Five players Chicago White Sox could trade for
The Chicago White Sox are going to be trying to compete for a playoff spot this season, whenever it starts, and could end up being buyers on the trade market.
The Chicago White Sox find themselves in position to compete for a playoff spot this year, despite the season’s start date currently unknown.
As a result, they could end up looking to acquire reinforcements before the MLB Trade Deadline in order to make a push for one.
The White Sox definitely have the pieces to make a trade if they so choose with four top 100 prospects according to MLB Pipeline.
Obviously, expectations of the type of player they can acquire before the trade deadline passes have to be tempered, with many teams preferring to deal bigger fish in the offseason instead of mid-season as they hope for more suitors.
However, there should be plenty of useful pieces on the board that are either rentals for the remainder of the season or players who could spend a year or two in the South Side.
For the purposes of this article, though, I only included rental options.
Check out Vinnie Parise’s articles about possible trades for Nolan Arenado (here), Kris Bryant (here), and Kirby Yates (here).
1. Joc Pederson
Joc Pederson would make a lot of sense for the Chicago White Sox and now might be the best time to pounce.
Pederson is in a rough situation, playing time-wise, with the Los Angeles Dodgers after the team acquired Mookie Betts.
As of right now, the team has four outfielders for three spots with Pederson, Betts, Cody Bellinger, and A.J. Pollock.
That doesn’t even account for Enrique Hernandez and Chris Taylor, both of which are super-subs vying for playing time in Los Angeles.
With that log-jam, the Dodgers tried to simultaneously acquire Betts from the Boston Red Sox while dealing Joc Pederson to the Los Angeles Angels, as Jeff Passan of ESPN reported.
However, that deal ultimately fell apart in the end, leaving Pederson set to start the 2020 season with the Dodgers.
It is hard to believe, though, that the team will keep all six of those outfield options throughout the year and Pederson represents possibly the best option to deal.
The 27-year-old is set to become a free agent after this season in which he will make $7.75 million (Spotrac).
Chicago could represent a good destination for the left-handed hitter if Nomar Mazara fails to adequately play right field, which is certainly possible given his track record.
Pederson’s ability to hit left-handed would be very beneficial to a lineup that lacks a left-handed hitting threat at the moment. That being said, Yasmani Grandal and Yoan Moncada are switch-hitters.
His 3.0 fWAR (FanGraphs) would be a much-welcomed addition to the team if they could manage to swing a deal for him at some point this season.
2. Ken Giles
Ken Giles could represent the best option for the Chicago White Sox on the reliever market this year, in terms of reasonably affordable ones.
As mentioned previously, Yates could become available this season, but the price tag to acquire Yates could prove too high for the team to make a deal work.
Giles, 29, is almost certain to find himself available at some point this year, with the Toronto Blue Jays looking like they are roughly a year or two away from truly contending.
In 2019, the right-hander was about as effective as any reliever in baseball with a 1.87 ERA, 2.27 FIP, 1.000 WHIP, 14.1 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, and 23 saves.
While his 4.65 ERA the year prior is a little concerning, coming over as a rental makes any trade for Giles lack risk.
At the very worst, he doesn’t perform to the level the Chicago White Sox need him to and they move on from him in the offseason.
Adding Giles to the back-end of the bullpen that already has Aaron Bummer and Alex Colome would prove lethal from the seventh inning, on.
It remains to be seen what the cost for Giles would be, but there is a limit on how much Toronto could ask for in a trade for a rental reliever.
Giles would likely not finish many games for the White Sox this season given Colome’s presence, but the “closer” title has started to lose its importance with many teams operating in a matchup-based set-up on a nightly basis.
3. Jose Quintana
A return to the Chicago White Sox for Jose Quintana could possibly be in store in the near future.
Quintana, 31, is entering the final year of his contract with the Chicago Cubs and will make $10.5 million this season.
In a season where the Cubs appear set to take a step back, trading the left-hander while they still can could very well end up making a lot of sense.
If the team is in the middle of contention this season, which is certainly still possible, then this discussion becomes a moot point.
That being said, the Cubs struggled to go 84-78 last season and finished third in the NL Central, behind the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals.
With the Cubs doing very little to help improve their chances this season and the Cincinnati Reds possibly set to take a huge step towards competing, they could find themselves becoming a mediocre team.
If that happens, the team will likely start trading off pieces from the roster and rentals are certain to be among the first to go.
Quintana could make sense for the White Sox to re-acquire from the Cubs if any of their pitchers go down, given his familiarity with the franchise and his comfort pitching in this city.
In 2019, the southpaw had a 4.68 ERA, 3.80 FIP, 1.386 WHIP, 8.0 K/9, and 2.4 BB/9. While that wasn’t nearly his best season, he is still a useful arm in any rotation and his FIP suggests he might have run into some bad luck this past year.
If any of the White Sox’s arms fail to produce and/or get hurt, Quintana could very well find himself back in the South Side.
4. Mike Minor
Mike Minor is another starting pitching option that could emerge for the Chicago White Sox in 2020, if there is an opening in their rotation.
If the left-hander can manage to pitch as he did in 2019, going after Minor at some point this season would be a no-brainer.
The 32-year-old had a very good season for the Texas Rangers as a starter this past season, registering a 3.59 ERA, 4.25 FIP, 1.238 WHIP, 8.6 K/9, and 2.9 BB/9.
That led to him making the AL All-Star team and finishing eighth in the AL Cy Young Award voting. His $9.5 million salary is more than reasonable for that type of pitcher.
Texas is almost certain to deal the southpaw this season due to the fact that they are almost certain to finish behind the Houston Astros and probably will trail the Oakland Athletics and the vastly improved, Los Angeles Angels.
Chicago could make sense as a destination not just for the rotation, though, as he also has extensive experience as a late-inning reliever.
In 2017, the Kansas City Royals deployed him in that role and he was dominant as he had a 2.55 ERA, 2.62 FIP, 1.017 WHIP, 10.2 K/9, and 2.5 BB/9.
Now, the likelihood is that Minor would become very unhappy if the team chose to just stick him in the bullpen in the midst of a good season from him.
However, if Minor were to struggle this season, the Chicago White Sox could legitimately pitch a back-end relief role to him as a pending free agent looking to market himself to other clubs.
On top of it, a trade to acquire Minor in that scenario would significantly reduce in price, making him a phenomenal buy-low candidate.
Minor could provide value in either role, though.
5. Daniel Murphy
Daniel Murphy‘s fit with the Chicago White Sox is somewhat questionable on the surface given the fact he barely played second base last season with Colorado Rockies.
That being said, the Chicago White Sox could look to acquire Murphy if Nick Madrigal struggles at the major league level or doesn’t earn a callup and/or Leury Garcia and Danny Mendick can’t hold down the fort at the keystone.
Murphy, 34, might make sense to bring to the Chicago in that scenario, even when considering the brutal -73 DRS he’s compiled over parts of nine seasons at second base.
His left-handed bat could be very useful to the lineup for a similar reason that Pederson’s would be. However, Murphy’s low strikeout rate is also very appealing, having only struck out no higher than 20% of the time at any point in his career.
Now, if he hits as he did in 2019, Murphy would not make sense to acquire as his 86 wRC+ wouldn’t even come close to making up for his struggles in the field.
But, if he can return to even his 2018 form (110 wRC+), he could be a worthwhile addition if their second base situation hasn’t been resolved.
His 2016 (154 wRC+) or 2017 (135 wRC+) form would certainly be the dream scenario if he joined the team, though.
Murphy would bring postseason experience to an inexperienced group of players that could be valuable both this season and over the long haul for the players.
In 2015, Murphy famously broke the record for the most home runs in a postseason with six for the New York Mets.
Murphy has experience playing in Chicago as well, having played for the Cubs in 2018
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His ability to perform in the playoffs and his potentially useful bat could make him a smart addition for the Chicago White Sox this year if their second base situation doesn’t improve as quickly as they hope it does.