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Players that the White Sox should take from rebuilding A’s

By Mitchell Kaminski

HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 02: Matt Olson #28 of the Oakland Athletics and Matt Chapman #26 stand for the National Anthem before the game against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on October 02, 2021 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 02: Matt Olson #28 of the Oakland Athletics and Matt Chapman #26 stand for the National Anthem before the game against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on October 02, 2021 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) /
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Chicago White Sox, Matt Chapman
(Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images) /

Matt Chapman

Adding a player like Matt Chapman would be amazing for the Chicago White Sox.

Matt Chapman is the best player on the A’s roster. He has been manning the hot corner for the A’s for five seasons and has turned himself into arguably the best third baseman in the American League.

While the White Sox don’t need a third baseman, their current third baseman, Yoan Moncada started his tenure at the White Sox at second base. If the White Sox acquired Chapman they could shift Moncada back to second to plug the hole there.

Chapman is a three-time Gold Glove winner, two-time Platinum Glove winner, and a 2019 All-Star. He finished sixth in the MVP voting that season. He is also under team control for two more seasons via arbitration so he fits into the White Sox contention window. Oakland is trying to shed salary and the White Sox has the assets to get a deal done. Because he is under team control for two more seasons, Chapman will fetch the A’s a high price if traded.

Chapman is coming off a “down year” that saw him hit .210/.314/.403. However, he did hit 27 home runs and his walk rate shot up to 12.9%. But his strikeout rate was a whopping 32.5%, by far the highest of his career. Despite the downtick in production, he still posted a wRC+ of 101 which is above the league average. He also had a 3.4 fWAR which is very good but half of the 6.7 and 6.1 he posted in 2019 and 2020.

The slight drop in production and high strikeout rate means his trade value has dipped so now is the time to strike while the iron is hot. It will probably cost the White Sox a player like Garret Crochet, Andrew Vaughn, Micheal Kopech, or a few prospects.

But if the White Sox acquire Chapman the ceiling they would have is tremendous. Chapman is an elite player that would immediately provide them a defensive upgrade ( which is saying something because Yoan Moncada had a stellar season defensively) and offensive pop.

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