With two months of games behind us, most MLB teams are starting to get a gauge on whether or not they’ll be contending for a playoff spot in 2025, or focusing on the future.
For a team like the Chicago White Sox, the eyes have been on the future for a couple of years now, and the approaching trade deadline will be another potential opportunity to land future pieces at the expense of current Major Leaguers.
With the biggest names already moved, and Luis Robert Jr. off to a very slow start, the White Sox may not have many surefire trade pieces at this year’s deadline. One name that’s been recently brought up in rumors, however, is right-handed starter Davis Martin.
According to MLB insider Mark Feinsand, Martin is "likely" to be traded at the deadline and gives the White Sox an opportunity to jumpstart the market. In my eyes, that would be a huge mistake.
Martin's Tommy John recovery
Martin, a former 14th round pick out of Texas Tech back in 2018, dominated the minor leagues before making his MLB debut with the White Sox in 2022. He made 14 appearances in 2022, including 9 starts, and finished the season with a 4.83 ERA, though that number is inflated from his 9 ER outing in his final start of the year. During that nightmare game, he also suffered an elbow injury that would eventually require Tommy John surgery, and he did not pitch in 2023.
After nearly 20 months away, Martin made his return in July of 2024, and made 10 starts down the stretch for the 2024 White Sox, pitching to a 4.32 ERA in 50 innings. During his rehab, Martin notably began throwing a new pitch - a kind of change-up with extra horizontal breaK - referred to as a Kick-Change.
Martin’s addition of this pitch has improved his entire arsenal, and is a big part of his recent effectiveness.
Martin's breakout 2025
Since cracking the Opening Day rotation, Martin’s been more effective than ever at the Major League level in 2025. Through 11 appearances and 10 starts in 2025, Martin’s ERA sits at 3.45, and he’s allowed just 16 walks in 62.2 innings.
With how good and consistent he has been, some people are wondering if the White Sox will look to move Martin at the trade deadline to a pitching needy team, perhaps to add another young hitter or two.
In my opinion, however, moving a pitcher like Martin at this stage in his career would be a big mistake.
Trading Davis Martin would be a mistake
One of the major storylines of the 2025 White Sox has been the large number of injuries to young starting pitchers. Before the season even started, Drew Thorpe, Ky Bush, Mason Adams, Juan Carela, and Blake Larson had already suffered season-ending injuries.
2024 first round draft pick Hagen Smith has been dealing with some recent elbow soreness, which could be a very scary development for his future.
While most pitchers fully recover from Tommy John surgery, losing a crucial year of development for several young starters casts a large shadow of uncertainty over an area that was once viewed as Chicago's biggest strength.
Even though Davis Martin, at 28, is quite a bit older than those other names, his age is less relevant than the years of control on his contract. Martin won’t be a free agent until after the 2030 season, and won’t even be arbitration eligible until after 2027. This means the White Sox will have an effective starting pitcher on a team-friendly contract for what should be the duration of his prime.
Even if the Sox aren’t aiming to contend until 2027 or so, 2027-2030 would still give them four competitive years with Martin under contract. Unlike Dylan Cease and Garrett Crochet, who were nearing the end of their White Sox contract and unlikely to sign a long term extension, Martin is set to be on the South Side for a long time.
Nowadays, many pitchers are still effective well into their 30s, so having Martin through his age 33 season could be beneficial.
With so many of the future rotation pieces still a mystery, Martin is a guy that Will Venable knows he can pencil in every 5th day. The Sox know that Martin will give them reliable innings. That is a great luxury to have. If Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith end up being the frontline starters that many believe they can be, guys like Martin and Jonathan Cannon can be really strong back end starters to round out a dominant rotation. Shane Smith also has a chance to crack the AL All-Star roster as a rookie.
Questions do remain about the position player core of the next competitive White Sox team. With several prospects seemingly breaking out this year, however, it seems like moving pitching to get bats is less essential than it was previously.
Braden Montgomery, Kyle Teel, and Caleb Bonemer are all having encouraging season in the minor leagues.
The White Sox also have the 10th over pick in July’s draft and look primed to land a top pick in the loaded 2026 MLB Draft, as well. Both drafts seem like great opportunities to land high-level position player talent without giving up assets on the pitching side.
If they're going to trade pitching to fill a hole in the lineup, I'd rather the Sox wait until they're closer to competing and they have a better idea of who/what is expendable and where their biggest needs are.
On the free agency side, it is always much easier to find productive hitters than pitchers, and the White Sox have a history of not signing pitchers to long term deals. The largest contract the White Sox have ever given a free-agent starting pitcher was Dallas Keuchel’s three-year, $55 million deal before the 2020 season. With the market for starting pitching exploding the way it has, it seems unlikely that the White Sox will spend much money to round out their rotation, and they should look to lock in as many homegrown starters as they can.
It is unclear how active the White Sox will be at the 2025 trade deadline in their quest to restock with young talent. There are several veterans on this roster whose trade market is still unknown. But as Chris Getz fields offers this summer, I hope that those trade packages do not include Davis Martin.
Martin’s consistency and control are of great value to the White Sox, and I firmly believe that moving on from him this soon would be a major mistake.