Monday will be one of the most important days for the White Sox in the last few seasons. As the team will open a crucial four-game series with the Twins in Minnesota, general manager Rick Hahn will be busy with the 2020 MLB trade deadline. Hahn has been active in recent seasons at the trade deadline, trying to sell veteran pieces for prospects. This season the White Sox are buyers and are expected to make a significant move with the chance of them making it to the playoffs for the first in eight years.
Rumors have been pouring in with prominent names demonstrating how much value the White Sox have with their prospects. Some of the big names linked to the White Sox have included starting pitchers Lance Lynn, Mike Clevinger, and Dylan Bundy. There have been other trading, including the Milwaukee Brewers in which they could part with starting pitcher Brandon Woodruff and All-Star closer Josh Hader. Where Lynn and Bundy are available because their current teams have little playoff possibilities, the Cleveland Indians and Brewers have a good chance at making it to the playoffs this season and shouldn’t be selling their talent.
The main reason why teams in contention are willing to part with talent that is under control is due in part to the high quality of prospects the White Sox currently has right now. Chicago currently has four players listed in the top 50 of MLB’s Top 100 Prospects list. The success seen by rookies Nick Madrigal, Dane Dunning, and Luis Robert this season along with the value of other young prospects including Andrew Vaughn, Joe Kelly, and Garrett Crochet has other teams looking to add their talent.
Milwaukee doesn’t need to trade either Woodruff or Hader as Woodruff is under the age of 28, and Hader is under contract until 2024. If the White Sox were to acquire either Brewer player it would cost either Vaughn or Kopech, or possibly both. If the Sox were to trade for Clevinger from Cleveland, it would require several prospects from the farm system, but also someone from the major league roster. The value would be immense not because of the talent level, but because Cleveland would be trading one of their best pitchers within the division to a team that is in close competition for the division title with them.
Hahn deserves massive accreditation if he can land an All-Star talent because of the job he did retooling a farm system that five years ago was one of the worst in baseball. Chicago not only is one of the best young teams in all of baseball right now but has so much depth where they can add premiere talent from opposing teams that are in contention. The White Sox are in the same position the Cubs were in 2016 when they traded their best prospect in Gleybor Torres to the Yankees in return for closer Aroldis Chapman who was vital in the Cubs win the World Series that year.
By late-Monday night the White Sox may have a veteran starting pitcher that bolsters their starting rotation and be in sole possession of first place heading into September. If they add an All-Star caliber pitcher, it will be because of the loaded farm system that will have put them in a position to win a World Series this year. Whether it is Lynn, Woodruff, or Clevinger, Chicago will have made a significant trade to win now, showing that their rebuild was a success.
