In what strikes me as a really odd idea, the White Sox are apparently willing to hear any and all offers for Gavin Floyd. Troy Renck of the Denver Post reported that the Colorado Rockies have apparently inquiring about Gavin Floyd already this off season.
For a starting pitching staff that probably can’t afford to lose anyone right now, this seems to make absolutely no sense at all. The White Sox do have a solid core of pitchers for the rotation in 2011 with Mark Buehrle, John Danks, and Edwin Jackson. The White Sox also have the possibility of resigning Freddy Garcia along with rookie Chris Sale getting his shot to pitch in the rotation (and he’d be more than capable of that with the way he pitched last season).
With that being said, there is no guarantee that the rotation will be set. Jake Peavy is coming off of an injury that is very rare for pitchers and there is no way to know how he is going to pitch when he comes back. There is no guarantee that he will even pitch the way he did when he won his Cy Young award. The White Sox can ill afford to give up a pitcher and then have Peavy, who was supposed to be like a second “ace” of the staff, suffer major setbacks and there be no one for the White Sox to rely on to take his place.
There is also the possibility of resigning Freddy Garcia like I said, but there is no guarantee that he will pitch anywhere near the way he did this season. He had an amazing start to the season but started to lose it as the season wore on. I’d put any amount of money down that he will not have a start like he did this season and will not pitch that well anymore. Again, the White Sox cannot afford to trade away Floyd when there are too many liabilities on the back end of the pitching staff next season.
Floyd isn’t an overpowering pitcher and he hasn’t had a spectacular career to date, but he is a solid third or fourth starter and he could be an asset that the White Sox will sorely need next season.
Also reported by Troy Renck of the Denver Post, is that the White Sox called the Colorado Rockies and inquired about the availability of Ian Stewart.
This is another thing that surprises me because I assumed that the third baseman of the future for the White Sox would be Brent Morel. Morel has amazing defensive capabilities and can hit for power when he makes solid contact and would be a very good fit at third base. Stewart is looking like a player that will average 15+ homers and 60+ RBI a season but he hits for a very low average and that isn’t something the White Sox need.
Is it possible that we will see a Gavin Floyd for Ian Steward trade this off season? It’s quite possible, but I don’t think it’s a necessary move at all.