For the second time in the past ten years, the White Sox find themselves in a full-scale rebuild. Unlike many other clubs that have torn the roster down to the studs and built back up, there was no real halcyon period between the two rebuilds. The South Siders tore it all down after the 2015 season, finished no better than 72 wins in any of the next four seasons, and had a two-year run atop the AL Central -- one of which was the shortened 2020 season -- before their next nosedive. The 2020 Sox lost to the A's in a three-game Wild Card series. The 2021 Sox lost to the Astros in the ALDS. That was that. Chicago finished the 2022 season with a disappointing 81-81 record, and they drove off a cliff in 2023 with a 101-loss season that led to the firing of longtime baseball operations execs Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams.
Former assistant GM Chris Getz was tasked with turning things around. His offseason consisted of trading Dylan Cease, Aaron Bummer and Gregory Santos in a series of future-focused swaps. The ChiSox made mostly modest additions to the big league roster, with a heavy focus on improving the club's defense.
The rebuild continued into the early stages of the 2024 season. Getz's front office inked Robbie Grossman to a minor league contract in late March and managed to flip him after just 25 games. It was a rare sight, both due to Grossman's short tenure with the team but also because he netted the White Sox an actual prospect: Double-A reliever Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa. May trades of big league players -- particularly those who just signed in the offseason -- are exceedingly rare. Most early trades of this nature come on the heels of a DFA. That wasn't the case here. As Darragh McDonald and I discussed on this week's podcast, this was more akin to a lower-profile trade deadline swap. It was frankly a nice bit of business for the White Sox.
Getz and his staff shouldn't stop here, and their next swap should also come sooner than later. While there's any number of players on the White Sox' roster who make sense as a trade candidate, there's one in particular who stands as a logical early-season target for other clubs.
Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription
- Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
- Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
- Remove ads and support our writers.
- Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker
The real team and stadium of Chicago. Southside.
The bacon grease is drippin’ onto your already stained white tank top sis.
So funny that you are triggered again.
Keep C Korey Lee and LP Garrett Crochet.
Please trade a low end prospect to Pads for Machado
Even if Machado didn’t have a full NTC there’s no way Rwinddorf is taking on that kind of contract.
The Pads would pay his salary, just take him!
then trade a blue chip prospect for Stanton!
Michael Jordan caused Reinsdorf into actually believing that he was one of the most brilliant sports owners in the history of sports. I mean, didn’t Reinsdorf have the insight and inspiration to hire . . . Jerry Krause. LOL.
Reinsdorf is truly delusional if he thinks Chicago (and Illinois) owes him a new stadium, with his pathetic history of already ripping off the tax payers of Arizona, Florida as well as Illinois.
“Prospect to Pads for Machado”…With that contract and with Manny Machado nearly 32 years old and below replacement level this year, I doubt anyone wants him or that contract. Slower than molasses Manny Machado has become a rally-killer and a double play machine.
It isn’t really a rebuild tbh. It’s more of a bridge year. White Sox will probably finish the same or a few games worse than last season.
Yeah, it’s not really a car crash, someone just forgot to put their foot on the brake.
That’s a good example of it. Unlike last year they have depth especially pitching.
The Sox don’t have frontline starters. So what do you consider depth? Could you list the “depth” that they have.
Nick Nastrani, Chad Kuhl, maybe Crochet, Touki, Jonathan Cannon, Drew Thorpe, Jairo Irate to name a few. Most of the Sox top prospects are pitching. Hitting wise is meh at best.
Nastrini has a 5.93 ERA at Charlotte. And got rocked when he was up. Kuhl is a 31 yr old with a 4.70 ERA at Charlotte and a career 4.98 ERA in the bigs. I actually like Touki but again, he would only be considered depth on this roster. Cannon same as Nastrini, but with walk issues. Thorpe is a prospect, not depth. Irate the same.
“Hitting wise is meh”, well that just happens to be a big part of the game. And there are 9 positions. There isn’t 1 guy in the system that is ready now, none will likely be ready for ’25.
You have incredibly low expectations.
“It isn’t really a rebuild tbh.”
You’re not being honest with yourself. If this wasn’t a rebuild, the Sox wouldn’t have traded Cease. Getz will get rid of every player he can by the deadline. They don’t have prospects ready for 2025 to fill all the needs, so they be in the same position in ’25 and ’26.
I slightly disagree. The reason why I see this as a “bridge year” because Getz is signing a bunch of 1 year deals hoping to get flipped for a decent prospect at best. The Bummer trade was salary dump. I’m sure Getz will get rid of the rentals+ Fedde. Crochet and Robert could be two pieces to build a “new core.” They have a lot of money coming off the books. They’ll probably spend money, hopefully they upgrade the offense. Montgomery will probably be up next season. Ramos is already up. Nastrini and Cannon will probably be back after the trade deadline. 2024 was always a lost season for the Sox.
That all sounds as wonderful as all the predictions you made in the spring… how many of those worked out… I’ll wait.
Nastrini and Cannon have minor league ERAs above 4.00 and their ERAs have gotten worse eat every level. So your assumption that they magically be outstanding at the MLB is ridiculous.
“Montgomery will probably be up”… well he’s struggling at AAA so forgive me if I call BS on your projections.
I didn’t make these predictions back in spring training. It seems like they are doing something similar to the Cubs. The Cubs were basically in the same situation back in 2022. 2021 deadline they sold rental+others. Finished that season 71-91. 2022 they were 74-88. 2023 back to competing.
I’m not saying opening day 2025 but at some point in the 2025 season like June/July.
Yeah, the org line is that this team is trying to be ‘competitive’ in 2025.. Of course that is if all the prospects actually keep developing for that to occur, and with this org, Im not sure that is going to happen. Lord knows ‘The Chairman’ ain’t spending for this rebuild either. and like @spotswood said, Cease is not gone either.
.You also see those 1 year contracts as the org is trying to find trade bait, it has little to do with the direction of the org other than they are so bad and their system so devoid of good prospects they need to find lightning in a bottle.
‘Bridge’ year, to me, is if you have the base of a developing team already (the Sox do not) and the org is trying to find excuses to not bring up guys who are bonafide top prospects tearing it up in the high level minors. and I just do not see that at this moment. Seeing as most of this roster is not going to be here by the time this team develops, that typically means 2-3 seasons, and that is a rebuild.
2024 was always a bridge/rebuild/lost season or whatever you want to call it. It seems like Getz wanted to add depth regardless if it’s a pitcher or hitter. At the end of the day, we will believe it when we see it.
47 games into the season, this team has 6 regular starters that have an OBP under .280. It’s a rebuild, or whatever you want to call it.
@Aiden This team is scorched earth, after this year only Robert and Crochet will be left from the 2021 playoff team, and it’s not a given they won’t trade both of them as well. Regardless, calling it a “bridge” rather than a rebuild is like saying a man with one hair on his head isn’t bald.
Also White Sox tore it down after the 2016 season not 2015 btw.
Does this article actually talk about what said player might fetch in a trade and what teams might be interested?
Is that what the article is about? “Not really” is the answer to both questions
That’s disappointing. Why is it on a transactions website? Must just be a favor to his agent.
“Just spend more money!”
– The cry of the imbecile
“Spend more money”..True that. 95% of the time just “spending more” is not the answer. The answer has always been drafting(both foreign & domestic)and developing well, and “spending more” carefully, efficiently and wisely. When you hear people say “just spend more”, it just shows they know very little about baseball.