White Sox Rumors: 3 players that should be traded before the deadline

The Chicago White Sox have already traded five pitchers before MLB’s trade deadline. There are three more players they need to ship out before 5 pm CST on August 1st. We will get to those players shortly. But first, let’s recap the work that has already been done.

General Manager Rick Hahn traded Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez to the Los Angeles Angels for their second and third-best prospects.

Hahn got two good pitching prospects from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly. Finally, he got a good catching prospect from the Houston Astros for Kendall Graveman. Hahn has been inclined to trade players set for free agency after the season.

The organization is reported to not be interested in a full-blown roster teardown. Instead, Hahn’s trades have shown he is looking for prospects that are near contributing at the major-league level and helping the team compete in 2024.

It makes sense since the AL Central is not likely to get any better next season. The Sox will have money to spend in the offseason.

At a minimum, the Chicago White Sox will have just five players making over $5.5 million. That number will grow depending on if Tim Anderson’s and Liam Hendriks’ team options are picked up.

Dylan Cease will certainly earn a raise from the $5.7 million is he making this season through arbitration.

Still, the Sox can go into the offseason and be major players in free agency if team owner Jerry Reindorf allows it.

Hahn still has some assets he can move to add a few more prospects to the farm system. These three players are set to be free agents after the season and the Sox could lose them for nothing. They come with some value that could help a contender.

The Chicago White Sox have some players that should be traded away.

Reliever Keynan Middleton needs to be traded.

Middleton has been a pleasant surprise this year out of the bullpen. He was one of the few bright spots for a bullpen that struggled to start the season. He was outstanding in May when opponents batted just .128 against him.

He has a 3.96 ERA and 47 strikeouts this season. Middleton has struggled this month with an 8.64 ERA and an opponent batting average of .324.

Left-handed hitters are batting just .222 against him. He has been really good in medium-leverage situations. He can help a contending team eat some innings out of the bullpen.

Mike Clevinger should be traded before he walks away in the offseason.

Clevinger may have questionable character but he has pitched well enough this season to earn more than what he can earn next season if he exercises a mutual option he was the club.

The Sox have already lost two starting pitchers and Michael Kopech might be better out of the bullpen.

That is three starters Hahn will need to replace in the offseason, so it would make sense for him to hope Clevinger stays.

Clevinger can probably earn at least a longer deal that pays more with the 3.59 ERA he has posted this season.

He has had a few IL stints this season but when he is healthy, he can provide some quality innings for any contender’s back end of the rotation.

Yasmani Grandal needs to be traded for a player to be named later.

Grandal signed with the Chicago White Sox in 2020 for a team-record deal at the time. Injuries and the holes in his game have not made that money well spent. Now he is just taking up space on the roster that suddenly has a lot of catchers.

There are rumors the Sox will practically give him away at the deadline. He will be a free agent after the season and with this logjam at catcher, if the Sox do not move, they might have to designate him for assignment.

He might not be the on-base machine he once was but he can still hit better than what some contenders are throwing out there at DH.

A player to be named later still gives the Sox a chance to get something in return for Grandal and that is better than nothing.