3 Chicago White Sox players to trade right now and 2 to extend
The Chicago White Sox are a very bad baseball team and there are issues that need to be addressed right away.
The front office is long overdue for a cleaning but there are some player personnel decisions that need to be made as well.
One thing they need to think about is which players on the roster are worth keeping and which ones they need to trade for future assets.
You can make good arguments for a bunch of different players on one side of the aisle or another but moves have to be made very soon.
These are the three players that the Chicago White Sox should trade and two that they should extend:
Trade
1. Lucas Giolito
The Chicago White Sox should think about moving on from Lucas Giolito.
Lucas Giolito is in the final year of a contract and is looking for an extension. Well, the Chicago White Sox should explore trading him. He might be their best trade chip of all the guys worth trading right now.
Giolito is having a bounce back season after he wasn't very good in 2022. The good thing for him is that if 2023 goes well, that means 2022 was a one off bad year since his breakout 2019 season.
Teams looking to contend would love to add a starter like him. He has outstanding stuff when he is on and would fit in well in the middle of a lot of rotations.
Giolito is also a character guy that a lot of teams in the league could use at this point. He loves baseball and he loves to win while playing baseball. If the White Sox can get a good return for him, they should do it now.
Trade
2. Gavin Sheets
Gavin Sheets is someone that the Chicago White Sox should trade.
Gavin Sheets is an outstanding power hitter from the left side of the plate. The things that he is able to do from that side is really unlike anything the White Sox have in another player.
Bringing that type of power as a lefty is a rare thing for this White Sox team which is why he probably plays more than he should.
He is a limited outfielder that can really only make the routine plays (and he even makes those look hard sometimes). First base is his natural position and he is blocked there by Andrew Vaughn who is supposed to be much better of a player.
Sheets would thrive in the right situation. A team that uses him as a left handed designated hitter when necessary could really make him an even better player. His hometown Baltimore Orioles feel like the most perfect fit of any team out there.
Trade
3. Liam Hendriks
Trading Liam Hendriks could lead to an absolute haul for the White Sox.
Liam Hendriks has had a wild ride of an off-season. He fought cancer hard and beat it to become cancer free. It is one of the most amazing stories in sports this year.
The Chicago White Sox will see him pitch for them this year as he has already started to throw in Arizona. It will be a great day when he makes his long anticipated 2023 season debut.
However, it isn't fair to Hendriks to have to work so hard to come back just to play for this horrific team. If a contender like the New York Mets or someone else needs a closer for thier playoff run, the White Sox should do right by him.
It would also help their own organization as a whole because teams would pay big for a closer like that. The White Sox could bring in some nice young prospects with a move like this.
Extend
1. Dylan Cease
Dylan Cease is someone that the Chicago White Sox should want.
The Chicago White Sox have a very good pitcher in Dylan Cease. If a trade offer comes in that blows the roof off the place, they should absolutely take it. No player should be "untouchable" when you have a winning percentage under .300.
However, unless it is one of those types of packages, they should look to extend him. He is a true ace in this league that has the potential to be a Cy Young Award winner in any given year. Those are the types of guys you extend if they are young.
Cease might struggle a little bit to gain the momentum that he had in 2022 because of the fact that the team around him is terrible but he also may regain his form again. Either way, the White Sox should be confident that he is able to pitch well for a very long time.
Cease is probably going to make a lot of money. That is especially true knowing that Scott Boras is his agent. We will see what becomes of him over the rest of his career.
Extend
2. Tim Anderson
The Chicago White Sox need Tim Anderson in the long term.
Tim Anderson is one of the best players the Chicago White Sox have had over the last 30 years. He constantly provides this team with leadership and fantastic play.
He has been a little bit hurt to start the year because of a fluke play and the team has suffered as a result. This team needs him badly so they should probably just extend him.
If he can prove that he can finish this 2023 healthy, he is worth a lot of money as long as he plays well. You might even see the team start to play much better upon his arrival. We know how impactful he can be when he is healthy.
The Chicago White Sox are there with the Kansas City Royals and Oakland A’s as the only three teams to not ever hand out a 100 million (or more) dollar contract. Tim Anderson (or Dylan Cease) would be the perfect guy to be the first.
It is unclear if the White Sox will actually make trades or extensions but these guys are all good candidates for both. It may depend on who plays well over the course of the season. We will see.
Next. The 15 worst contracts in Chicago White Sox history. dark