Which White Sox Players Might Interest Dodgers?

Published on by Dennis Schlossman

pederson

In what seems to be an annual occurrence, the White Sox have been reportedly speaking to the Dodgers about a potential trade involving outfielder Joc Pederson.

Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports first broke the news on Tuesday.

While the White Sox are almost desperate to score a high-impact outfielder, it’s surprising that they would be targeting Pederson, who has been playing in a strict platoon role with the Dodgers over the last several seasons.

Regardless, the thought of Pederson rejoining former teammate and newly-signed Yasmani Grandal definitely exudes plenty of production in the power department.

According to our friend Connor Byrne at MLBTR, “the Dodgers afforded Pederson just 50 plate appearances against lefties in 2019. Over 375 career plate appearances against southpaws, Pederson is a .188/.263/.310 hitter. The Sox (or any other club) would surely need a right-handed-hitting complement for Pederson in 2020, but a part-time asset in that mold shouldn’t be too tough to unearth.”

Nevertheless, Joc was still able to appear in 149 games and garner 514 plate appearances last season. His 36 long balls and .876 OPS were both career-highs, and his 3.3 WAR tied a career-high that was initially set back in 2016.

Baseball Reference projects Pederson to slash .245/.332/.505 with 29 homers and 67 RBI over 501 plate appearances in 2020.

Upon reading Nightengale’s report, the first thought that crossed my mind is the player(s) the Dodgers might be interested in receiving in exchange for Pederson. If the Dodgers are seeking an MLB-ready upgrade, some type of package deal seems to be in order. I really can’t see the Dodgers dealing Pederson to upgrade their farm, and considering how deep their big league roster is, it’s not absurd to think that front office boss Andrew Friedman would be aiming very high as far as a return goes.

The first idea that came to mind was closer Alex Colome, although I’m not quite sure Chicago would part with their finest closer to upgrade its outfield, even with a Top 10 prospect alongside Pederson. Colome was acquired from the Mariners last winter and still has one more year of control before being eligible for free agency in 2021.

The 30-year-old righty made $7.3 million last year and is projected to earn $10.3 million as a third-year arbitration eligible player next season.

In 2019, Colome made 62 appearances and tallied 30 saves with a 2.80 ERA, a 4.08 FIP and 55 punchouts over an even 61 innings of work. The 62 appearances were the second-most of his career.

While I’m not overly familiar with the landscape of the White Sox system, two other players who stick out to me as possible targets are righty starter Lucas Giolito and lefty reliever Aaron Bummer.

The 24-year-old Giolito, a Santa Monica native, made 29 starts last year and posted the lowest ERA of all the White Sox starters. He threw 176-2/3 innings and punched out 228 batters on his way to his first-ever All-Star selection. His efforts in 2019 produced a 5.6 WAR.

According to Brooks Baseball, Giolito’s four-seam sat right around 95 MPH last season.

Similar to Colome, it’s absurd to think the White Sox would deal Giolito straight up for Pederson, but the Dodgers certainly do have a plethora of prospects to sweeten the deal if talks gain momentum. If there’s anything that decreases the value of Joc, though, it’s the fact that he becomes eligible to file for free agency at the end of next season. That thought alone makes me think that Chicago would want a strong complimentary package from the Dodgers in terms of youth and control.

The 26-year-old Bummer made 58 appearances in 2019 and registered a sparkling 2.13 ERA, a 3.41 FIP and a 0.990 WHIP alongside 60 strikeouts over 67-2/3 innings. The Valencia, CA native has only surrendered nine long balls over 121-1/3 innings in 125 career appearances.

Bummer primarily throws a sinker complimented by a slider and an occasional four-seamer.

Like Gioloto, Bummer’s heater sat right around 95 MPH last year.

 

42 thoughts on “Which White Sox Players Might Interest Dodgers?”

  1. Giolito would work, but I doubt they would part with him. He’s team controlled for a long time. As much as I would want the relievers, I don’t trade 36 home runs for them.

    What prospects do they have that could be used in a three way for Lindor?

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  2. Got to believe its Bummer AF is after. I’ll still be wearing my JOC jersey even if he’s traded. Gonna miss his boyish enthusiasm for the game and his home tuns!

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  3. We won’t be signing Wheeler, not that there were ever any rumors that we would. Going to the Phils for 5 years and over 100 mil (exact figure not out there yet). Definitely not going to be like last year’s Hot Stove. Things are jumping early this year.

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  6. AF’s lack of action makes me think of a song from the 50’s….Standing on the corner watching all the girls go by. No date for the senior prom for AF.

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      1. Yep, Dino was great, and pretty much as funny or funnier sometimes than Jerry Lewis. I always loved his music.

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      2. The version I remember was by The Four Lads.

        My mother liked Dean Martin. She also liked Mantovani and Glenn Miller. I preferred Led Zeppelin.

        Liked by 1 person

  7. So far the early signers have banked way above projections. The anti Boras strategy! Can’t believe all his clients will drag the market out until 2020

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  8. Wheeler’s deal is for 5 years 118 guaranteed money. No way AF would have come close to this amount. Anti Boras my foot. They are falling over trying to sign his guys, and for as much if not more money that we thought they would get. Most thought Wheeler would get a 4 year deal for close to 20 mil a year. They will drag it out until a team either exceeds or comes really close…like 1$ to their demands.

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  9. It turns out LA never had a shot because Wheeler wanted to stay close to his wife’s home in New Jersey. He had a larger offer from the White Sox. Twins made a substantial offer too. Why anyone wants to stay close to Jersey is beyond me…sorry Dennis…..I know Philly is in your home state there.

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      1. I got lost in Philly when I was driving long haul once. I was under the el downtown with a 48 ft reefer. A cop held up traffic to I could make a turn, I had to go really wide to miss everything, and led me on a road that led to the warehouse I was looking for. You can see the Navy yard from the Jersey turnpike, and at that time there were 2 battleships mothballed there. The Wisconsin and the Iowa. The Iowa is now berthed in San Pedro and is open to the public for tours. Pretty cool to go and check out. The berth that FDR used when he went on one of his trips during WWII is still decorated with stuff that has the presidential seal, and his wheel chair is there too.

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    2. Wheeler is from Georgia. Wife’s home is New Jersey. Most of us know how influential wives can be. Getting Wheeler might have been exciting but Bear is right, no way Andrew the Olaf is going to match those numbers. I thought 5 and $100m would easily get it done. Wife wants to be a hundred millionaire close to home. May the worse be with you Zack!

      Maybe team Olaf is waiting to land a big tuna. Cole or Strasburg in Blue!

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      1. Let’s hope Cole’s wife is from downtown Los Angeles……………………..and that he cares what she thinks.

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      2. You don’t know who she is Jefe? She’s Amy Crawford, sister of Brandon. She grew up in Pleasanton. She and Gerrit met at UCLA.

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      4. She knows better than to ask him that. I still believe he will sign with the Angels …. and live in Newport.

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      5. Angels certainly seem like the favorites. Home town, the team has money to spend, etc.
        Now that Arte got his deal with the city today, Cole won’t have to worry that they’ll move to Portland or Montreal.

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      6. I live about 20 minutes from Angel Stadium. Maybe I’ll become a fan. But only if they get good. No sense bandwagonning a horesh*t team.

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    1. Yeah, but you are not getting him straight up for Pederson, and I hate trading that much offense for a pitcher. You trade Joc, you have to replace that offense somewhere.

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      1. Why would the Sox trade him?

        I was just comparing Buehler and Giolito and the WAR comparison make no sense. Buehler started more games, pitched more innings, had a better ERA, a better FIP, a better record, a better WHIP, and yet Giolito put up more than twice the WAR. I need Bear to explain the metrics behind that.

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      2. Right off the top, Buehler’s WAR is partially calculated based on the league average for NL pitchers while Gioloto’s WAR would be based on the average AL pitcher. I would guess that would count for part of the discrepancy. Another one of those glitches that doesn’t make equal comparisons across the MLB.

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      3. Well, I don’t approve. Just because he doesn’t get to pitch against a pitcher doesn’t make him twice times more valuable. I shall consider filing a grievance with HR. I may need some help with that.

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    1. That’s not such a big deal. He projects an ERA over 4. Probably eat some innings but he’s a #4 at this point in his career.

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  12. I know it would take a lot more than pederson to get Giolito, he is going to be a very good pitcher. I watched his starts off and on this year. For about two or three months, in the middle of the season, he was as good as any pitcher in baseball, lots of strike outs and good ERA. He fell off a little at the end though. I would love to have him, but the Sox would be stupid to trade him, he should be part of their run they are trying to make.
    I’d hate to see us trade joc for a middle reliever, seems to me he’s worth a lot more than that.

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  13. If that’s the price for a # 3, I guess those 30 mil + per year numbers Boras is throwing around for Cole, and Strasburg aren’t so crazy.

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    1. Kershaw makes $31m. Those two are better than him right now. Of course, in another few years they too will beyond 30 and thereby beyond their prime. It’s pretty well established that MLB pitchers prime years are 25-30. Not to say pitchers can’t excel beyond that, as some do. But, excelling and peaking aren’t necessarily the same thing.

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      1. Yep….The Missouri was in Long Beach when it was decommissioned and they sailed her to Hawaii to be a museum there. She is berthed close to where the Arizona is. The New Jersey was taken to New Jersey where she is now a museum. The Wisconsin, the last of the Iowa class battleships is in Norfolk Virginia where she is also a museum. Other battleships that are still intact are the USS Texas, which is outside of Houston, and the USS Alabama, which is in Mobile Bay.

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  17. That was an interest link scoop, thanks. I’m kind of Leary about the dodgers trying to trade for Betts, because he is not signing an extension, no matter who, or how much. The bosox are going to want a lot for Betts.

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