7 ideal trade partners for the White Sox this offseason
The White Sox could be busy this offseason and they will have no shortage of trade partner options along the way.
The Chicago White Sox started the offseason off with a bang when they swung a trade with the Braves that sent Aaron Bummer out of town in exchange for five players. Given that general manager Chris Getz has already declared that every player on Chicago's roster is available for the right price and the White Sox's desire to lower their payroll, that deal is very unlikley to be the last trade they make.
The most important part of this equation from the White Sox's perspective is finding the right trade partners. Half the league would love to have Dylan Cease on their roster, Eloy Jimenez's upside will get plenty of interest, and basically every team should want Luis Robert Jr. However, matching up with a team that has the prospects that could help the White Sox in the future is a bit more challenging.
Here are 7 teams that match up really well with the White Sox on trades this offseason
No trade partner is going to be perfect because, well, other MLB teams are mostly pretty smart. In a perfect world, Chicago would find someone in love with one of Cease/Robert Jr./Jimenez and that team also has a top notch farm system that they are willing to clean out for their guy. Rather than hoping for that, the goal here instead is in identifying teams that have strong farm systems and that also have corresponding needs that the White Sox can help address while generally avoiding division foes, no more or less. Here are some of the best trade partners for the White Sox this offseason.
Orioles
The Orioles are coming off a very impressive 2023 season where they won the brutally difficult AL East. Given how young that team is, the American League should be spooked by the fact that they already have a 101 win season under their belts with more help coming from the minor leagues. However, their early exit from the playoffs highlighted the fact that Baltimore needs starting pitching and that is where the White Sox come in.
Dylan Cease is going to remain a topic of conversation every single day until he is traded. In terms of rotation arms that are readily available on the trade market, Cease is at the top of the list. However, Baltimore is one of the few teams that has the prospect depth to make a strong offer for Cease given that he still has two years of team control while also not torpedoing their own future too much. Assuming that the Orioles are serious about wanting to be aggressive during this competitive window of theirs, this trade pairing makes a ton of sense.
Brewers
Milwaukee is in a weird spot at the moment and frankly, it is unclear as to whether or not they are actually going to try and remain competitive in the NL Central. They already non-tendered Brandon Woodruff due to his shoulder injury and they traded away Mark Canha with Willy Adames and possibly Corbin Burnes also being on the chopping block as well.
However, the nice thing about the Brewers as a trade partner is that whatever path they choose, both involve them being active on the trade market. If they decide to make another run at a division title because the offers for Adames and Burnes aren't to their liking, the White Sox could offer a guy like Eloy Jimenez or Andrew Vaughn to give Milwaukee's offense a boost as their minor league system is pretty appetizing, If the Brewers instead starting selling players off, Chicago could be in the running to acquire some useful players at decent prices depending on how motivated Milwaukee is to cut their payroll.
Cubs
The Cubs are seemingly mentioned everywhere in rumors this offseason. They are seemingly looking at the top of the market guys like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the wake of the Cubs stealing manager Craig Counsell away from the division rival Brewers. The Cubs clearly are looking to make a splash and with their needs at the corner infield spots as well as on the pitching side, they could be in play for guys like Dylan Cease or Andrew Vaughn. Also, don't sleep on the Cubs getting involved for Luis Robert Jr. if they end up losing Cody Bellinger and they don't have complete faith in Pete Crow-Armstrong just yet.
The problem, of course, is that any deal with a cross-town rival is going to be tough to make. The optics of sending a quality player to the Cubs would probably not go over well with the White Sox faithful. However, it isn't like the White Sox have cared much recently about optics the last couple of years (the Tony La Russa debacle and basically all of the 2023 season come to mind as examples here) and the Cubs' do have some guys like PCA and Cade Horton that could be exciting pieces to build trades around.
Rays
Every team should be a little wary of making trades with the Rays as Tampa always seems to find a way to make deals work out in their favor. However, the fact remains that the Rays have a ton of talent in the minor leagues yet again and are going to be in the market for pitching this winter, so Cease could an intriguing option for them along with Michael Kopech or any number of bullpen pieces.
Tampa is also another one of those teams that needs to watch their payroll carefully. As one of the lowest revenue teams in all of baseball, they have historically traded away guys as they get expensive. There is already a ton of smoke around a potential Tyler Glasnow trade this offseason and it wouldn't be that crazy to see them shop Randy Arozarena a bit this winter. If the White Sox decide to employ a hybrid approach of buying and selling going into 2024, Tampa is nice pairing either way.
Dodgers
If there are big names available, just expect the Dodgers to be involved in some capacity. LA is highly motivated to turn things around after back-to-back early playoff exits. Their primary goal right now does seem to be bringing Shohei Ohtani into the fold, but they are also one of the teams that have expressed the most interest in trading for Dylan Cease. Given the state of the Dodgers' rotation right now especially if Clayton Kershaw can't bounce back from injury, this makes a ton of sense.
The Dodgers' farm system isn't as awesome as great as it has been in the past, but they still have a lot of young talent to make a deal or deals work. LA is likely willing to trade one of Dalton Rushing or Diego Cartaya who are among the best catching prospects in baseball right now with Gavin Stone and Landon Knack being interesting arms the White Sox could target assuming the Dodgers are willing to move them.
Mets
The Mets are a strange team to figure out what they could do this offseason. After a spectacular implosion in 2023 that saw the most expensive roster in baseball finish 12 games below .500, the Mets seem to be shifting their focus to building for the long-term and are, at least publicly, not concerning themselves too much with short-term gains to try and go for it again in 2024.
However, we all know that Steve Cohen can help himself and guys like Cease, Jimenez, and Robert Jr. are big-time talents who also could help New York beyond next season. There are rumors that the Mets are going to be involved at the top of the free agent market yet again, so why would they close themselves off to big trades as well? Given all the prospect capital that acquired at the trade deadline like Luisangel Acuna, Ryan Clifford, and Drew Gilbert along with existing minor leaguers like Kevin Parada, Jett Williams, and Ronny Mauricio, there are more than enough pieces here to make a trade interesting from the White Sox perspective.
Red Sox
The Red Sox are arguably the biggest wild card this offseason. They have an ownership that does seem to put pretty clear guardrails up when it comes to spending and roster moves in general, but they are also have a brand new front office that is talking a big game in terms of wanting to win and be aggressive this offseason. Assuming Craig Breslow is given a long enough leash to actually get deals done, Boston could be the trade partner the White Sox are looking for.
The Red Sox's needs line up with Chicago's best trade chips as they need starting pitching badly (Cease) and improving at DH (Jimenez) and potentially in the outfield (Robert Jr.) are all on the table. More importantly, they have the trade chips of their own to make a big deal happen. While Boston doesn't have much to offer in terms of pitching prospects, they have a TON of quality position players in their minor league ranks with Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, Miguel Bleis, and Blaze Jordan being some of the highlights.
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