Chicago White Sox: Three Trades that Shaped the 2020 Team
The 2020 Chicago White Sox could make some noise this season. Let’s see how their general manager constructed this team.
The Chicago White Sox are one of the teams that did a lot of remodeling last offseason, and now we cannot see how it was going to pan out. They added All-Star catcher Yasmani Grandal and former Cy Young award winner Dallas Keuchel. They even extended current stars, Jose Abreu and Yoan Moncada. Also, they locked up top prospect Luis Roberts.
The team on the south side of Chicago might make some noise in the American League Central division when this season starts.
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Not all of these players were always in their organization. A lot of them were acquired via trade.
The White Sox are always one of the most active teams when it comes to trades. Since Rick Hahn was hired to run the franchise during the 2013 season, the team has made 27 separate trades.
Some of these trades were train wrecks and some were huge in creating the current atmosphere in Chicago. Some of their transactions made huge impacts in the league by transcending other teams. Both the Washington Nationals and Boston Red Sox won World Series titles because of trades they have made with the White Sox.
Here are three good trades that Rick Hahn made that shaped the current Chicago White Sox roster.
Chicago White Sox: 3 Trades that will shape the 2020 Team
Lucas Giolito
This trade seemed shaky at first but developed to be a good transaction for both teams.
Prior to the 2017 season, the White Sox acquired three right-handed pitchers for outfielder Adam Eaton. Those pitchers were Reynaldo Lopez, Dane Dunning, and Lucas Giolito.
Dunning has not played in the majors yet for the White Sox. However, Lopez, in a part of their rotation, as well as Giolito being their ace for the foreseeable future.
In 2019, Giolito, 24, was named an All-Star and finished sixth for American League Cy Young. He went 14-9 through 29 starts, striking out 228 over 176.2 innings with a 3.41 ERA. This was his second full season and he transcended into a legitimate ace for Chicago.
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His accuracy was much better in 2019 than it was in 2018. In 2018, he was beyond wild and led the American League in walks and earned runs.
Last season, he had three complete games and two shut outs. He became the ace the whole baseball community expected him to be.
Giolito is one of the best young pitchers in baseball and will be a dominant force for the White Sox for the next few seasons at the minimum. The tall righty is ready for the White Sox to take the next step and become a contender.
Chicago White Sox: 3 Trades that will shape the 2020 Team
Yoan Moncada
After seven strong seasons with the Chicago White Sox, ace Chris Sale was traded to the Boston Red Sox in the 2016-2017 offseason in exchange for Michael Kopech, Luis Alexander Basabe, Victor Diaz and Yoan Moncada. Sale had a great run in Chicago but was looking to win a title and the White Sox were not close at the time. Thus, ending his tenure in white and black.
Kopech has not played since requiring Tommy John surgery at the end of 2018. Basabe and Diaz are both in the minors still.
However, Moncada was the main piece of the trade. He appeared in eight games for the Red Sox in 2016 but did not put together his first full season until 2018.
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In 2018, Moncada struggled immensely. He swung at everything and struck out 217 times, the most in the majors. He was only 23 at the time and showed some promise but needed to improve his pitch recognition before taking it to the next step. That’s exactly what he did.
Last season, Moncada improved greatly. Through 132 games, he hit .315 with a .915 OPS and 25 home runs with 79 RBIs. He struck out much less, only 154 times, in fewer plate appearances too. The infielder really matured as a hitter during his age-24 season.
Moncada is the White Sox third baseman of the future. They locked him up this offseason by extending him 5 years, for $70 million.
Chicago White Sox: 3 Trades that will shape the 2020 Team
Eloy Jimenez
The Chicago White Sox have missed the postseason each year since 2008. This has caused them to be sellers at the trade deadline. In 2017, that is how they ended up with Eloy Jimenez.
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The reigning World Series champions, the Chicago Cubs, were looking to return to the postseason in 2017 and make another run. They needed another pitcher and reached out to the Cubs about trading for their starting pitcher, Jose Quintana.
The two Chicago teams agreed to a deal centered around one of their top prospects, Eloy Jimenez.
Before making his debut in 2019, the White Sox extended Eloy Jimenez. He never played in the majors and they signed him to a six-year, $43 million extension through 2024 at least.
Then, he put together an incredible rookie season.
In just 122 games, Jimenez smashed 31 home runs. He hit .267, which is fairly impressive for a rookie. His OPS. was .828.
He is an absolute threat when it comes to being a young power hitter. He exploded onto the scene in 2019 and he could have an even better year when the 2020 season starts.
This was a fantastic trade by the White Sox because he is going to be a contributor on their team for a very long time.
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These three trades helped shape the current-day Chicago White Sox.