Players The White Sox Must Trade By The Deadline

The White Sox have already traded five players and there are surely more to come. This team needs a new look, as the way it was built is not going to win many games. It hurt to see Giolito go, but they got good value out of players who haven't been that great for the Sox this year.

If the White Sox can continue to squeeze value out of mediocre players in trades, then they should consider trading a lot more guys, as they have yet to trade a hitter and consistent hitting has been a major issue for this team. Here are some players the White Sox must trade before Tuesday's deadline.

Bullpen Arms

Kenyan Middleton has been a very nice surprise out of the bullpen this year. He has had a revival here in Chicago and the White Sox can capitalize on that. One of our most consistent arms all year, he should be a nice addition in a trade to up the haul, or he could probably get a top-10 prospect from a team. They must trade him as he is an impending free agent, and he has been struggling more as of late.

Middelton still has very good stats this year, as he has a 3.96 ERA with 47 strikeouts in only 36 innings. But his ERA and WHIP have been slowly rising as of late, as he has given up 5 runs in his last 2 and 1/3rd innings. Hopefully, teams can look at his work as a whole this year and still be interested in him. But, as a free agent this winter, he needs to be traded as the White Sox will look to rebuild their bullpen next year.

Aaron Bummer is the next name that must go. He has had a very up-and-down career with the White Sox, but if teams are calling and asking about him, there is no reason the Sox shouldn't include him in a trade. He is a lefty so that does make him more valuable, but often times he can't get the job done for the Sox. If he can help increase the haul in the trade, it needs to be done. There is absolutely no reason that he should be on a no-trade list. You shouldn't give him away for free, but if the right offer is there you need to take it.

These are the last two members of the 'pen that should be traded, as you can open up the bullpen next year with a solid core of Liam Hendriks, Gregory Santos, Matt Foster, and perhaps Garrett Crochet. The Sox seem to always have nice reclamation projects in the bullpen, and that should be the route they go, as spending big bucks on relievers seems to rarely work for them.

Starters

I firmly believe that the White Sox should trade Dylan Cease. This seller's market is absolutely insane and the Sox could get a haul from a team like the Orioles. When you combine the market with the fact that Cease is unlikely to resign here in two years when his contract is up, you need to listen to some calls on him. It is unlikely we are actually competing in the next few years, so we need to get ahead of that and get some top talent. He is our ace but we need to keep every option open.

The same can be said for Mike Clevinger. He is potentially a free agent at the end of the year as he has a mutual option. There are plenty of teams looking for starting pitchers and he has been pretty good this year. He finally came off the injured list and threw well yesterday, so hopefully that intrigues teams to take him. He doesn't factor into the long-term success of the White Sox, so he should be traded.

Hitters

In terms of hitters, they need to listen on everyone not named Luis Robert Jr. This team cannot consistently score runs and only trading pitchers isn't going to change that fact. This lineup needs a major revamp and any overpay offer they hear for often injured players needs to be taken immediately. Everyone should be on the table and they need to build this team properly.

You can and probably should keep some players, but you need to shuffle this lineup up. Yaz will likely go as he is a free agent, but he is basically the only lock. Rick Hahn needs to man up and fix his mistake from the last rebuild.