Chicago White Sox: 3 biggest needs before the trade deadline

The first half of the 2021 season for the Chicago White Sox was not as kind as you’d like it to be. There were some highlights and lowlights. Despite enduring critical blow after critical blow, this team prevailed and kept winning. By the sheer power of will, the Southsiders sit atop the American League Central with a comfortable nine-game lead over Cleveland.

While the Sox’s 59-40 record looks good on paper, the record against competitive teams is not ideal. The team has faced ten teams over .500 so far this season, and they are 16-22 against those teams. They are 10-12 in one-run games as well. This team is good but could benefit from upgrading via the trade market. They have enough to make it to October, but questions arise when talking about a deep run.

The Chicago White Sox has some needs to address before the trade deadline.

The 2020 bullpen saw a few players take a step forward and helped propel the team to October. Unfortunately, the shut-the-door ‘pen has been a bit shaky in 2021. Acquiring dependable relief pitching would do wonders for this team. It might even be the deciding factor in a game seven or something.

The loss of Nick Madrigal for the season was tough to endure. However, there may be a trade piece or two that could fill the gap. They are no Nicky-Two-Strikes but will give better production than the team’s current options.

Staying healthy has been a struggle with this 2021 team. A silver lining among the barrage of first-half injuries is second-half returns. Come October, this first-place team would have gotten even stronger.

First Biggest Need: Bullpen Help

The Chicago White Sox would benefit greatly by adding some help in the bullpen.

In a perfect world, every game would see the White Sox starter take it seven or eight innings, then Liam Hendricks shuts the door in the ninth. This is not a perfect world, unfortunately.

The 2020 bullpen was dominant. Codi Heuer, Evan Marshall, and Matt Foster made names for themselves. Ross Detwiler and Jace Fry held their own also with sub-3.70 ERAs. This season is a different story.

This bullpen is not atrocious. Those players mentioned above are doing okay but okay pitching doesn’t win championships. Aside from Hendricks, Michael Kopech, and Garrett Crochet, there has not been a consistent, dependable arm all season. Jose Ruiz is pitching well with a 2.97 ERA in 39 innings of work. However, control has been an issue with him in the past and I am not entirely sold on Ruiz quite yet. Another bullpen arm would be comforting.

A very good reliever in the trade market has been Pirates closer, Richard Rodriguez. In 38.1 innings of work so far this year, Rodriguez has 33 strikeouts with a 0.84 WHIP and has allowed only two home runs and five walks. That kind of pinpoint-controlled pitching would benefit the White Sox.

Cole Sulser, RHP for Baltimore, is having a fantastic season. He has a high h/9 at 7.2 but has a 2.97 ERA in 36 innings. His 12.1 SO/9 means he can get out of innings. At age 31, Sulser could potentially be on the move at this deadline.

The selling Twins have Taylor Rogers in the bullpen and he has been having a phenomenal season as well. It is unlikely the Twins would be willing to trade their best reliever to their division rival but stranger things have happened.

Second Biggest Need: A Second Baseman

The Chicago White Sox would love to find a short-term replacement for Nick Madrigal.

When Nick Madrigal was considered to be out for the rest of the season, things seemed bleak for the White Sox. This team was built to withstand a couple of blows but critical injuries in both the outfield and infield have left them a bit thin.

When this happens to World Series contenting teams, usually players in the farm system step up and help out their ballclub. Jake Burger and Gavin Sheets were called up for reinforcement and have done a decent job at easing the pressure but this team needs some middle-infield help desperately.

Since his call-up, Burger is batting .263/.333/.474 with an. .807 OPS in 42 plate appearances. Sheets, in 70 plate appearances, is batting .226/.300/.532 with a .832 OPS. Those are decent stat lines for rookies but the sample size is simply too small to ignore the more significant depth issues.

Danny Mendick is hitting .198/.300/.273 with a .573 OPS and Leury Garcia is hitting .246/.323/.346 with a .669 OPS in 81 games. Platooning Mendick and Garcia at second base can maybe get the Sox by but they might need help from the trade market to win the World Series.

A name that was thrown around a lot this season has been Diamondback’s baseman Eduardo Escobar. Signed by the White Sox when he was 17 years old, Escobar finally made the big leagues at 22 but was sent to Minnesota a year later in 2012. For the past four years, Escobar has been giving the Diamondbacks some solid production at second. As sellers, Arizona will be trading him.

A little off the radar is Escobar’s teammate Josh Rojas who has quietly been having a similar season. In 93 games this season, Rojas has a slash of .268/.356/.438 with an OPS of .795. He has ten fewer home runs but walks nearly twice as much.

Whatever the answer is, one simple fact remains: the White Sox cannot win the World Series platooning Mendick and Garcia at second base.