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It all started innocently. Matt Zaleski, a White Sox organizational soldier, was going to make a spot start for the Charlotte Knights tonight instead of the scheduled starter Deuente Heath. In an otherwise forgettable game, the Knights gave up a 10 spot in the eighth inning, Zaleski gave up one hit and struck out three over three innings. No real news, but nice to see for a guy with 11 seasons in the White Sox organization none the less.
A short time later, I was waiting to pick up my daughter from a pool party. I knew after getting home, I'd have a post to finish up for Saturday and flipped through Twitter to kill some time. Then, I read this tweet.
According to skinner Deunte Heath was scratched and not available tonight incase the #whitesox need him
— Seth Lakso (@SethLakso) July 12, 2014
OK, this tweet has a lot to process. Deunte Heath seems to have pitched his way back onto the Sox radar with a 4.04 FIP at Charlotte this season. I double checked and the Sox still had 39 players on the 40 man roster, so it wouldn't be a big deal to add Heath if they really needed to.
Then, I remembered that the Sox only have two games before the All-Star break. All the pitchers are really available Sunday except for Sale, Carroll, and probably Noesi. What would they really need Heath for unless....
Unless one of the Sox starting pitchers will be gone between now and Sunday.
So that really means John Danks. Rumors that the Yankess were interested in Danks picked up this week when John Heyman included Danks as number six in a list of impact players available.
6. John Danks, SP, White Sox: Chicago is looking for younger players as it continues its logical rebuilding path. He should be movable because he's pitching well enough in the second year after Tommy John surgery. The Yanks would work for Danks.
OK, so Danks had a torn shoulder capsule and not Tommy John surgery, and Brandon McCarthy has been traded to the Yankees already. The article was also written before Masahiro Tanaka went on the DL with a UCL tear. The White Sox also didn't tame the rumors with the move in Charlotte.
Rumors this spring mentioned the Sox' interest in the Yankees young catchers, so there are things for the two teams to discuss. The White Sox could also be interested in upper level pitching as well since the Sox have become pretty depleted at Charlotte. The Yankees top prospect is Gary Sanchez, a 21 year old catcher, but that might be a hard pill to swallow for the Yankees. Luis Severino seems to be their best pitching prospect not on the DL right now, and is playing at high A Tampa. Catcher J.R. Murphy, playing at AAA now, was also mentioned going to the Sox this past spring.
So it would appear that the trading deadline trades are upon us again. Dunn, Viciedo, Beckham, De Aza, and Danks would all seem to be players the Sox would be interested in moving between now and the end of August. If Matt Lindstrom can make if back before the end of August, the Sox would probably try to move him as well. Get ready for more rumors and hug alerts than you can handle.
