White Sox’s Primary Trade Candidates
With the Trade Deadline less than 3 weeks away, the teams that are sellers or buyers have become clear. The White Sox continue to struggle to make any ground in the AL Central standings. They are currently 38-54, 8 games back of the 1st place Guardians and 12.5 games back of the 3rd wild card spot. It would take an incredible stretch of winning for them to turn it around but they haven’t shown any signs of that happening. Their offense ranks 27th in the league in OPS, 23rd in Runs Scored, and 22nd in Batting Average. On the pitching side however, they have a plethora of intriguing trade pieces that will certainly get attention from postseason contenders.
Lucas Giolito
After a poor ‘22 season in which he posted a 4.90 ERA & 1.42 WHIP, Lucas Giolito has been stellar this year for the Southsiders. Across 112 innings thus far, he has 3.45 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. For most of his White Sox tenure, Giolito’s primary put-away pitch was his changeup. In ‘23, both his slider and 4-seam fastball have overtaken it. Following this trend, this season his changeup has the lowest K rate of his repertoire. Starting pitching is always a need at the trade deadline, and it’s likely that Giolito will be among the 1st wave of pitchers to be dealt.
Lance Lynn
Lance Lynn has had quite the up-and-down year so far. He’s posted a 6.03 ERA & a 1.41 WHIP across 103 innings. He’s allowed both the most earned runs & homeruns, 69 and 22 respectively. In this same year, he has 4 double-digit strikeout games, one of which he struck out 16 Seattle Mariner hitters, tying a White Sox Franchise record for most K’s in a game. Lynn has a 27.9 K%, his highest since 2019. If Lynn can find a rhythm and post quality outings from now till the trade deadline, a contender will benefit greatly from adding him to their rotation.
Kendall Graveman
With Liam Hendriks’s cancer diagnosis to start the ‘23 season, The White Sox would be without their All-Star closer for much of the 1st half. Kendall Graveman would step up and be the primary closer. He leads all White Sox relievers in saves with 7, and is 2nd in Holds with 8. He has an ERA of 2.93 across 40 innings. He primary relies on a Sinker & Slider but this year he has increased his 4-seam fastball usage. Graveman has shown to be one of the elite groundball pitchers which in today’s game, is extremely valuable.
Gregory Santos
Gregory Santos has been one of the most under-the-radar relievers for the trade deadline. Santos has been the most productive reliver for the Sox. His ERA is at a quality 2.76 in 45.2 innings. His Sinker averages 99 mph and can touch triple digits. His Slider sits in the low 90’s that generates a Whiff % of 38. His sinker allows him to generate a lot of groundballs and prevent hitters from barreling up pitches. His is in the 100th percentile in Barrel Rate, which is skill that is rarely seen.
