White Sox trade deadline candidates could be expanding

The trade deadline is still several weeks away, but the White Sox are already fueling the rumor mill. It was expected when they signed guys like Erick Fedde, Paul DeJong, and Tommy Pham that they would be fodder for July deals, but as the Sox have plummeted to 17-48 the first 65 games of the season, the list of players who might be available has grown.

As ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported on June 4, general manager Chris Getz might even be listening to offers for Garrett Crochet and Luis Robert, Jr. These two are under team control through 2026 and 2027, respectively, so a willingness to deal even them signals a long rebuild. Both were expected to be centerpieces of the next winning Sox team, so if they’re dealt this summer, fans on the south side should settle in for a few more seasons like this 2024 campaign.

“It comes across the desk every once in a while, but we’re not focused on that,” manager Pedro Grifol said of the latest trade rumors. “To execute a trade in the big leagues, it takes a little bit of time on both sides, especially when there’s really good players involved.”

Those “good players” on the Sox are easy to identify: Crochet leads the team with 2.6 wins above replacement, according to Fangraphs, and Robert, Jr. just returned from a hip flexor injury on Tuesday, but a healthy version of him is an MVP-caliber player. In nearly 600 plate appearances last season, Robert, Jr. posted an .857 OPS with 38 home runs.

But realistically, the Sox front office might be open to entertaining offers for Crochet and Robert, Jr. but moving either player involves a number of variables. Crochet is not under a strict innings limit this season, but his workload is being carefully monitored.

“We have to err on the side of caution here,” Grifol said. “I’ve said it over and over again, there’s no blueprint to what [Crochet] is doing. We’re actually writing that book right now, together, all of us. So we’ll just see. The only thing we can do is just monitor the workload, the work capacity that he’s built up, and how he feels and what our guys are telling us.”

Would a contending team want to unload a crop of prospects to take on a pitcher who might not have the capacity to help them much in September and October? That seems unlikely.

As for Robert, Jr., he is in the middle of a pre-arbitration extension signed in 2020 that makes his a six-year, $50 million contract that includes $20 million club options for 2026 and 2027. Unless the Sox are eating a lot of that money, it’s quite a bit for a trade suitor to take on. Especially so for a player who has just one healthy season under his belt so far.

In short, it sounds as though no player on the Sox roster is untouchable, but there are a lot of factors that would have to be just right in order for Crochet and/or Robert, Jr. to be dealt.

Aside from those two, there are the aforementioned players who are much more likely to be traded by the July 31 deadline, even if they aren’t going to fetch the kind of return that Crochet and Robert, Jr. might.

Fedde owns the next highest WAR (1.6) on the team, and his transformation post-Korea seems legit. He pitched parts of six seasons with the Nationals where he averaged an ERA above 5.00, and then spent 2023 in the KBO, where he went 20-6 with a 2.00 ERA. Through 13 starts with the White Sox this year, Fedde is 4-1 with a 3.27 ERA. He’s on a two-year, $15 million contract, but contending teams might want to take that on for a pitcher who seems to have figured something out in his year overseas.

“It definitely is a reality,” Grifol said of the trade chances for veteran players like Fedde. “Anything can happen with any player. It’s a part of the business.”

DeJong’s WAR is just a shade under 1, per Fangraphs, and like Fedde, he stands a good chance of being moved. In fact, DeJong told 670 The Score that he has his sights on playing well enough to get shipped to a contender.

“I want to play well before that (deadline) so that my value is high and I get a chance to go and play on a good playoff team,” DeJong said in a radio interview. “And I also want the White Sox to be able to get something in return. I care about the people here, and I really have enjoyed myself with the White Sox and Chicago is a special place for me.”

DeJong leads the Sox with 11 home runs, four of which he’s hit in the last seven games, including one in Saturday’s 6-1 win over the Red Sox. As a shortstop, he does not have much of a long-term future with the White Sox, as they have Colson Montgomery and Jacob Gonzalez in the farm system. So it behooves DeJong to be thinking about his place in trade talks.

“You just don’t know what this game is going to bring, but the fact that you are thinking about [being traded] is because you are performing on the field and doing things that you are capable of doing to be in those types of conversations,” Grifol said.

Pham has been on the injured list since June 3 and is eligible to return while the team is in Seattle. Grifol said he, along with Andrew Benintendi (out since June 2 with left achilles tendinitis), will get some rehab playing time in the Arizona Complex League in the next few days before their return is determined. Getting back on the field will be particularly important for Pham, who is also likely to be wearing a different uniform by August. 

Grifol’s own future with the team has been in question of late, especially during the 14-game losing streak, but at the moment, he’s still at the helm in the dugout. That means he is a part of the internal discussion with the front office of what to do at the trade deadline.

“These guys have a plan. We are all in this thing together,” Grifol said. “So, of course we communicate all of it. But things happen quickly up there. Sometimes I’ll know everything. Sometimes I won’t. I’m 100 percent good with that.

“Just because there are so many things that happen throughout the day up in that office. I’ve experienced that. I know what goes on up there and how fast things change.”