Chicago White Sox: Chris Sale, Everyone Else, and the Looming Winter
We’ve seen multiple teams make trades and free-agent signings over the past few days, yet we are still waiting the see when and where the the biggest chip in the game this winter will land. What will the Chicago White Sox do with Chris Sale, and what collateral moves will follow?
A couple weeks ago now, Chicago White Sox GM Rick Hahn outlined a plan for the 2016-2017 offseason, virtually proclaiming a long awaited rebuild on the south side of Chicago. Well it’s been a very, very long two weeks for White Sox fans, and the rest of the baseball world for that matter, as we all wait to see the likely first move in the rebuild in the form of a Chris Sale blockbuster trade.
Here’s are a few descriptors to describe the current feelings of the White Sox fan-base; tired, anxious, bored, hopeless, frustrated, etc. You get the point, White Sox fans have waited a long time for the team to announce a clear direction of any sort, and now that they finally have, they are waiting even longer to see it transpire.
Part of the hold-up with the White Sox this winter is the impending CBA deadline on December 1, and part of it is of course the White Sox wanting to ensure that they get the absolute best deal available in return for Chris Sale, if and when the team decides to pull the trigger.
The Chris Sale possible trade narrative has been beaten to death by writers across the entire baseball landscape, because really that is the most interesting news out of 35th & Shields since Chris Sale decided to butcher his throwback jersey this summer. Also, everyone in baseball is waiting to see when and where Sale gets moved, as any move including him will likely set the market for available starting pitchers moving forward.
We have heard nothing from the White Sox front office since Hahn outlined the winter plans at the GM Meetings in Scottsdale, Arizona. We have heard plenty about the potential moves and returns from sources outside of the White Sox, including the rumblings that teams like the Braves, Nationals, Red Sox, Dodgers, and Yankees have made calls to Hahn and company regarding Sale.
This morning ESPN’s Baseball Analyst Buster Olney reported that the White Sox would be open to trading anyone on the current roster with less than four years of club control. Players that fit that criteria include Chris Sale, Melky Cabrera, Todd Frazier, Brett Lawrie, David Robertson, Jose Abreu, James Shields, Zach Putnam, Avisail Garcia, Miguel Gonzalez, Jake Petricka, and Dan Jennings.
One name that pops out at you on that list of available players more than Chris Sale, is James Shields. Not because he’s worth more than a bag of peanuts on the open market, but because I don’t even know why someone would waste the key-strokes to include him in the list because no one is going to mention his name in trade negotiations. I mean literally no one, like not even the Kane County Cougars.
Anyways, on to players with a shred of major league trade value, most major league executives are growing increasingly confident that it is more of a when Sale will be traded, rather than if Sale will be traded. As far as the White Sox players beyond Sale, they will almost surely be heavily discussed after a Sale deal is completed and most will likely be moved. The thought by front office executives is if they move Sale, “once you trade him, why would you stop there?”, which makes perfect sense. Unfortunately, often the White Sox front office doesn’t make much sense at all.
The latest idea floated around belongs to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, Passan suggests the White Sox send Chris Sale, Todd Frazier and David Robertson to the Chavez Ravine in exchange for Cody Bellinger, Jose De Leon, Alex Verdugo, Yasiel Puig and Willie Calhoun. No thanks Jeff, no one would like to see Yasiel Puig in a White Sox uniform, did we forget that this guy was demoted to Triple-A last season when the Dodgers couldn’t trade him? Swap Puig for Yusniel Diaz and Jordan Sheffield, and we have a deal in my mind.
Most White Sox fans will surely feel like that’s a light return from the Dodgers, and say that Frazier and Robertson are throw-ins. Sorry guys, receiving the Dodgers 1,2,3,4,6 and 7 ranked prospects in return for Chris Sale, Todd Frazier, and David Robertson is a good move for the White Sox. Frazier and Robertson aren’t quite throw-ins, but they are pot sweeteners. They won’t command significant value in return on their own, but they will help grease a mega return from the Dodgers in a Chris Sale deal, as they do address holes that the Dodgers have.
I’ve been having the discussion on Sale’s return value with fans like myself for weeks, and the moon, a cow and a brick of cheese seems to be the asking price among the fan-base. I’d hate to disappoint, but that is NOT how this deal is going to go down. A team like the Dodgers, who have a deep farm system, have that deep farm system because they don’t sell it off for single players, regardless of their perceived worth.
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The Dodgers, the Red Sox, the Braves, or whoever the White Sox come to make a deal with, will not single-handedly rebuild the White Sox bottom of the barrel farm system, for one player, it’s just not going to happen. But if the White Sox did send Sale, Frazier, and Robertson to the Dodgers in return for Bellinger, De Leon, Verdugo, Diaz, Calhoun and Sheffield or something very close to that type of return, they will be well on their way to the type of farm system that they envision.
The White Sox could then move Jose Quintana and Nate Jones to the Red Sox for say, Rafael Devers, Michael Kopech, Travis Lakins and Trey Ball. That would bring the White Sox solid prospect at third base as well as add three arms to the minor league system. Those two moves would increase the White Sox number of Top-100 prospects from just two, to nine! Which would give the White Sox the most talented farm in baseball, as far as Top-100 prospects are concerned, with the Brewers a close second place with eight, and the Braves next in line with seven.
A rebuild is not going to happen over night, even with those two trades that I mentioned the White Sox will still have plenty of work to do. Yes, they will have the most Top-100 prospects in the league, but they will still need to add depth to the system behind those guys, so that the formula is sustainable. They can use Melky Cabrera, Brett Lawrie and Jose Abreu in moves to add some depth behind the big nine.
If the White Sox do this the right way, we’re not going to be watching competitive baseball on the south side for quite some time, I’m thinking like 2019 at the earliest. We will see a depleted roster in 2017, that looks very, very bad. In 2018 we can start to look forward to some guys making their mark at the minor league level, and even sniffing some time at the major-league level to get some experience and gauge where they are at. Still, 2019 would be the earliest we could see a close to finished product materialize.
Also lets not forget that moving Sale, Frazier, Robertson, Quintana, Jones, Abreu, Lawrie and Cabrera would cut the White Sox payroll by roughly $60-$65 million dollars, leaving them with plenty of money available heading into the 2017-2018 free-agent class, one of the best classes we will see for a long time. They could easily add some needed high-quality veterans around the new youthful core at this time next winter. It’s going to take some time to feel hopeful again, but it will come, just be patient and keep an open mind.
Next: Three Players That Should Control the Trade Market
As far as the burning question for Chicago White Sox fans go, when can we expect to see the White Sox make their first move? Who knows, but probably not in the month of November in my opinion. I believe that we will wait until at least the MLB Winter Meetings in December before we see the White Sox make a move. So as Hawk says, sit back and strap it down, and get ready for some Hot Stove baseball! Well sort of anyways.