The White Sox have struggled so far this season. All signs point to Chicago looking to trade away talent as the trade deadline approaches.
The Chicago White Sox have undoubtedly failed to meet expectations so far this year. Their preseason Vegas win total prop had them projected to finish just above .500 and preseason MLB power rankings ranked the White Sox among the top half of teams in the league.
The MLB season is almost one-third of the way over. The trade deadline is still nine weeks away but the first third of the year seems to indicate that, barring a considerable turnaround, the White Sox may not only suffer a disappointing fate in 2023, but also should look toward the trade market to offload some of their talent in an effort to retool their roster by adding prospects.
In this article, we take a look at which Chicago White Sox players could be on the move as the season continues toward the late-summer MLB trade deadline.
Players the White Sox should trade: Yasmani Grandal
The veteran catcher Yasmani Grandal has seen his best days pass him by at this point in his career. Grandal's power hitting, which made him a standout at the position, has waned. Grandal hit only 5 home runs in 376 at-bats last year, after hitting 23 home runs in 375 at-bats in 2021.
However, Grandal is still a serviceable starter, at least in a part-time role. Across the league, catcher is an area of weakness for many teams, and specifically for some of the teams on the verge of contention who may be in the market for a veteran catcher.
While the potential to acquire prospects for their aging catcher might be justification alone, Grandal is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2023 campaign, and it's hard to imagine the White Sox would bring him back on anything other than a favorable contract for the team.
Grandal would be an excellent one-year rental option for a contending team and the White Sox should gladly take some form of compensation for him in a trade before he starts next season in a new uniform anyhow.
Potential Landing Spots: Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros, Miami Marlins
Players the White Sox should trade: Lucas Giolito
Starting pitcher Lucas Giolito is another valuable White Sox player whose contract expires at the end of this season. Despite a slide in productivity since his dominant 2019-2021 seasons in which he posted season-long earned run averages in the mid-3 range bolstered by strikeouts per nine innings above 10 per season, the 28-year-old pitcher still has plenty of talent left to offer potential trade suitors.
According to FanGraphs, Giolito's expected ERA so far this year sits at 4.30 and he is still striking out just over nine batters per nine innings, on average.
The veteran pitcher has the talent to be a playoff starter for nearly every team in contention. Furthermore, while Giolito's contract expires at the end of the year, I think there are many teams who would consider bringing him in with the hopes to re-sign him to a long-term contract.
If Giolito is dealt near the trend deadline, there are plenty of contending teams dealing with significant injuries on their pitching staffs who'd gladly welcome him to their starting rotation.
Potential Landing Spots: Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers
Players the White Sox should trade: Tim Anderson
The Chicago White Sox have a club option they could choose to exercise for Anderson at the end of the 2023 season, which would allow them to bring him back for the 2024 season for $14 million.
That salary seems worth it for Anderson, who has demonstrated considerable success both at the plate and in the field over his eight seasons with the team. Anderson is widely considered one of the best shortstops in baseball.
However, Tim Anderson continues to be a popular name on the MLB rumor mill at this point in the season.
Despite Anderson's significant track record of achievement, he has played materially worse so far this season than he has historically. Anderson has hit over .300 in each of the last four seasons, but is hitting .268 with no home run so far this season.
A change of scenery may not only allow the White Sox the opportunity to procure valuable young assets but also may benefit the 29-year-old shortstop. The market for Tim Anderson should be reasonably large — and not only restricted to imminently contending teams.
Potential Landing Spots: Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels, San Francisco Giants