White Sox Reportedly Only Willing To Trade One More Pitcher

The White Sox have already traded five pitchers but they still have plenty of other arms that contending teams are interested in such as Dylan Cease, Aaron Bummer, Keynan Middleton, and Gregory Santos. 

However, according to a recent report from Bob Nightengale, Keynan Middleton is the White Sox only remaining pitcher who could be traded. He added that teams have called asking about Aaron Bummer and Dylan Cease but have been shot down. 

The Dylan Cease news comes as no surprise after Jon Heyman reported that he was one of the White Sox four  “untouchables” alongside Andrew Vaughn, Eloy Jimenez, and Luis Robert Jr.  The unwillingness to move Bummer is a bit more surprising.

Earlier this week MLB insider Jon Morosi reported that there is little urgency to move Bummer but multiple contenders are looking for left-handed bullpen help.  His xERA is 2.94 and team control through 2026 makes him particularly intriguing. He also has a 27.9 strikeout rate which ranks in the top 78th percentile in the MLB. 

Santos figured to be another trade candidate given his impressive 2.63 ERA. There hasn’t been much news surrounding Santos but considering his career resurgence in Chicago and history with pitching coach Ethan Katz, the club could be looking to bring him back next season. 

Middleton is an obvious trade candidate. The 29-year-old right-hander also owns a career-high strikeout rate of 33.1 percent, which places him inside the top nine percentile in all of baseball. 

In 38 appearances he has a 3.82 ERA with 46 strikeouts and two saves in 35.1 innings of work.  His advanced stats look even better. Middleton is in the 97th percentile in whiff rate, 93rd in chase rate, 87th in opponent average exit velocity, 84th in fastball spin, and 82nd in fastball velocity. He also ranks in the top half of the league in hard hit percentage, expected batting average, and expected slugging percentage. 

Pitching is a premium on the trade market and almost every contender is looking to add bullpen help. Considering the White Sox signed him on a cheap one-year deal being able to flip him at the deadline would be a small victory for the White Sox front office.