Got White Sox questions after the big selloff? We've got answers
You could see it coming, for miles.
Like everyone else connected to the White Sox, general manager Rick Hahn was blindsided by the horrific 7-21 start to the season.
With really no other option, he chose to remain patient. And deep down, Hahn had to be thinking the Sox were eventually going to put it together and make a run to the top in baseball's weakest division.
There were some signs in May, some more in June, but it never happened.
After going 5-14 in July and falling 12½ games behind the first-place Twins in the AL Central, Hahn pulled the plug.
Five pitchers have been traded since late Wednesday night.
Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez went to the Angels, Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly went to the Dodgers and Kendall Graveman went to the Astros.
There are plenty of questions in the wake of the flurry of moves. Let's take a stab at providing some answers.
Are more trades coming?
The deadline is 5 p.m. Tuesday, and Hahn might be inclined to move two more relief pitchers - left-hander Aaron Bummer (maybe to the Cubs?) and right-hander Keynan Middleton.
That should be it.
Unless he's offered a ridiculous package for Dylan Cease, the 27-year-old starter is staying put and he'll front the rotation in 2024.
Any positional players being moved?
There's been some interest in Tim Anderson, but he's still under contract through next season and it sounds like the 30-year-old shortstop is staying on the roster.
The White Sox would love to trade third baseman Yoan Moncada, but he's got a $24 million contract next year and an ailing back. That's a bad combination.
Are the Sox rebuilding?
Yes, but it's not a complete teardown like 2016-17.
That might change over the next few days if Hahn is overwhelmed by offers for Luis Robert Jr., Cease, Eloy Jimenez and Anderson, but that doesn't seek likely.
What's the rotation look like now?
With Giolito and Lynn now playing meaningful games in different uniforms, it's Cease, Michael Kopech and Mike Clevinger, who returned from a biceps injury Saturday.
Tuki Toussaint pitched well in place of Giolito Friday night, so he'll be a starter over the final two months.
Jesse Scholtens is likely to take Lynn's spot.
Who's in the White Sox's rotation next season?
Cease and Kopech and three TBA.
Maybe Toussaint continues to impress down the stretch and the 27-year-old righty secures a spot.
More likely, the Sox sign a couple free-agent starters to short-term deals and wait for Nastrini, Bush and the other aforementioned prospects to make their ways to Guaranteed Rate Field.
Any minor-league starters of note?
Not really, at the moment.
Noah Schultz - the White Sox's first-round draft pick in 2022 out of Oswego East High School - looks like the real deal at low Class A Kannapolis.
In his first professional season, the 6-foot-9 lefty has a 2.30 ERA and 22 strikeouts and only 2 walks over 15⅔ innings.
Schultz is only 19 and still has limited experience, so don't look for him in a Sox uniform until late in the 2025 season at the earliest.
Nick Nastrini (acquired in the Lynn trade), Ky Bush (acquired in the Giolito trade), Sean Burke, Cristian Mena, Peyton Pallette, Jonathan Cannon and Matthew Thompson are other young starters to keep an eye on beginning in 2024.
Will Hahn be back in 2024?
All indications are yes, even though the White Sox's general manager has only two winning seasons during his 11-year run as general manager.
Maybe loyal chairman Jerry Reinsdorf steps out of character and makes a change in the front office, but don't be surprised if Hahn gets a new title like Kenny Williams (executive vice president) did in 2012 and Chris Getz takes over as GM.