3 Chicago White Sox storylines to follow post-All-Star break

The Chicago White Sox kick off the post-All-Star break portion of their schedule fresh off of making some moves that has reshuffled the roster.

Even though designating catcher Martin Maldonado for assignment and demoting Lenyn Sosa was too little, too late, the front office is trying to do something to make sure the rest of the season does not go the way it did before the break.

The Sox became the first team ever to lose 70 or more games heading into the All-Star break.

While it is unlikely the White Sox will magically start winning after the break, there are three storylines worth paying attention to as the season progresses...

Pedro Grifol's job status after the trade deadline.

If Pedro was not fired after a 3-22 start and 71 losses before the All-Star Game, it is unlikely he will be fired after the front office sells off the veteran assets the club has.

Maybe general manager Chris Getz can convince owner Jerry Reinsdorf that it is worth getting a two-month look at seeing if Charlie Montoya can be the man to lead the club through even more losing during Rebuild 2.0.

Montoya has managed before for the Toronto Blue Jays and did all right running the clubhouse. His record indicates he is already a better manager than Grifol will ever be. What is more likely to happen is ownership keeps Grifol until the season is over and then pays him to go away.

Trading Garrett Crochet and Luis Robert Jr. together.

There is a rumor out there that Getz might move his two best trade assets as part of one trade package.

That would be a huge mistake. Getz could get a lot of prospects in return but he should be focused on getting quality rather than quantity.

The last the time White Sox package two star players together was the infamous white flag trade of 1997 when the club traded pitchers Wilson Alveraz and Roberto Herndanez to the San Francisco Giants for six prospects. Only Keith Foulke and Bobby Howry ever made contributions to the big-league club and they did as relievers.

There is nothing wrong with trading Crochet along with say John Brebbia or Michael Kopech to leverage additional prospects. Same goes for bundling Robert Jr. with Tommy Pham to get a better return.

Putting those two together does not maximize the return both can get individually unless it is for what the Baltimore Orioles offer.

Drew Thorpe and Jonathan Cannon pitching well the rest of the season.

With or without Crochet in the rotation, the Sox need both of these young arms to pitch well the rest of the year to build momentum going into next season.

The hope is the Sox can get back to being competitive by as soon as 2026 with the all the young pitching they have in their system. Thorpe and Cannon have show flashes that they can be solid pitchers. Thorpe has even shown the potential to be an ace in the Mark Buerhle or Aaron Nola mold.

The Sox must get quality starts from those two to show the franchise is capable of developing young starter pitching. If that happens, then there is a reason to have hope.