White Sox Rumors: Would they trade their two best players?

Major League Baseball’s trade deadline is fast approaching and the Chicago White Sox are expected to be sellers. The Sox are 16 games under .500 and nine games back of the division-leading Minnesota Twins.

Unless the Twins, Cleveland Guardians, and Detroit Tigers all forfeit the rest of their games, there is no way the White Sox are making the playoffs.

So the Chicago White Sox are reportedly going to trade off players set to be free agents after the season. That means Lucas Giolito, Keynan Middleton, Lance Lynn, Tim Anderson (both Lynn and Anderson have club options), and Yasmani Grandal are on the trading block.

Two players reported to be untouchable are pitcher Dylan Cease and centerfielder Luis Robert Jr. That is not going to stop some teams from making an offer.

There is a rumor out there that the Houston Astros view Cease as their dream deadline acquisition. Another rumor out there is the Astros are thinking of an even bigger deal by going after Cease and Robert Jr.

Cease is having a down year from last season when he was the runner-up for the AL Cy Young. Cease is still a 1.6 bWAR player. He will not become a free agent until 2026.

Robert Jr. is having an MVP-caliber season and made his first All-Star Game. Robert Jr. is a 4.3 bWAR player with a .901 OPS and 27 home runs. He is under team control through 2027.

If the Chicago White Sox make trades to do a retool for next season or a full-out rebuild, Cease and Robert Jr. should be centerpieces of those Sox teams. Both are still in the mid-20s and both have a lot of team control left. They are still very productive players that can anchor a team.

Although, the last time Hahn did a rebuild, it took three seasons to get back into contention.

By that point, Cease will be nearing free agency and Robert Jr. will only have two years left of team control.