3 moves White Sox can still make after Andrew Benintendi signing
By Mark Powell
White Sox rumors: Trade for Luis Arraez
As I wrote just a few days ago, a trade for Arraez makes some sense when simply looking at the needs of the two teams:
Yes, yell at me all you want. Get it out of your system now before reading the explanation.
Okay, relax a bit. The White Sox have a pretty dire need at second base, and Arraez can play all around the infield. He’d be a perfect fit in Chicago, but what would the Sox have to give back?
Pitching. The only reason the Twins would trade Arraez, per the report which broke said news, is that Minnesota needs top of the rotation talent. Chicago seems to have plenty of that, even if it’s suspect at times. In-division trades are tricky, as well. Any bad deal can and will be used against you.
A team like Milwaukee probably makes more sense as an Arraez destination, given they aren’t in the same division. But for the purpose of this article, the White Sox could deal the likes of Lance Lynn, who has a club option after 2023. It would cost the White Sox more than that, of course, but Lynn does have Cy Young potential at his best, and is coming off a down year.
Chicago would have to follow a trade like this up by immediately adding pitching depth, like signing Rodon for example. Arraez would fix a lot of their problems in the middle of the infield in the process.