The market for relief pitching was out of control at the 2025 MLB trade deadline.
The San Francisco Giants landed promising prospects Blade Tidwell (Mets No. 10), and Drew Gilbert (Mets No. 12), and a productive MLB reliever in Jose Butto from the New York Mets for Tyler Rogers.
The Athletics got a shocking return of Leo De Vries, the No. 3 prospect in all of baseball, and three pitchers with upside for Mason Miller and JP Sears.
Based on market prices, every seller should have been going out of their way to move pitchers, but the 5pm CST deadline passed, and the Chicago White Sox did not move a single relief pitcher from their overachieving bullpen.
The White Sox made a mistake by not moving relievers
I think Chris Getz and the White Sox had an overall successful trade deadline. They did pretty well in the Austin Slater trade with the Yankees, and I’m a huge fan of the Curtis Mead addition.
The White Sox added three intriguing players that could have an MLB impact for Adrian Houser, who was not even with the organization on May 1. That's a win. I also think holding onto Luis Robert Jr. was the right call.
That being said, not moving on the seller's market for relief pitching could end up being a huge mistake.
It was something I feared the White Sox would do in my predictions before the deadline. While a bunch of White Sox relievers are overachieving in 2025, none of them are on expiring contracts. That complicated the deadline decision facing the White Sox front office.
Chicago has contract control through 2026 on Dan Altavilla, 2027 on Steven Wilson, 2029 on Tyler Gilbert, and 2030 on Mike Vasil.
I get it. Controllable relief pitchers are valuable. But White Sox fans can vouch for the fact that relief pitching is also volatile. It’s anyone’s guess if Altavilla will stay healthy in 2026 or if Steven Wilson will regress back to his 2024 self.
The White Sox have young arms that deserve a shot
The White Sox have plenty of young arms in the minor leaves that deserve a shot to get MLB innings in the bullpen. Jairo Iriarte, Peyton Pallette, and Wikelman González are all worthy, and that’s only naming a few.
Even Ben Peoples, who is part of the return from Tampa Bay for Adrian Houser, would be a fun addition to the Sox bullpen down the stretch of 2025.
Looking at what other teams around the league got for their bullpen pieces, I would have definitely preferred for the White Sox to give an audition to a younger arm while flipping their more experienced relievers to contenders for prospects.
I can only imagine what someone would have paid for six years of Grant Taylor on a rookie contract.
It’s not the end of the world, but I’ll be the first to admit that it’s frustrating. Rick Hahn and the last regime overvalued arms and spent big money in free agency on relievers. While Chris Getz seems to have built his bullpen the correct way, the success of these veterans playing for the Major League minimum should serve as an example of why it’s always best to sell high on a relief pitchers at the deadline.
Michael Kopech helped the White Sox bring back Miguel Vargas at the 2024 trade deadline. Reynaldo Lopez helped Chicago get Edgar Quero back in 2023.
Time will tell if Wilson, Altavilla, Gilbert, and others end up being long-term assets that the White Sox are glad they held onto. It will also remain a mystery just how much interest opposing teams had in Chicago’s bullpen arms. But immediately following the deadline, my gut tells me the White Sox messed this one up.