Chicago White Sox: Three trade packages for Kyle Hendricks
The Chicago White Sox are in such a good spot as an organization. They have one of the best starting lineups in all of Major League Baseball and there is a chance that it gets even more dangerous before the start of Spring Training. The starting rotation is very good and the bullpen was just given a major boost in Liam Hendriks. If everyone carries their weight and performs their role to the best of their ability, the White Sox will be a fantastic team.
Unfortunately, the chances of a Red Line World Series decrease with every passing day because the Chicago Cubs have been selling all winter. They won the division in 2020 but were awful in the playoffs against the Miami Marlins. Position players like Kyle Schwarber and Victor Caratini are gone which makes their lineup depth worse.
They also no longer have four of their top five starters from a year ago as Yu Darvish, Jon Lester, Jose Quintana, and Tyler Chatwood are all gone. Kyle Hendricks is the only pitcher left from their run of dominance. If he is lucky, they might consider moving him for future assets as well. We don’t know their direction for sure but it sure seems like they are selling.
The Chicago White Sox would be the perfect new home for Kyle Hendricks.
If the Cubs did in fact move Hendricks, they could probably get a nice haul from a team like the Chicago White Sox. There are a lot of great players that the White Sox could offer up for him which makes it a fair trade partner. The Cubs would probably want a lot and it makes sense because of his production and the contract he is on.
The White Sox would love to have him because of the fact that he would fit in with their rotation so nicely. He would join a group that has Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn, and Dallas Keuchel ready to go with guys like Dylan Cease and Michael Kopech ready to take the next step. If they aren’t a World Series contender already (they are), adding Kyle Hendricks would put them over the edge. These are three trade packages that might get it done:
Trade One
Kyle Hendricks is a one of a kind pitcher. He would come in and be a great addition to the White Sox rotation. Most Sox fans have probably watched him play because he is just on the other side of town. A good MLB comparable is Mark Buehrle. He isn’t going to blow 101 miles per hour past anyone but he is going to throw strikes that include a really good changeup. He is the type of guy that is worth giving up a bunch of prospects.
Jared Kelley, Jonathan Stiever, and Micker Adolfo are all top-ten Chicago White Sox prospects. This is a much better return for Hendricks than they got from the San Diego Padres for Yu Darvish a few weeks ago. That was more of a money dump than this would be so they are naturally going to get more of a return but this would be nice for the North Side.
In the case of Jared Kelley and Jonathan Stiever, the Cubs would be getting two pretty nice pitching prospects. Stiever has already made it up to the MLB and he would probably stay there on a less deep team than the White Sox. For Kelley, he fell to the White Sox in the second round of the 2020 MLB Draft in large part to the fact that the high school season was canceled. He has elite arm talent that could develop into a very good pitcher.
The Cubs don’t really develop pitching well but adding these two might help them turn that narrative around. Micker Adolfo is the White Sox number eight prospect as an outfielder. With the group that they have there already, it is hard to see them ever really finding a use for Adolfo outside of trading him for a missing piece. The Cubs have a long term need in their Major League outfield so adding as much potential help as possible would be smart.
Trade Two
Sometimes things come full circle. In 2017, the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs made a trade that changed things for each franchise. The White Sox sent Jose Quintana to the Cubs for Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease, and two other prospects. We all know by now that the White Sox fleeced the Cubs in that trade because Jimenez is a superstar and Quintana was mediocre to bad for the Cubs. Cease being an MLB pitcher was just a nice little extra treat.
Cease could also still develop into a star pitcher because his stuff is that good. He has had command issues but he is about five or six starts away from breaking out if you look at the numbers deeply. Sending him back to the Cubs in a trade involving Kyle Hendricks would be worth it. The Cubs would be getting one half of that awful trade they made (good for the White Sox) back and he could really boom for their rotation.
Andrew Dalquist is the White Sox number ten prospect. Getting Cease and another top-ten White Sox prospect would certainly improve the Cubs’ chances of having a good rotation in the near future. Neither of them is a lock to be a star but they could both be very good MLB pitchers, especially Cease. Adam Engel is a nice throw-in who can play every outfield position at a Gold Glove level. The Cubs getting all of these guys could help them in the present and beyond.
Trade Three
It might be hard for White Sox fans to be cool with the idea of them trading Michael Kopech. He has nasty stuff that not many in the world have. Kopech can throw the ball 100 miles per hour and get that speed to move across the strike zone. It is incredible to watch. Of course, his only issue has been availability. In 2018, he had Tommy John surgery which canceled the rest of his 2018 and all of 2019. Then in 2020, he opted out of the COVID-19 shortened season.
There are only a few scenarios where trading Kopech is smart. Getting a stud like Hendricks on a cheap multi-year deal is one of them. Kopech may or may not be elite but we know what Hendricks will bring. If they added him, they would have a four-headed monster that not many teams in the league can match.
Matthew Thompson is the White Sox number seven prospect so that is another two top-ten White Sox prospects (Kopech is number two) on the table. Blake Rutherford is the number guy and Yermin Mercedes is the number 21 guy.
Rutherford is ranked higher and he has a chance to crack a Major League lineup in 2021. He probably doesn’t have a chance on this White Sox lineup with their depth but the Cubs might be able to develop an opportunity for him. As for Mercedes, he was brilliant for the White Sox during the first Spring Training. The COVID-19 pandemic shut him and the team down and that was sort of the end of it. He might be able to get another chance if the Cubs (or someone else) acquired him. He can catch or play the outfield which might benefit the Cubs as well with some of their recent departures.
Four Chicago White Sox prospects are in the Baseball America top-100. light. Hot
Of course, anything to do with Hendricks is just speculation based on the recent moves for the Cubs. If they don’t trade him, it will be him as the ace of the staff with a bunch of question marks pitching behind him. If the White Sox acquired him, he would be joining a World Series caliber staff with a lethal starting lineup and bullpen.