The Chicago White Sox want there to be little competition for the Wild Card in the American League and one team just got a lot weaker.
The Chicago White Sox have had the biggest offseason they have ever had. But that is now going to be overshadowed by the biggest trade of the year. The Boston Red Sox have traded their superstar outfielder Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers. ESPN insider Jeff Passan has also reported that they have sent David Price to the Dodgers in the blockbuster deal as well. The main piece going back to Boston is Alex Verdugo.
This is a seismic shift to the landscape of Major League Baseball. It impacts the White Sox in a way that is fun for fans to think about. The Minnesota Twins and Sox are going to battle it out for the Division lead all season long. One of the two isn’t going to win it so they might need to rely on the Wild Card. Boston cutting bait with an MVP caliber player almost certainly takes them out of the picture.
They took a major step back in 2019 after winning the World Series in 2018. They had a bleak outlook to 2020 anyway so losing Betts is huge. It is also nice that he was traded to the National League because the White Sox won’t have to worry about Betts impacting their playoff chances. Any time a team in the American League weakens themselves it indirectly helps the White Sox.
We are at the point of the White Sox rebuild, that we have to start taking note of what other teams in the league are doing. When the White Sox play the Red Sox, it is huge to not have to face David Price for the hitters and for the pitchers not to have to pitch against Mookie Betts. The Red Sox won the World Series with Chris Sale after the White Sox traded him there but Yoan Moncada and Michael Kopech are surely going to work out in Chicago.