Chicago White Sox Rumors: Reports say these 2 pitchers might be traded

Liam Hendriks is the second pitcher involved in recent Chicago White Sox rumors

Second up in the rumor mill is White Sox closer Liam Hendriks. The right-handed closer is currently 33 years old and will be 34 before the 2023 campaign starts. Next year is his last official year on the books, and Hendriks will carry a salary of roughly $14 million. Then, in 2024, he has a club option for $15 million.

Last year, Hendriks pitched a little less than he did in 2021, going for 57.2 innings compared to his 71.0 in the previous year. He did, however, carry a similar strikeout-per-inning ratio; just a tad under his 1.59 from the previous season. If the Sox are looking for any other indicators for his play taking a small dip, Hendriks did see the most hits per nine innings since 2018 at 6.9. His ERA was also the highest it’s been since that same 2018 season, sitting at 2.81.

Hendriks has been a highly valuable pitcher, though, for the White Sox over the last couple of seasons. Over his 2021 campaign, Hendriks even saw a handful of American League Cy Young votes — eight of them to be exact, which gave him a five percent voter share that year.

Trading Hendriks doesn’t make a ton of sense, though, just like it doesn’t make a lot of sense to trade Giolito. Again, this is a team with excellent World Series odds for the 2023 season. Why they would trade one of the more valuable closers in the league is a great question. So, it makes a lot more sense for the Sox to hang onto him at the moment.