It’s not a matter of if the White Sox will trade anyone of significance before the Aug. 1 deadline but how many.
Lucas Giolito seems certain to go. And Lance Lynn from the starting rotation is a good bet to join him. Joe Kelly, Kendall Graveman, Reynaldo Lopez and Keynan Middleton from the bullpen are there for contending teams needing bullpen help.
Former batting champion and All-Star shortstop Tim Anderson, who has a club option for next season, has heard his name in the rumor mill, too.
“Just play. I don’t really worry about anything,” Anderson said when asked about the possibility. “Control what I can control and whatever happens is going to happen anyway. It’s out of my control.”
In better times, Anderson said he wanted to finish his career with the Sox. But he has experienced his worst season, and general manager Rick Hahn is listening on almost everyone.
“Yeah, it’s a business,” Anderson said. “That’s the part you look at. Just roll with it. You can’t really speak on a whole lot. Just play and see what happens.”
The Sox would not be selling high on Anderson, but his showing as a second baseman in the World Baseball Classic and his recent surge with a .378/.439/.432 hitting line with four RBI, four runs scored and six multihit games in the second half are positives. He still hadn’t homered this season, however.
“It’s just a process of learning,” Anderson said. “I’ve been learning a lot throughout this struggle. You guys we’ll see. Just give it time. I can’t change it all in one game, but over the course for the rest of the season you could.”
“You don’t want to think about it,” said first baseman Andrew Vaughn, who is under team control through 2026 and not expected to be dealt. “We are all teammates. We are all brothers. We are all together in this.”
Manager Pedro Grifol said this will be a “challenging” week and the focus should be on the game and not trade expectations.
“And there is a timing thing to this,” Grifol said. “The trade deadline is not till next week. So you can’t sit around and think about what can happen because this game changes minute to minute.”
