With the rebuilding White Sox on track for another 100-loss season, their trade-deadline fate will come as no surprise.
Chris Getz is preparing for what looks to be another summer selloff, hardly cause for fan celebration.
But last summer’s biggest deadline acquisition, Miguel Vargas, has rounded into a clear part of the Sox’ long-term future. The Garrett Crochet deal has already put three players in the major leagues. Is there another chance for Getz to bring in some important pieces via trade this summer?
The general manager at least expects his phone to be ringing.
“[I expect things will be] fairly active,” Getz said Monday. “We’ve got some players that have already garnered attention, and if it makes sense for us to make a move to help us for the long term, then we’re going to consider that.
“I have received inquiries on some of our players. … Once we close the door on the draft, we’ll focus more on the trade deadline.”
Not trading Crochet until December, the Sox’ biggest deadline deal last year ended up being the three-team trade that netted Vargas. The move was poorly reviewed at the time, with most thinking Getz didn’t get enough for pitchers Erick Fedde and Michael Kopech.
But Vargas, who put up horrid numbers after the trade, has evolved into a face of the team. His .761 OPS makes him one of the few positive offensive contributors on one of baseball’s lowest-scoring teams, recoloring him as a part of the Sox’ core.
Similarly, the fruits of the Crochet trade have quickly made themselves apparent, with three of the four prospects acquired – infielder Chase Meidroth, catcher Kyle Teel and relief pitcher Wikelman Gonzalez – already in the bigs.
Does Getz have another deal like that in him this summer?
It will be difficult, considering he doesn’t have a player the caliber of Crochet or Fedde to trade.
The biggest question is whether center fielder Luis Robert Jr. will leave town and what sort of return he can generate, given his diminished offensive production two years removed from a Silver Slugger.
In 2023, Robert slugged .542 and hit 38 home runs, proving he was worthy of his status as a centerpiece of the organization’s previous rebuilding project.
He’s still stealing bases and playing good defense. But Robert is in the middle of a second straight season’s worth of offensive struggles, batting .185 with a slugging percentage in danger of slipping beneath .300.
“When you still watch Luis Robert play, you are looking at a guy who can change the game pretty quickly and in a lot of different ways,” Getz said. “Those types of players are hard to find. That’s the reason why there’s a lot of attention on Luis Robert, because he’s earned that right. He’s performed at a high level, and to find talent like that is not easy.
“We’ve never been out there making phone calls about Luis Robert. It’s teams calling us. We have conversations, and we stick to the plan that we’ve been working by.
“If we feel like we can help the long-term health of the organization, so be it. We like having Luis Robert, and I enjoy having him in the lineup on a nightly basis.”
But whether or not Robert gets moved, there are minor deals that can make an impact. It figures that any veteran who draws interest could easily be wearing a new cap come August.
Be it starting pitchers Adrian Houser and Aaron Civale, right fielder Mike Tauchman or relievers Steven Wilson or Dan Altavilla, there’s perhaps something that can be gained for Getz’s rebuild. Nothing earth-shattering, perhaps, but something.
However it shakes out, the slow-moving Sox rebuild is still chasing some of the same goals it has been for some time.
“We’re focused on impactful-type players,” Getz said. “Sometimes that proximity [to the majors] may not be there, however it’s certainly part of the equation. If we feel like there is a player that can help us right out of the gate when we acquire them, that is still attractive.
“It’s really about accumulating the talent, building out our prospect capital, because we know once you do that, future decisions can be much more advantageous for a club.”