3 Chicago White Sox players who lived up to the hype during the previous rebuild

Not every player on the rebuilding Chicago White Sox became a failure.

St. Louis Cardinals v Chicago White Sox
St. Louis Cardinals v Chicago White Sox | Nuccio DiNuzzo/GettyImages
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Dylan Cease exceeded expectations with the Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox acquired Dylan Cease when he was a top MLB pitching prospect in the Chicago Cubs system. Eloy Jimenez came with him while Jose Quintana went up north to the Cubs.

Cease had a lot of hype around him as a pitcher and he exceeded all of the expectations on him. His peak was the best peak of any pitcher that the White Sox had during the rebuild.

While in a White Sox uniform, Cease had a 43-35 with a 3.83 ERA and a 1.305 WHIP. Cease had 792 strikeouts in 658.0 innings pitched. His low ERA and high volume of strikeouts made him one of the best pitchers in the AL for a few years.

In 2022, Cease was the Cy Young runner-up (Justin Verlander) with a 14-8 record, 2.20 ERA, and 227 strikeouts in 184.0 innings pitched. It was a career year for him.

Right before this 2024 season started, the White Sox traded Cease to the San Diego Padres for a haul of prospects. Since getting there, he has been very good again.

Although most players in the White Sox rebuild didn't pan out, the same can't be said for Cease. He exceeded his expectations.

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