Chicago White Sox: 4 trade candidates to fill in for Nick Madrigal
The Chicago White Sox suffered one significant hit in Eloy Jimenez. It hurt, but depth players stepped up. Then another significant blow to the lineup with Luis Robert but again the team held their own. With a few critical pieces lost, this White Sox team has a four-and-a-half-game lead atop the AL Central.
The Chicago White Sox have had some horrible injury luck in the year 2021.
However, tragedy strikes again and the two-strike anomaly that is Nick Madrigal suffered a hamstring injury. As a result, he is shelved right at an essential moment in his career, just like his fellow teammates. It is unfortunate but there is a silver lining. Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert, and now Nick Madrigal are at least not alone in their long journey back to the south side.
Until Nicky Two Strikes is back and swinging again, Danny Mendick will take his spot in the field. Mendick is an okay option but he is not exactly as momentum-turning as Madrigal is and it is not even close. Though 27 games this season, Mendick has 11 hits with a slash of .200/.304/.309 and an OPS of .611. There are better second basemen out there who are playing better than Mendick, plain and simple.
The White Sox are in a position where their star second baseman will be out for at least two months and they need to address an issue via trade. Whether in the outfield or infield, the White Sox needs an upgrade and a trade can fix that. Madrigal will be missing during two critical months of the season. The White Sox needs a player having a better season than Mendick to fill the role. Here are four trade candidates who could fill in for Madrigal:
Adam Frazier
The Chicago White Sox may go with Adam Frazier as a trade option this summer.
Although it may be a bit eerie to call on another Frazier to save the day midseason, Adam Frazier is having a tremendous year. He also does more than walk, strikeout, and hit home runs.
For the first five years of his career, Frazier provided mediocre numbers. A .749 OPS sums up the type of player he was, very middle-of-the-field. His value comes from his ability to play the outfield as well. Not to mention the few innings he has under his belt at shortstop and third. Frazier is a swiss army knife. He just never stood out offensively.
That is until the 2021 season. He leads the MLB at 79 hits with a batting average of .329. Frazier also leads the MLB in doubles at 21. His OPS is at a career-high .862, and he is not showing signs of slowing down. In his past two weeks, 12 games, he has a slash of .333/.385/.542 and an OPS at .926 with 16 hits.
With a 23-38 record at dead last in the NL Central, there is no question that the Pittsburgh Pirates will be sellers at the deadline. The Pirates have some players who can help teams make a playoff push but none are playing at the same level as Frazier.
At 29, he most likely won’t be around the next time the Pirates find themselves in contention again. The Sox might have to give up a top prospect but this trade is possible. Frazier is not a free agent until 2023 so he can provide depth in the outfield once back at 100 percent.
Brendan Rodgers
Brendan Rodgers is a low-risk/high reward option for the Chicago White Sox.
Brendan Rodgers was another prospect with so much hype that unfortunately fizzled out due to an injury. He was a top prospect in the Colorado Rockies organization and in the MLB for a long time. As far back as when the Rockies had presumably a set infield with Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story, and DJ LeMahieu from left to right in 2015 and ‘16.
Rodgers finally made his way to the show earning his call-up in 2019. However, the top prospect was atrocious in the 25 games he played that year, made evident by his OPS of .522. He underwent shoulder surgery in July but his season was not going very well.
He played at the Rockies alternate site throughout the 2020 season, only playing in seven games and recording two hits, one double. Through 16 games, Rodgers is batting a slash of .250/.333/.673 with an OPS of .673. Initially, it may seem as if Rodgers might be having another bad season but in 11 fewer games, he has one more hit than Danny Mendick.
In his past six games, Rodgers seems to have figured something out. He has seven hits in 21 plate appearances. That is a slash of .412/.476/.647 and an OPS of 1.123.
It is a small sample size, so it is difficult to know for sure who the White Sox would be sending in return but if he manages to stay healthy, he could grow out of that shadow of a top prospect looming over him. On the other hand, if Rodgers is starting to figure things out, it may be worth it for the Sox to ask about him.
Freddy Galvis
Freddy Galvis is an interesting option for the Chicago White Sox to consider.
Freddy Galvis came into the league in 2012 with Philadelphia with so much potential but never provided an OPS higher than .700. After bouncing around from the San Diego Padres to the Cincinnati Reds, Freddy Galvis improved slightly but never broke past a .750 OPS.
Through 56 games at 31, Galvis is driving the ball and getting on base. Despite his .255 batting average, he holds a .321 on-base percentage and a .464 slugging percentage. His OPS is at a career-high .784
He’s been even better in the past two weeks. In 12 games, Galvis has 11 hits. Three of them were home runs. His batting slash is .262/.340/.500, with an OPS of .840. While never recording a barrel percentage above 4.5%, Galvis is at 6%. In addition, he has hit 49 hard-hit balls, a pace set to surpass his career-high 150 hard-hit balls in 2019.
Defensively, Galvis is primarily a shortstop but has seen plenty of time at second. He also has a bit of left-field experience but it is not much. Once back at 100 percent, Galvis would most likely slide into the primary, middle infield backup role.
The White Sox saw Galvis up close last weekend when the Orioles came to town. He had an interesting series, recording only three hits in 14 at-bats but those three hits were home runs, two in one game.
Through Galvis’s first 27 games, he smacked 25 hits and had a slash of .281/.340/483. Although he does not get on base as nearly as much as Madrigal, Galvis has been putting up better numbers than Mendick across the board.
Ketel Marte
Ketel Marte is someone for the Chicago White Sox to consider right now.
This one might be a bit of a daydream scenario, but the facts are that the Arizona Diamondbacks are not good and Ketel Marte is outstanding. The White Sox need help at second base. Signed in 2011 at age 17, Marte came up through the Mariners organization. He was a top prospect as well and was once viewed as a part of the future of Seattle. In 2016, The Mariners sent Marte and Taijuan Walker to Arizona for Jean Segura, Mitch Haniger, and Zac Curtis.
Marte was hitting okay in Seattle but with an OPS of .658, Mariners had to dump him for the push that Segura and Haniger could give them. As a Diamondback, Marte slowly elevated and reached All-Star status in 2019 and even finished fourth in MVP voting. That season, Marte hit .329/.389/.592 slash with a .981 OPS. He dropped 32 home runs and drove in 92 along with 36 doubles and ten stolen bases.
The odd year of 2020 saw a strange .737 OPS from Marte but he only played 45 games of the already shortened 60 game season. Despite spending an early 10-day stint on the IL in early April, Marte has gone back to his near-MVP ways.
In 25 games this season, Marte is hitting an OPS of .977 with eight doubles, four home runs, and 14 RBIs. Combining his 2020 and ’21 seasons makes 70 games. In those games, Marte has 22 doubles, 31 RBIs and is hitting a slash of .314/.351/.466 with an OPS of .817.
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Of course, acquiring a player like Marte would mean breaking the bank and cleaning out the farm system. However, it may not be wise to do so in a position that needs to be filled just for a few months. Does the fact that he can also play center field change things? Yes, but I would still be hesitant in cleaning the farm system just yet. Marte would be a nice young piece to have but the White Sox would be up against the New York Yankees who have inquired about Marte.