arbitration to go and isn’t slated for free agency until after 2025. His ERA has almost doubled from last year’s 2.20 to this year’s 4.31 figure, but he’s still getting strikeouts at an above-average 26.2% rate. They would surely get a huge haul for him if they decided to move him, but it doesn’t seem as though that’s on the table right now.
Dylan Cease to the Dodgers confirmed
Kopech to the Dodgers seems more plausible if they tried to pry something more long term
FYI: Dylan Cease and Michael Kopech have equal team control. Each are arbitration eligible in 2024 and 2025 and can become free agents in 2026. Cease has been healthier and accomplished more thus far. He is the more expensive arb eligible of the two.
I will believe it when I see it
Yet another misstep for this bungling FO. Won’t commit to a rebuild that’s becoming painfully necessary. Won’t try for one last hurrah and hope to catch lightning in a bottle. Nope, they’re opting for punting on the season, getting minimal returns, save maybe for Giolito, and being in a worse position next year, all while wasting a year of value from their good trade chips. I honestly think a number of the fans on this site could do a better job running a team.
Not disagreeing with you, but the only time they really could have made a big push was the offseason when they could buy free agents. At this point the only way to aquire impactful players is via trade. Sox have a few promising arms from the last 2 drafts, but they would have to clear the minor league shelves in order to get 2 players. I think they need a lot more than 2 players. At the very least they need a front line starter, elite bullpen arm, RF, and 2nd.
Montgomery and Colas would each bring back someone useful, then there are package deals. I wouldn’t like such a move, but at least it would signify a plan. The lack of any real direction is what bothers me most. Even then, though, it’s hard to see a way forward with this FO, just a bunch of paths sideways.
Again, I’m not disagreeing with you. I get your viewpoint. The Sox would need to deal more than Montgomery and Colas and I think people overvalue Colas. Colas can’t fill one if the holes the Sox have, he certainly isn’t going to bring a better player in return. Personally I wouldn’t want to deal from the prospects. There aren’t many quality prospects. You’re trading them for rentals, so at the end of the year, they’re gone and your prospects are gone.
I get if you want to go in right now. I just don’t think they can get enough to bump them into a top team.
This whole thing is a joke. It’s not Hahn, it’s not Williams. It’s Reinsdorf. Just like he decimated the Bulls by trading away their best (and most expensive) players, he’s doing the same thing with the Sox. To me, the Sox have a core of Vaughn, Robert, Jimenez, Moncada, Benintendi, Zavala Hendriks and Anderson. Moncada, Jimenez and Robert, year after year, miss time on the IL. Still they’re worth keeping. The Sox could keep those players and buy major league players, not Frazier, Gonzalez, whichever dfa’s they’ve got in their minors. There was plenty to choose from this off-season but Reinsdorf won’t cough up the money to allow Hahn to build a contender like he did between 2017-2020 before Reinsdorf screwed up the whole thing by hiring TLR. Sox fans shouldn’t fool themselves. If they trade their “rentals”, they aren’t likely to get proper value in return. They’ll be just a hair above the A’s when it comes to indifference. So enjoy the rentals this season because the 2024 Sox will be nothing g but dfa’s and has beens currently clogging up their farm system. They have no prospects anywhere near ready for the major leagues. I’ve been a Sox fan almost my whole life. All I can say is, go Dbacks, Orioles and Angels! Might as well spend my time watching teams that are trying.
I hear ya. I tried to convince myself to become a Guardians fan earlier this year. Couldn’t quite do it. But it would be nice to cheer for a team that’s competently managed, put together well for the budget, with some real hope residing on the farm rather than just one or two nice pieces.
@Spotswood, I don’t want to go all in right now. My point was that all-in would at least be an attempt at something.
I want to go full rebuild. Even if it is the same two clowns, I can at least dream on prospects before they prove me wrong. Right now, there’s not a whole lot to dream on. Burger and Robert have been bright spots, Giolito is having a decent year, and Graveman, Santos, and Middleton are worth something. Not a whole lot going right outside of them. I’d just as soon tear it down as far as they can, run out an A’s level team the next four years and hope they learned at least something from this failed rebuild.
Montgomery and Colas, for what exactly? They are not really tearing it up in the minors.. Sox should move anyone not named Robert, Cease or Kopech. The problem is that godawful front office is still there, so whatever they get back will be little and not likely any good trades. The Sox ‘mediocrity’ is back and likely not going anywhere soon,and, just like the other Reinsdorf team, nothing will get better as long as they have a sycophantic front office that falls over itself to be the chief ‘yes man ‘to the ‘chairman”
I can definitely see Giolito, Clevinger and Grandal traded. Lopez isn’t anywhere close to as good as a year ago. Middleton is a maybe. Andrus makes sense for a team like the Marlins (maybe packaged with Grandal?). I think Lynn and Kelly are harder sells and the options are moot because they are both almost certain to get bought out unless they somehow miraculously get traded and have complete turn arounds on their current production
Good post. I think Clevinger’s latest arm injury is bad timing for them, and puts the kabash on any significant trade value.
Giolito should get the greatest return of the players you’ve listed.
I’d like to think the dodgers would like Joe Kelly back
If the Dodgers make a bullpen trade, definitely see Kelly towards the top of the list as a lower cost acquisition plus they know him already.
been saying Lucas for a while. Would love arizona to get him. But I can easily see philly making the move. Arizona needs a starter another bullpen and a decent hitter.Smith and rojas need to go. Arizona is very close to being a scary team.
I can see the Orioles and Yankees chasing Giolito pretty hard.
Not the Yankees. NEVER the Yankees!!!
Most White Sox fans and their 87-year old owner don’t have the stomach for another rebuild on the heels of their most recent one. Fewer of us trust the current front office to oversee a proper reload/retool let alone another rebuild.
Many mistakes were made during the last rebuild, but the most glaring to me was handing out all those extensions way before they needed to. Signing Grandal was a mistake. You can even argue that signing Benintendi was a mistake since he hasn’t moved the needle one bit – he’s more suited as a role player like he was with NYY. Lance Lynn is out of gas, Giolito didn’t continue on the trajectory they thought he would, 2B has been a revolving door since the Madrigal deal, but we’re seeing that even he wouldn’t have been a solution. They did make the right move in letting Abreu walk, so they get credit for that. Too many injury-prone players and a general lack of team chemistry. I don’t know if it’s even possible to blow it up at this point if they wanted to.
White Sox doing same thing every year and expecting different results than finishing below .500
I really don’t see what the fuss is about Tim Anderson. He’s a singles hitter that doesn’t take walks, and plays poor defense at a position where defense is important. So any meager offense he provides gets washed away with the poor run prevention.
If they move Anderson, who do they have for SS? Andrus for now, but its a tough trade market for next year.
Romy and Sosa
Perpetual, injury prone, drama queen T.A won’t bring back much in trade, but it very well could be addition by subtraction with him.
No one in their right mind would think of trading valuable assets for the junk the White Sox would have to offer. Cease would bring back the greatest return of any player they have. If Joe Kelly would stop trying to be cute and just execute, someone might take a flyer on him. Any of the other possibilities would be just a salary dump for a lesser valued return. Poorly constructed team for a great fan base.
Listening to a bunch of out of towners who know nothing in chat…
Montgomery & Colas going nowhere.
Dylan Cease going nowhere.
Tim Anderson going nowhere.
Eloy Jimenez going nowhere.
Luis Robert going nowhere.
Guys with expiring contracts mostly all up for grabs. Moncada can be had.
I speak for Kenny & Hahn. Stop trying to trade guys who ain’t going anywhere.
Then the Sox are going nowhere. They cannot run this crew out next year they will draw 5,000 fans
Clowns to the left of me joker’s to the right. Sox in a tough spot, they think they can contend even though they haven’t shown they can seriously compete. If they somehow won the division their playoff stay would most likely be short. If they don’t make it or if they start selling off pieces, it may be the beginning of the end for the front office.
Mr. Reinsdorf, are “clown” and “joker” any way to refer to Messrs. Williams and Hahn? If you’re “stuck in the middle” with them, what does that make you? After all, you hired them and kept them on!
Pretty sure the White Sox are the most unlikable team in sports
No Way!! That’s definitely the Astros or the Rangers!!!
Don’t forget the most hated, nyy.
Actually I think the Sox are liked, its their front office that is not.
I think most people just don’t care about them. That’s what often happens when you’re usually mediocre. Not a lot of hatred from rivals, not any lovable loser vibe. Just stranded in a sea with no currents and no hope of rescue until there’s a new owner.
Correct… Being indifferent or ignored is worse than being hated, and that is the White Sox. Most Cub fans don’t hate the White Sox, they’re just there…
Clevinger, Grandal and Middleton would be a nice fit for the pirates if they want to stay with in striking distance. I’d be okay with any one to all of those since the price would be cheaper.
each one on their own wouldn’t give a lot but multiple might give some middling to upper organizational prospect(s) like Peguero or Chandler headlining.
of course if Hedges isn’t going anywhere and Santana isn’t going anywhere then Grandal kinda pointless
Giolito’s numbers went south last year as the sticky stuff ban went into effect. Now he has learned to pitch around his reliance on it. I see Clevenger going as most of the fan base hates him anyway.. but Gio staying until the end of the year and walking to one of the CA teams in the offseason.
I think the White Sox could use a full rebuild but a reload would also make sense. Trade Lynn, Giolito, Grandal, Clevinger and Kelly. That would get you something even the salary relief would help if it was used on next years team.
Giolito is getting traded at the deadline to either the Yankees or the Orioles. Whoever doesn’t get Gio will probably get Bieber.
Who would want Lynn in his current state? Even Grandal would require the Sox to eat salary. Giolito is the only one of those guys who’d bring back someone useful, unless they hit the jackpot on a lottery ticket.
Mike Clevinger (3.88 era) and Lance Lynn should start looking for rental property in NYC. Yankee’s will get one of them, and the Mets will get the other. Pitching is a commodity and we are going to play hardball, the Volpe kid and the Baty kid are what we are looking for.
And Ethereum will be worth $100,000 in a year.
Yep, and I’d love to get those two for Clevinger and Lynn. But why stop there? Let’s trade Grandal and Andrus for Albies and Acuna, Jr., Romy for Rutschman, and Sheets for McClanahan.
What makes you think anyone wants a very old, washed up Lance Lynn?
Well the White Sox did.. oh, wait….. I forget the main White Sox MO is to get guys at least 5 years past their prime
I get why the white sox would put this out there. Moving the rental pieces is a given, but TA, Cease, Kopech should be held onto unless some team makes an offer Chicago absolutely love. The lack of SS options available could bring something big to the table but if not, just keep the guy on his team friendly deal.
Tim Anderson has provided -0.2 fWAR so far this year…no one is bringing anything big to the table.
Liam Hendriks’ introduction of Papa Emeritus of Ghost ranks as perhaps the finest viral baseball moment of the past few seasons….His Eminence requests that he remain in Chicago.
Not buying that garbage about Sox holding onto everyone who isn’t headed to free agency, that’s ownership speak for, “we’ll sell but it won’t be cheap “! Plenty of pieces for Dodgers to inquire about wether that’s rotation guys, bullpen guys or the shortstop they truly need! (Anderson) Whitesox playing like a teenage girl on a Friday night(hard to get) , guaranteed as trade deadline closes in they’ll start dumping pieces!
The dodgers don’t need a SS with a 63 wRC+ on the year.
They need to sell the whole team and move to Vegas. Wouldn’t mind having two teams in Vegas.
Vegas A’s
Vegas White Sox
Cease/Kopech/Robert/Vaughn should be the shortlist of who this “should be fired” FO is not allowed to trade. That is for next POBO to assess direction in 2024 and beyond.
TA should very much be up for grabs. He’s not even a good SS besides missing way too many games. A decent team can shift him to 2B.
Hendriks trade would be doing him a solid if he recovers from current injury. That is not a PR hit, but rather giving a guy a chance to pitch for a contender late in his career.
Giolito rental and 1.5yrs of Graveman as a package to 1 team might be the only way to get a really good headliner prospect since rental starter alone may fall short. Perhaps Balt and LAD are targets for that combo? In Balt, KG could merely be 6th/7th inning guy for its super back end of bullpen.
One thing for sure Riensdorf and this front office has turned this team into the most disrespected teams in all of sports, Hope the Commissioner does something about this joke of an organization soon.
Writing this yet again…..
The Sox issues on the field start with Jerry Riensdorf and Kenny Williams. Until they’re replaced the Sox will continue to go in circles as they have with the exception of the time Ozzie was managing them…..and constantly fighting with the FO to get players that he could win with.
A new PoBO needs to come in and be given the freedom to hire a new FO. The baseball philosophies/mindset has to change. Players need to be brought in to put the team winning ahead of their stats, salaries, marketing their brand, and “look at that me” attitude. This has been the worst MLB organization for over a decade in defense, running the bases, and situational hitting.
Trading players on this roster for other players is not going to solve anything. The Sox need to be run as a professional MLB operation, with coaches at all levels committed to making their players better, and the FO and owner not undermining their manager and coaches by coddling favored players. Set standards, hold players to them, and if they don’t meet them in a reasonable time give others a chance to play.
You don’t understand. REINSDORF DOESN’T CARE about winning or contending even for the meaningless title of ALC champion.
Why was Ozzie Guillen run out of town so quickly ?? He was still a young-ish man at the time, yet he never caught on to manage elsewhere either ( to my knowledge). Was he a hothead or just not temperamentally fit to be a manager or what?
Ozzie would not get on his knees to KW. Then when he went to the Marlins, he made some stupid comments about Fidel Castro and the writing was on the wall there.
He was a coach on the Marlins championship team. If he got run out of town because of saying something positive about Castro, the Sox obviously weren’t dissuaded by it. Thank goodness they weren’t or we’d still be waiting for a championship.
Ozzie was a third base coach for the Marlins before being the manager of the White Sox. He was the Manager of the Marlins (after his White Sox tenure) at the time he made the Castro comments, which is why his tenure as manager of the Marlins did not last long.
Do you really want the oafs in the White Sox FO to do another rebuild?
And a competent FO, could retool without rebuilding.
Hate to tell them, but rental players don’t return much in today’s MLB. If they wanted value, last year was the year.
The ESPN analysts I think were talking Anderson to the Dodgers.. The any good org would not be able to say ‘Yes’ fast enough if they give him almost anything in return.. Ill give credit where credit is due, it was either here or another site where one lone poster posted a story of Anderson’s infidelity and I brushed it off as silly gossip and I was way wrong. What makes me wonder though is what did the Sox org know, when did they know it, and did they help Anderson by his little ‘injuries’ to leave the team to take care of his own mess? Again this front office is just terrible with no hope of saving on the horizon.. At least when KW got fired…. sorry, ‘promoted’ to his stuffed shirt role, at least we had hope Hahn could be the guy.. Nope, and this time there is no other ‘hope’ to speak of. Never mind Grifol is clearly a bottom cost hire and not a good manager which is no surprise when you bring him in from another org that is also mired in mediocrity right now.. Penny pinching has cost this team yet another chance to be good and its just depressing as we have seen tantalizing glimpses of what could be a great team even this season, but same ol’ issue: No heart… Heck Moncada cannot even stay healthy enough to move his silly #$% to another team who can believe they can get something out of him. Vaughn, Sheets, Jimenez, Burger, Anderson, Adrus, Lynn, Giolito, Hendriks Grandal.Clevinger, etc Stores open everyone…up for grabs for whatever.. Pretty much anyone not named Robert, Cease, Kopech (maybe Crochet). Even then I have little hope that Hahn can make good trades. Even if he does, its clear that the ‘coaches’ on this team are just as bad as the manager. Heck the one guy that seemed to finally find something was let go for a fossil about 10 years past his prime (like most White Sox FA pickups actually)
they would still have plenty of players to discuss in trade talks. Lucas Giolito, Mike Clevinger, Yasmani Grandal, Elvis Andrus, Reynaldo López and Keynan Middleton
==========================
Only two of those guys are tradeable, and only Giolito will get you maybe a top-100 prospect.
A desperate GM is a dangerous thing. You’ve been Hahned.
Hendriks may end up preferring a trade. A playoff team could easily be elevating instead of wallowing away in the southside. Sentimentality doesn’t serve either this season.
For three years we have needed a right fielder, a second basemen and a catcher who can actually catch the ball. Kenny, Rick what are you doing? Surly your not doing your job. I guess that’s the White Sox way.
Too bad they can’t trade the front office.
TA has infidelity pulled groin issues he would fit in as a Dodger on TMZ . His error with the bases loaded dp proved he can’t handle SS. Not worth 12 mil next year at 30 years old. They become free agents on the down slide. Moncada too! Sox have pieces to trade plus the routinely injured. Move them when they return. They are still 10 under.500 will be there the rest of the way even if they win the division. No .500 team wins the WS . Isn’t that what you play for.