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Rongey: Why White Sox should consider trading Chris Sale

It shouldn't have been this way, 70 games into the season. While we were fully aware of the holes in the Sox lineup, there wasn't much reason to think the offense would be worse than last year's average American League offense, following upgrades in left field and at DH. But frustration throughout the order (even Jose Abreu, while not exactly struggling, is over 100 OPS points off last year's pace) has led to this.

Thus, many Sox fans have abandoned hope in a terribly disappointing season. And it's difficult to blame them. The question now is, where do the Sox go from here? Although the gut reaction of the disenchanted is to want the Sox to clear the board and start all over, it isn't going to be quite that simple.

Wholesale changes are quite challenging, if not entirely impossible, especially in the middle of the season. Trading an underperforming player that might have multiple millions of dollars coming his way (maybe even over multiple seasons) is often unrealistic. It's even more unlikely to trade away several of them at once, especially if the team is looking to do more than a salary dump, which the Sox most definitely would be.

That's not to say the Sox will do nothing or that none of their players would be attractive to another team.

Teams in a playoff run are always looking for relief pitching, and the Sox might be willing to part with some, though I doubt they're interested in dismantling that group. With the emergence of Daniel Webb, they might be able to make a trade while still leaving themselves in good position in the bullpen. Whatever they do, I don't think they want to revisit '14 in '16.

Just this week, I've had a surprising number of people suggest the Sox consider fielding offers for Chris Sale. That's understandable, considering he's one of the best pitchers on the planet and is under control through 2019 at a bargain price.

Many fans have responded to that proposition with disgust. I mean, how could the Sox let a player like that go? Yes, you would hate to see them lose one of the most dominant pitchers in the franchise's history, but I think the Sox would absolutely entertain the idea, even if they won't say so publicly.

The truth is they are in such a position they'd have to at least consider it. If they actually did it, and did it right, they could potentially satisfy multiple team needs over the next several years.

It would be an unpopular move, but it could turn out to be the right one, depending on the return. However, unless that return is too good to pass up, Sale should stay right where he is. I'm not exactly sure how likely that possibility is, but I would certainly not dismiss it.

While shipping off Sale may not be imminent, or even likely, I do think some sort of change will happen in the next six weeks before the trade deadline. It's unusual a team would underachieve as much as this one has without any sort of consequence, whether it be personnel or coaching changes. Unless the Sox find that consistency we've been waiting for, something will give. Maybe soon.

• Chris Rongey is the host of the White Sox pregame and postgame shows on WSCR 670-AM The Score. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisRongey and at chrisrongey.com.

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