Chicago White Sox: 3 insane trade packages for Javier Baez
The Chicago White Sox has one of the best records in Major League Baseball. They approach the MLB trade deadline with hopes of making one more addition or two before they go on a run in the second half of the season. There have been some serious injuries to some of their best players this season which has been a problem but now they might start to address them.
We all know about the injuries to Eloy Jimenez, Yasmani Grandal, and Luis Robert. Those guys are all going to have the fortune of coming back this season which is incredibly nice. Nick Madrigal, however, didn’t get as lucky. His injury is going to cause him to miss the remainder of the season. He will be back in time for spring training but this year is over for him.
As a result, the White Sox are looking for people to play second base. That is at or near the top of their biggest needs before the deadline this year. Guys like Leury Garcia and Danny Mendick can do it in a bench role but it would be much better to have that solidified starting second baseman.
The Chicago White Sox should consider adding a superstar from the other side of town.
Javier Baez of the Chicago Cubs might be available for trade right now. His contract is up which is something that makes him expendable and he might not cost as much as people think. He is a shortstop by trade and we all know he wouldn’t be taking Tim Anderson’s spot anytime soon but he has plenty of experience playing second base. If he was cool with that for the White Sox, they should absolutely consider it. These are three trade packages that might get it done:
The Chicago White Sox could send some of their top prospects in exchange for Baez.
There are Cubs fans out there that believe that Baez is going to land the Cubs a lot of stuff. He probably isn’t even going to land them a top-100 prospect right now. His on-base percentage is horrible and he only has a few more months before he can test the free agency market. The Cubs would be smart to try and get as much as they can for him right away.
Jake Burger is an amazing success story. It wouldn’t be cool to see him play for the Cubs at any point but adding the pop in Baez’s bat might be worth it. After hitting his first career home run on Saturday night, he has to be confident in his ability to make an impact at the MLB level. This is the type of deal that would be good for both Jake Burger and the Chicago White Sox organization. He was a first-round pick for a reason so you know the talent is there.
The Cubs have been extra bad at developing pitching through the recent years. Adding someone like Jonathan Stiever could be the solution to that. He could, at least, be a part of the solution. He probably wouldn’t start right at the MLB level with them but there is certainly more room there than with the current Chicago White Sox staff. If the Cubs are serious about adding good young talent, this would be a great way.
Jared Kelley might be used to land the Chicago White Sox something big at some point.
There might be one trade that the Chicago White Sox could make with the Cubs that involves Jared Kelley. It is also probably the only “one for one” trade either side would consider making at this point. Kelley is the White Sox number one prospect and he would fit in great in the Chicago Cubs organization as well.
Everything we said about Stiever is true for Kelley except better. He is a very good young pitcher that has ace potential in Major League Baseball. If the White Sox hang on to him through his development, they might be rewarded down the line but you never know if they use him to address a need during their window. The pitching is pretty set at the MLB level for a while.
If Kelley went to the Cubs, he would just play in the Minor Leagues for a while before getting that eventually call-up. You know they would treat him like gold because they haven’t had a pitching prospect like him in a while. The last time they did, his name was Dylan Cease and they traded him to the Chicago White Sox. This is a hard trade to make for both sides but they would both benefit from it.
Javier Baez to the Chicago White Sox would change a lot of things for both teams.
If Javier Baez came to the White Sox, he would be the new everyday second baseman. He would play it well defensively which is something they desperately need right now and he can hit baseballs far. His on-base percentage is awful and he strikes out a lot but he is someone you want at the plate when guys like Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada, Luis Robert, and Eloy Jimenez amongst others are there.
Gavin Sheets has been pretty good to begin his MLB career. Not many people saw the season that he is having coming. He was brilliant in AAA which is what earned him the call-up. He is now in the big leagues making an impact. The only reason the White Sox would consider trading him is because of the fact that they believe they can win now. Baez would probably help them win in 2021 more than Sheets.
As for Micker Adolfo, he would go there and have a much better chance of being a Major League player. The White Sox don’t have as much room for all of the prospects like they once did. So many kids have passed him in the organization over the last two or three years.
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Baez could sign an extension tomorrow and all of this would be forgotten but until he does, he has to be considered trade bait. The Cubs are going to get a lot of offers for him but not many are going to be what they might be expecting. None of these trade packages would end the Cubs’ rebuild by any means but they could be a good stepping stone.