White Sox: Who Else Can They Deal this Offseason?
White Sox still have many trade assets this offseason to restock farm system. What players could be traded?
After the surprising trades of ace Chris Sale and outfielder Adam Eaton, the Chicago White Sox are still on the hunt for prospects. As far as assets go, this team has a lot of veteran players that could help a contending team. While they probably can’t get a return like they got for Sale or Eaton, they could still get some decent prospects.
More from White Sox News
- Mariners pitching staff owns the White Sox on Wednesday
- 3 potential Tony La Russa replacements not named Miguel Cairo
- 3 Chicago White Sox players to cut ties with in September
- White Sox stay close with Guardians and Twins in AL Central race
- The White Sox take a thrilling must-win game over Mariners
The rebuild has started off great but talks have really slowed down. Rick Hahn has done a great job and we shouldn’t think he won’t make more moves. It’s already been reported that if he were to deal, say Jose Quintana, he would like to do that before spring training begins. That gives him plenty of time to look at others ways to improve this team.
The White Sox already look to have a bright future. But until they’re ready to contend, they might as well continue to move pieces so they can continue to build for the future. They have a lot of talented prospects, but they can easily add more. That would give them flexibility to move guys in the future for impact players.
With Sale and Eaton, arguably two of their best pieces already gone, who else should the White Sox deal?
Jose Quintana
Quintana has been involved in trade talks for weeks. There has been a great deal of debate on whether or not the White Sox should hold on to the 27-year-old left hander because of the season he had in 2016. Although he has been a very solid number two starter during his career with the White Sox, Quintana has had a less than ideal time in Chicago.
He has been overshadowed by his now-former teammate Sale and with good reason. Sale has not only been one of the best pitchers in the American League for years now, but also one of the best pitchers in White Sox history.
Quintana has also had a major problem with his team’s offense, or lack thereof. Since 2012, he has either led or had the second most no decisions on the team. His 17 no decisions in 2013 was an MLB record. Since 2013, he has been ranked in MLB’s top 10 in lowest run support average per game.
Regardless, Quintana has put up decent numbers through some rough years pitching at home. This past season was Quintana’s best season without question. He had a career high in innings pitched, strikeouts, wins, WHIP and ERA.
He made it onto his first All-Star team and there’s no telling how high his ceiling is. That’s where the debate takes an interesting turn. His value is very high at the moment but his value could increase with another season like 2016.
Whether the White Sox decide to keep him or not, Quintana probably has the highest value of the remaining available players on the team.
Melky Cabrera
Cabrera had a great season for the White Sox in 2016. He had the third highest batting average and on base percentage of his career. He also had the most hits and RBI of his career. The lefty finished top three in team hits, runs, doubles, triples, home runs, runs batted in, batting average, OBP, SLG and OPS.
Cabrera also logged the most innings in left field in the MLB and finished in the top 4 of total chances, putouts, assists and fielding percentage.
Cabrera, even at the age of 32, presents an interesting situation for the White Sox. He has been one of the White Sox most productive players in his two seasons with the team and he will continue to be, barring injury. The only question is how much the White Sox can really benefit from dealing the ‘Melk-Man’.
What kind of package can the White Sox receive for a 32-year-old left fielder?
Todd Frazier
Frazier is one player the White Sox should move if the opportunity is there. At this stage of his career, there’s no surprise as to what he brings to a team.
Frazier presents more value to a contender, rather than a team beginning a rebuild. He’s a career .250 hitter who plays solid defense. He’s had at least 29 home runs and 80 RBI while maintaining a slugging percentage higher than .450 since 2014.
Power hitters like Frazier have a high risk-high reward dynamic they bring to their teams. Power hitters are valuable in the sense they will score runs, but power hitters nowadays usually have limited success if there are not any runs scored. Especially the White Sox, who have recently seen Adam Dunn and Adam LaRoche come and go with extremely little success, if any.
In the past four seasons, Frazier’s had at least 125 strikeouts and his highest batting average for any season was .273 in 2012 and 2014.
Frazier had an up-and-down year in 2016 where he had 40 HR, 98 RBIs and a .464 slugging percentage. While those power numbers are very impressive, he had 163 strikeouts and career-lows in batting average, on-base percentage, doubles and triples.
Frazier would better serve another team in the premier power hitter role that he flourishes in. The White Sox simply have no need for him at this present time.
Frazier is going to be 31-years-old in February and the risk-reward aspect he brings to the White Sox is not a great option going forward.
Avisail Garcia
The White Sox need to deal Avisail Garcia before it’s too late. The big Venezuelan finished his fourth year in the majors and it seems he’s already peaked.
Garcia’s first spell in the big leagues, along with his 6’4”-240lb frame, showed he had great potential to be an elite hitter. He drew a lot of comparisons to Miguel Cabrera. Garcia hit .319 in 23 games during his rookie season and .283 in 70 games the following year.
Now, Garcia has played at least 120 games in the past two seasons with not much success at the plate. His 2015 split was .257 AVG/13 HR/59 RBI with 141 strikeouts, but this was his first full season as a starter. With a full season of experience and the potential he showed in previous years, 2016 was supposed to a breakout year.
His 2016 split was .245 AVG/12 HR/51 RBI with 115 strikeouts. Although he played almost 30 less games in 2016, there was no significant improvement in any area. One can even argue there hasn’t any significant improvements in any season but rather a small decline.
Garcia is 25 and still has some value because he showed a lot of potential at the beginning of his career. However, another season like 2016 could see Garcia’s value plummet to the point of being untradeable.
David Robertson
Robertson has previously been mentioned in trade talks. After a less than stellar season, the team should look to deal the closer while he still has some value.
He blew seven saves of his 44 save opportunities. In 62.1 innings of work, he allowed 53 hits, 24 runs, 32 walks and six home runs. In 2015, he threw 63.1 innings and allowed 46 hits, 27 runs and seven home runs while also blowing seven saves.
Robertson has had nearly identical numbers in his two seasons with the White Sox and they were not eye-popping, to say the least. He arrived in 2014 offseason from the Yankees as a setup man turned closer with potential to be a lights-out, 40+ save reliever.
He has mostly struggled with consistency. In April, he had a 0.87 ERA but followed that up with a 6.30 ERA in May. Robertson’s ERA was a respectable 2.70 in June but increased to 7.45 ERA in July.
Next: Can Charlie Tilson Become Opening Day Starting Center Fielder?
The right hander has shown he can string together solid performances. He’s not a top closer but he can be effective. Robertson will be 32 years old in April and is expendable. Especially given the current state of the White Sox.