Just two years removed from a 93-win season, the Chicago White Sox struggled in 2022 due to injuries. Still, they entered the 2023 MLB season with the expectation of challenging for the AL Central title.
Instead, the Sox currently sit at 12-24—the third-worst record in baseball—with signs of discontent already beginning to show.
Not the best look for Luis Robert Jr. pic.twitter.com/8vLFU9FnDk
— Casey Drottar (@CDrottar19) April 29, 2023
The White Sox built a strong contender over the last few seasons, signing the likes of Liam Hendriks, Dallas Keuchel and Yasmani Grandal to a home-grown core of Jose Abreu, Tim Anderson, Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez. On paper, that group seemed like a World Series contender. But Keuchel and Grandal never found their previous form, while Anderson, Robert Jimenez played just 504 of 972 possible games across the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
This year, the bottom dropped out for Chicago. The White Sox have the second-worst team ERA, trailing only the lowly Oakland Athletics. During their seven-game losing streak in April, the Sox' average margin of defeat was 5.7 runs per game.
As if its labors were not bad enough, Chicago is also in the unenviable position of having the 26th-ranked farm system, leaving little hope for the next few seasons.
The month of May seems a bit early to throw in the proverbial towel, but at this point of the season, the White Sox have more ability to negotiate a trade on their terms without dealing with the frenzy of the trade deadline.
In short: It is time for the White Sox to rebuild and recoup their losses. Here are three reasons why Chicago must trade Lucas Giolito.
Giolito is a free agent after 2023
Numerous White Sox players enter free agency after this season. Hendriks, Anderson and Lance Lynn all have club options, while Giolito and Yasmani Grandal both become unrestricted free agents. Grandal is 34 and has failed to live up to expectations on the South Side of Chicago, leaving Giolito (age 28) as the White Sox' most valuable trade asset.
Giolito is entering his prime and will command at least $20 million a year on the open market. That's not a figure a rebuilding White Sox team will want to pay. Should Chicago keep the right-hander for the rest of the season, that means a high-caliber pitcher will be leaving without the club receiving trade compensation.
Giolito isn't the same as he once was
For a period of time, Giolito was a Cy Young candidate. After posting a 6.13 ERA during his first full year as a starter in 2018, Giolito recorded 228 strikeouts during his breakout season in 2019.
The right-hander, along with the rest of the White Sox, struggled in 2022. His 4.90 ERA was his worst since that 2018 season. Giolito has bounced back this year with a solid sub-four ERA, but has failed to return to the Cy Young-level hurling he previously reached. During his elite years in 2019 and 2020, Giolito's strikeout rate sat around 32%. In the three years since this rate has been 26%, dropping to only 23% this season.
Giolito is still a very good pitcher, just not as good as he once was.
Time for the White Sox to rebuild
As mentioned before, Chicago is in the precarious position of being a struggling team with a weak farm system. Fortunately for the Sox, they still have a talented roster. Giolito has been far healthier than the injury-prone core of Anderson, Jimenez, and Robert, keeping his trade value high despite free agency looming.
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