Remember When the White Sox Could’ve Traded Shields for Puig?
By Matt Manetti
The White Sox missed a golden opportunity to add a former All-Star to its roster. He would’ve represented an upgrade in the outfield, at the plate. All areas of concern for this roster.
The Chicago White Sox shocked the baseball world when they stood pat at the trade deadline. Even though this team was out of playoff contention, all they did was trade Zach Duke and left the rest of the roster intact. It was an interesting strategy considering the state of the organization and the fact they had several tradable assets.
While it may not have been wise to trade Jose Quintana or Chris Sale, why on earth would they hold onto James Shields? Shields statistically was the worse starting pitcher in baseball before the trading deadline. It’s something fans will continue to question. Unless he has a turnaround season, that is inexcusable.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers were interested in moving Yasiel Puig. Yes, the team that’s playing in the NLCS right now. And all the Sox had to do was give up Shields. It really seems like a no brainer. But somehow the White Sox brain trust couldn’t pull off this deal. Now, we’re watching Puig play in the NLCS and he doesn’t look that bad. And outfield is a concern for the Sox heading into the offseason. They will definitely need to sign a free agent to fill the void.
On the flip side they could have traded for an extremely talented 25 year old. He did have a down year but there’s no arguing the talent is there. He plays excellent defense and could easily play left field. It also helps that he has a phenomenal arm. Definitely something you need in a corner outfielder.
The biggest knock was his attitude. He didn’t take the news too kindly when he was sent to Triple A but you can’t tell me any major leaguer would be happy about that. There’s no arguing he could have handled it better. However, that could have been a reason why the Dodgers wanted to move on. If the Sox have the opportunity to trade for him again, they would be stupid not too.
This team really needs a power hitting left hander. However, there aren’t many available. Jay Bruce would be the best available, but he has an option with the Mets. In the interim it wouldn’t be a bad idea to see if the Dodgers are still willing to depart with Puig. If they are still willing to just take Shields, that would even be better.
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Shields really has no value for this team. All he does is lose games and his best days are behind him. It’s so like this Sox team to try to gamble on guys past their prime. It’s time for them to finally invest in some young talent and bring in guys who are in their prime, instead of past their prime.