White Sox Reportedly Open To Trading Two Big Names
The White Sox are going to be selling at the trade deadline. Earlier this month USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported that the White Sox were planning on having a fire sale. However, a recent report suggests that the sale could be even more extensive than initially thought, with two huge names not named in Nightengale’s report.
According to Nightengale, the front office is hoping to flip Tommy Pham to the highest bidder at the deadline. They are also expected to trade starters Erick Fedde, Chris Flexen, Mike Clevinger, reliever Micheal Kopech and designated hitter Eloy Jimenez. Nightingale noted on Sunday that Flexen is a particularly hot commodity on the trade market.
However, James Fox of Future Sox reports that Getz is “totally open for business” and they are willing to trade Luis Robert Jr. and Garrett Corchet.
The report comes as a bit of a surprise considering that Robert Jr. was considered untouchable over the offseason. Since then, the 26-year-old has been limited to just seven games this season due to a Grade 2 hip flexor strain. If the White Sox are willing to trade Robert Jr. it is interesting that they didn’t decide to do it over the offseason. Robert Jr. was coming off his best season to date, setting new career highs with 38 home runs, 80 RBIs, and 30 stolen bases. His value is likely going to be affected due to the fact he is on the IL.
The 2023 All-Star will still fetch a good haul if he is traded. He still has another year on his contract with club options in 2026 and 2026. Robert Jr. is also earning just $9.5 million this season, which is pretty affordable for a player of his caliber.
Meanwhile, Crochet still has two years on his contract after the 2024 season. The hard-throwing left-hander is in the middle of his first season as a starting pitcher, with mixed results. He surpassed Chris Sale’s franchise record for the most strikeouts by a White Sox pitcher in their first nine starts.
The 24-year-old owns a 4.63 ERA with a 34.2% strikeout rate that ranks in the top three percentile of the MLB. Crochet is also limiting opponents to a .180 expected batting average and has posted a 2.17 expected ERA in 46.2 innings this season. Both marks rank in the top five percent of the league. Crochet could fetch a pretty solid return for any team looking to bolster their rotation.
Jerry Reinsdorf said one of the reasons he hired Chris Getz as the new general manager is because he “owed it to the fans” to turn things around quickly. Both Robert Jr. and Crochet could be key pieces on a condensing team. Trading Crochet would signal that Getz doesn’t think the White Sox can contend by the 2026 season.
With Sunday’s 7-0 loss to the Cleveland Guardians the White Sox have fallen to 12-29 on the season. They will certainly be looking to sell at the deadline. Whether they are actually willing to trade Robert Jr. is yet to be seen.