Three Players The White Sox Should Consider Trading

Once again the Chicago White Sox have one of the most disappointing teams in baseball. After being mired in mediocrity in 2022, they have sunk to new lows in 2023. Entering Tuesday's game against the Guardians, they sit a 14-28 and nine games in the terrible AL Central Division. 

If things don't improve over the next two months team owner Jerry Reinsdoft may give Rick Hahn the green light to trade away all their assets. Rival executives told ESPN that they do not believe the 87-year old Reinsdorf can stomach another rebuild after the White Sox just completed one five years ago. However, given the current state of the White Six they may have no choice.

Here are three names to watch for at the trade deadline. 

Tim Anderson

Tim Anderson is the White Sox most valuable trade chip. He is a star in every sense of the word and one of the MLB's most marketable players.

Anderson has been a cover athlete for Sports Illustrated and RBI Baseball. Anderson is the face of the White Sox. His Team USA teammate, Mike Trout, even called him a "star" during the World Baseball Classic. 

Anderson is only making $12.5 million and has a club option for $14 million next season, which makes him even more attractive to other clubs. Dodgers fans were clamoring for Anderson this offseason after Gavin Lux went down with an injury.  The free-agent shortstop market looks incredibly bleak this offseason which only adds to Anderson's trade value. 

Injuries are the biggest concern with Anderson because when he is on the field, there is no denying his production. The 29-year-old is a two time All-Star and Silver Slugger. He has also hit above .300 in his last four seasons. 

Trading away a former batting champion that has hit a combined .318 over 374 games since 2019 would put the team at a crossroads. If the White Sox trade their two-time All-Star, they might as well blow the whole thing up and conduct a fire sale since Anderson is considered a piece of the core. 

Lucas Giolito 

Lucas Giolito is in the final year of his deal and has retained his form as a top-of-the-rotation starter, and rumors from Bob Nightengale surfaced that the White Sox will not be bringing him back next season. It's the perfect storm to get traded at the deadline. 

Plenty of teams are in the market for pitching during the trade deadline, and only a few will have as good a resume as Giolito. 

He is one of just six White Sox pitchers to have multiple seasons of 200-plus strikeouts. In 2019 he was named an All-Star and finished seventh in the AL Cy Young voting. In 2020 he threw a no-hitter, ranked second in strikeouts and innings pitched, and allowed just one run on two hits through seven innings in his first-ever playoff start.  

After a disappointing 2022 campaign, he has rebounded to have the lowest ERA in the White Sox rotation. In his last seven starts, he has thrown six-plus innings and logged a quality start in five. His walk rate is the lowest it's been in his career, and he ranks in the top half of the league in strikeout rate, whiff rate, walk rate, expected batting average, hard hit percentage, and expected batting average.

If they were to try and resign him, he wouldn't be cheap.  

Giolito probably wouldn't give the White Sox any breaks in free agency either after going through the arbitration process in 2022 when he filed at $ 7.5 million, and the White Sox filed at $7.3 million—his comments during spring training that year tell the story. 

 "Very frustrating," Giolito told reporters prior to the 2022 season. "I love White Sox fans and I appreciated all the love from those guys. It's just very unfortunate, disheartening."

Liam Hendriks 

Liam Hendriks has looked sharp during his rehab stint and should be back in the big leagues soon. If he regains his dominance upon his return, the White Sox will have a wide variety of suitors at the deadline. 

Before his cancer diagnosis, the White Sox were shopping their closer. 

Mark Fiensand reported that Hendriks' name had popped up during trade talks throughout the offseason. 

Hendriks is in the final year of a three-year deal worth $54 million he signed before the 2021 season. He has a limited no-trade clause that allows him to veto a trade to five teams.

Hendriks has turned out to be one of Rick Hahn's better signings, and even though he missed the start of the season fighting cancer, he should still fetch plenty of interest from teams across the league. 

In 2021 he was named the Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year for the second straight season, becoming the first pitcher to earn the award in consecutive seasons. He led the American League in saves (38), strikeouts (113), WHIP (0.73), and strikeout-to-walk ratio (16.14).

In 2022 the Australian was named an All-Star for the third straight season. His ERA went up a tick in 2022 from 2.54 to 2.81, but he still managed to log 37 saves. Hendriks has consistently been one of the best relievers in baseball over the last four seasons.