Should the Chicago White Sox trade Jeff Samardzija?
It would make sense for the Chicago White Sox to keep starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija.
It also would make sense for the Sox to trade Samardzija before Friday's nonwaiver deadline.
Even though the White Sox still have a losing record, they are well within striking distance of the second wild-card spot.
Strong starting pitching has given the Sox reason to be optimistic over the final two months of the season, and Samardzija (7-5, 3.91 ERA) has won 3 of his last 4 decisions and has pitched at least 7 innings in each of his last 9 starts, the longest streak in the majors this year.
On the other hand, the White Sox are not even at the .500 mark, and they have been wildly inconsistent all season.
Samardzija is heading for free agency and might be too pricey to retain, so if an interested team like the Toronto Blue Jays wants to give Sox general manager Rick Hahn two or three top prospects, a deal could go down this week.
One name to keep an eye on is catcher Max Pentecost, who was the Jays' first-round pick (No. 11) in the 2014 draft.
The White Sox are in desperate need of catching help, but they would have to wait on Pentecost. Since the end of last season, Pentecost has had two arthroscopic shoulder surgeries and has yet to play this year.
Samardzija is scheduled to start against the Red Sox on Tuesday night, and he undoubtedly would be pulled if a trade was in the works.
After talking with Hahn, Sox manager Robin Ventura told reporters Samardzija is going to make the start.
Samardzija was traded from the Cubs to the Oakland Athletics last July, so he knows anything is possible.
“It's just the parity of the game right now,” he said. “Within each front office of every team, they have an idea of how they feel it's going. Sometimes the record doesn't totally show the situation of the team, so I'm sure they assess that among themselves and go from there.
“All we can do is show up and play every day. We love how we've been playing. Our little road trip here against an Indians team that was down a little bit on offense with some injuries, and obviously everyone knows the status of this Boston team, so we need to come in and handle our business.”
LaRoche benched:
While White Sox hitters Melky Cabrera, Carlos Sanchez and Alexei Ramirez have emerged from slumps, Adam LaRoche has not.
Last week the Sox' 35-year-old designated hitter described his season-long struggles as “confusing, frustrating.”
After going 2-for-17 with 11 strikeouts in the White Sox' four-game sweep at Cleveland, LaRoche was on the bench Monday night at Boston.
Adam Eaton was the White Sox' DH against the Red Sox and J.B. Shuck started in center field.
Eaton had a big night with 3 hits, including a triple to lead off the game, a double and 2 RBI.
Manager Robin Ventura said LaRoche will sit out again Tuesday night.
“Probably give him two (games) just to work out some things,” Ventura said. “I know you can get frustrated. He can kind of work it out in the cage and have a couple of days knowing he can go in there and work on some stuff.
“He's trying to figure it out. You continue to do that. He'll be back in there to play. But for two days he's going to ease the mind and not be in there.”