It is pretty obvious that the Chicago White Sox could use another starting pitcher. There are some great arms at their disposal going into 2022 but Carlos Rodon probably won’t be back. With that said, they can still go out and get another really good one. There are some on the free-agent market but they could also make a big trade if they want.
The Oakland A’s are probably going to have a yard sale as they try to rebuild things over there in the Bay Area. As a result, some good players might be on the trade block. If their ace Chris Bassitt is on the market, the White Sox should be all over that.
Of course, Bassitt is a former Chicago White Sox player. He appeared in six games for them in 2014 before making one of the worst trades in franchise history. He was sent to the Oakland A’s along with Marcus Semien and a few others to get Jeff Samardzija.
The reason that the trade was so bad is simple. Samardzija was horrible for the White Sox while both Bassitt and Semien became superstars for the A’s. If those two were on the White Sox instead of the A’s, everything about the White Sox might be different. Trades like that were the reason that they missed the playoffs in 12 straight years.
Chris Bassitt would be an amazing addition to the Chicago White Sox in 2022.
Now, Rick Hahn and the Sox finally have their act together. In 2021, they made the playoffs for the second consecutive year for the first time in franchise history. They still need a few more things and a starter is one of them. Adding an elite pitcher like Bassitt, as mentioned before, could be huge for them. It would have to come in a trade.
Bassitt took a baseball to the face in 2021 which caused him to miss a lot of time. Oddly enough, it came against the Chicago White Sox. Outside of that injury, the season was a major success for him. He was in the Cy Young conversation until his injury sort of took him out of the conversation. He should provide more of the same next year.
He had a 12-4 record with a 3.15 ERA, 1.055 WHIP, and 159 strikeouts in 157.1 innings (27 starts). If he brought production like that to this staff, it would be even closer to a World Series rotation than it already is. If he is on the table, the White Sox should really try.