Last week, there was a report that came out that suggested that the Atlanta Braves might be willing to move on from Max Fried via a trade to cut some salary.
Of course, if that is the case, the Chicago White Sox should be all over it. They could use an elite left-handed starter as much as any team in the American League.
They might have just enough assets to make a trade like this if Atlanta puts Fried out there for a trade conversation.
He would fit in so well with this White Sox team. Lucas Giolito and Max Fried went to high school together and Ethan Katz was their pitching coach. Seeing it all come together with the White Sox would be truly amazing. One of these three trades might get it done:
To White Sox: Max Fried - To Braves: Colson Montgomery, Gavin Sheets, Sean Burke
The Chicago White Sox and Atlanta Braves could make good trades.
The Chicago White Sox could make a few different moves to land Max Fried this offseason. One of them could include thier number one prospect in Colson Montgomery. He was amazing in 2022 and that led to him jumping up to their top spot.
Gavin Sheets would be able to go to the Braves and provide steady at-bats from the left side in certain situations while being a good backup first baseman for Matt Olson.
Sean Burke is a pitching prospect that has a lot of promise at this point. He might not be a star or anything like that but teams like the Braves usually succeed with guys like him. Burke and Montgomery would be joining what is already a top-flight farm system.
To White Sox: Max Fried - To Braves: Oscar Colas, Jake Burger, Lenyn Sosa
The White Sox would have to give up some talent to trade for Max Fried.
Max Fried is a very good pitcher. In order to trade for a guy like that, you have to give up some pieces that you really like. If the White Sox were to trade him, a couple of players that the White Sox were excited about might have to go.
Of course, Oscar Colas leads the way for that in this trade. People are excited to see what he can do at the MLB level and it could start as early as 2023. He very well could end up being the Opening Day right fielder for this team if he has a really good spring training. There isn't much competition.
Trading him would be hard but Atlanta isn't just going to hand Max Fried over just to clear up some money. Colas is an MLB ready minor league player that can help a team win if they use him right.
Jake Burger is a good player but he has dealt with some injuries and is blocked at third base by Yoan Moncada. We don't know what Moncada's long term future is because of the fact that he has been a major dissapointment but he is still probably more valuable than Burger.
As for Lenyn Sosa, he made some big strikes in 2022. He went from AA to MLB in one call-up but then went back down to AAA before another MLB call-up. It is a bit confusing but the White Sox did what they felt was necessary. The Braves might consider prospects like this if they move Fried.
To White Sox: Max Fried - To Braves: Michael Kopech, Noah Schultz, and Jared Kelly
The Chicago White Sox should try really hard to add another lefty starter.
Giving up Michael Kopech would be hard but they have five right-handed starting pitchers right now. Swapping Kopech and Fried could do wonders for both rotations. A change of scenery for Kopech might help him even more. The sky is the limit for him which makes trading him a big risk.
The White Sox might have to take some risks in order to take a big step as an organization. They almost never do so which makes any of these moves feel incredibly unlikely even though they'd clearly help the White Sox grow.
Cease and Fried would be an amazing 1-2 punch. If you got bounce-back years from the other question-mark starters, it could end up being one of the best rotations in the American League.
Noah Schultz is the White Sox's number three prospect and first pitching prospect. He was a first-round pick by the White Sox during the 2022 MLB Draft. He hopes to one day be a very good Major League pitcher.
Jared Kelly has been falling down the White Sox's top prospect list for the past few years but there is still no doubt that he has some amazing stuff. The Braves might be willing to take a chance on him to see if their organization can fix him up.
The White Sox have mostly acted like a cheap team that isn't trying to win when they should be. However, Rick Hahn has not been afraid to make (good or bad) trades during his tenure with the team.
Putting one together for Max Fried might be a really smart idea at this point. If he could bring in a pitcher like that, the sky would be the limit for this rotation.