With the White Sox’ existing need for back-end starting pitching, any rumor that pops up comes with little surprise. This one is no different and if anything, is probably more expected among fans.
Jon Heyman reported on Tuesday morning that the Twins and White Sox are currently engaged with the Athletics about starting pitchers Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea. While both would be welcomed additions, the latter figures to be the most affordable option and will likely be the one targeted more heavily by Rick Hahn and Co.
Looking at the two from a contractual standpoint, Manaea has $10.2 million left on his deal and is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the season’s end. Montas, on the other hand, is controlled through 2023 via arbitration – immediately giving him a higher price tag. With the Twins desperately needing rotation help and possessing the necessary pieces to go after either arm, it’s no shock to see their name reoccurring in these rumors. Though not ideal for the White Sox, who likely won’t have as compelling of an offer, it could end up playing in their favor regarding Manaea should Minnesota focus on Montas.
Manaea, 30, has reestablished himself as a reliable arm since returning from a 2018 shoulder surgery. He went on to make 32 starts in 2021, going 11-10 with a 3.91 ERA (78 ER/179.1 IP), 194 strikeouts, 3.66 FIP, 1.227 WHIP, and 4.73 K/W ratio. With Oakland already having traded away its most valuable assets in Chris Bassitt and Matt Olson, the organization figures to continue with its trend in an effort to dump money. The one thing Bassitt’s return (J.T. Ginn and Adam Oller) does signal is that Manaea should be affordable, giving the White Sox no reason to shy away from exploring that option.
As for Montas, who’s on the verge of turning 29, the righty is coming off the best season of his six-year MLB career. The former South Sider went 13-9 with a career-high 32 starts and 187.0 innings pitched. In that stretch, he had a 3.37 ERA, 207 strikeouts, 3.37 FIP, 1.182 WHIP, and 3.63 K/W. He also averaged 96.6 mph on his fastball, which aided him significantly in high swinging-strike (13.7%) and chase (35.9%) rate from opponents. Unfortunately, the multiple years of control along with career-year numbers will likely put Montas out of Chicago’s price range, though we’ll allow for the front office to prove us wrong. Just don’t look at the quality of talent in our farm system if you want to keep your hopes high, though young controllable MLB talent (Jake Burger or Gavin Sheets) could make things enticing.
Glancing at the current major league situation, the White Sox have a rotation that consists of Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn, Dylan Cease, Dallas Keuchel, and Michael Kopech. Vince Velasquez also looks to factor into the mix, though we’ll see how exactly as the spring progresses. Obviously, the biggest question marks surround Keuchel’s potential after a disappointing 2021 and Kopech’s workload as he makes the bullpen to rotation transition. Whether it’s by ways of Manaea or not, starting pitching depth is a serious issue – especially in the early going – and will need to be addressed by the end of an already shortened spring training.
As rumors continue to unfold, we’ll provide further updates here and on social media @SoxOn35th.
Featured Photo: A’s/Twitter
It always comes down to affordable. That is NOT going for it.
Reynaldo Lopez is also another rotation wild card for the White Sox along with newly acquired FA Vince Velasquez. Lopez was actually more effective once his vision problem was identified and addressed. Velasquez has more resembled the ‘old’ Lopez with his production. The White Sox are also hoping Ethan Katz can help fix Velasquez like he has apparently done with Lopez. When Velasquez passed his physical prior to the White Sox making his signing official, hopefully he was also given a thorough eye exam. lol
The White Sox should be able to acquire either Sean Manaea or Frankie Montas despite being farm system bottom dwellers. One of the primary reasons their system has ‘tanked’ was because their best prospects have graduated to the active or 40-man roster. The White Sox have a lot of value to offer if they are willing to deal off more young controllable MLB talent like they did when trading Nick Madrigal and Codi Heuer last summer. What they need to do is be smarter this time around and just use pieces where they have some surplus.
As far as dealing with the A’s, it’s clear that Oakland might be interested in either Gavin Sheets or Andrew Vaughn to replace 1B Matt Olson who was just dealt to the Braves. Sheets should be plenty as the centerpiece of a Manaea deal. It might take Vaughn to pry away Montas. That said, perhaps the White Sox might still have enough ‘surplus’ with other young controllable players with some MLB experience like Jake Burger who might serve as a replacement for 3B Matt Chapman who the A’s also figure to deal in the coming days. The White Sox also have Garrett Crochet to potentially dangle if they really are hell bent on acquiring a real difference maker. I’d wager that some limited combination of Vaughn, Crochet, Sheets or Burger might be enticing enough for the Diamondbacks to consider moving Ketel Marte. I’d also guess that most all of them would potentially be enough to pry left hitting superstar Juan Soto away from the Nationals after he turned down their lifetime contract extension offer.