The Chicago White Sox needs to make some big moves during the 2022-23 off-season. They have a lot of holes to fill going into the 2023 season after what was a disastrous 2022 campaign. They finished at 81-81 which is wildly disappointing for a team that came in with big expectations.
One of the areas that could use some help is the starting pitching. Of course, there is not a team in the league that couldn’t use a little bit of depth in this area. In 2022, the White Sox mostly ran out Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, Lance Lynn, Michael Kopech, and Johnny Cueto.
Guys like Reynaldo Lopez, Jimmy Lambert, and Davis Martin were in consideration for a start every now and again if there was an injury problem or a need for a spot start. In 2023, they should be getting Garrett Crochet back from Tommy Johny surgery that canceled his entire season this year.
Going into next year, out of the five pitchers that made the most starts, only three of them are for sure coming back. You can expect to see Dylan Cease (who will be a Cy Young nominee), Michael Kopech, and Lance Lynn return.
It is unclear if having Johnny Cueto back is even the right move as he was surprisingly amazing this year but nobody would know what to expect coming into 2023. On the opposite end, Lucas Giolito was surprisingly terrible. If they moved on from him, it wouldn’t surprise anyone.
The Chicago White Sox have a few players to keep an eye on this off-season.
As a result of all this, they might look to bring in another big arm. Bringing back Carlos Rodon is certainly a great option but there is an underground option that could really help them. That would be to trade for Tyler Glasnow of the Tampa Bay Rays.
He came back from Tommy John at the end of this season and pitched very well at the end of the season and into the playoffs. He gave the Rays a chance to win the one postseason game that he started but they blew it later in the game.
Glasnow was on the block at the end of 2021 while he was recovering from his surgery but was never traded. Now, you never know what the Rays decide to do. They love trading incredibly talented players long before they have to pay them a lot.
If the White Sox can pull off a trade like this, Glasnow would be amazing in their rotation. He probably would be their number two going into the season just because of what Cease did in 2022 but there is no doubt that he’d be their 1B at minimum.
He has the potential to be just as good if not better than Cease. Having both of them, however, would be incredible. Then, if Kopech reached his potential, this team’s rotation would be very good for a long time.