Why Promoting Minor League Talent Could Be the White Sox Best Move At Trade Deadline

The White Sox are in position to make some additions to try and help them make it to the playoffs let alone winning the division. The club is a year ahead of schedule in their rebuild, but any time a team like them are in the postseason hunt, they have to make moves in order to improve for October baseball. While lots of pundits and writers have been putting out mock trades and identifying players the Sox should go out and acquire, one thing that goes under the radar is that some of best additions can be internal.

One of the key positions of need is pitcher, both a starter and one or two bullpen arms. While getting an experienced pitcher is helpful, there is the problem of giving up too much talent while still trying to develop a championship caliber side. So why not promote the best arms at Charlotte to help improve the pitching staff? The Sox just acquired Jose Urquidy who has not only postseason experience, but could help give other pitchers some rest. But Urquidy isn't the arm that should be talked the most about as the Pale Hose have a bunch of talent that could help them down the stretch and in the postseason.

So where are we going with this point? The young talent at Charlotte could help. Two arms that come to mind are left hander Hagen Smith and righty Tanner McDougal. McDougal is already on the 40-man roster, but with Smith, he has to be added on. That being said, that could help out in the long run. Both Smith and McDougal might be coming off injuries, but having them come from out of the bullpen, which they already are doing at Triple-A, would help tremendously. Their stuff in general would help a lot, but also the two of them could pitch multiple innings, which would help give others some rest and also take a load off their shoulders, metaphorically of course. Then there is the options of using Shane Smith, David Sandlin, Duncan Davitt, Mason Adams, and Jonathan Cannon too as they would also provide the same reasons as Smith and McDougal. Wikelman Gonzalez could be a guy to help come out of the bullpen and be used as a high leverage arm. The same could be made once Jordan Leasure comes back from injury. Another situation arises is also when Drew Thorpe will come back from the injured list as he looked sharp in his last rehab assignment and he could be a guy that could throw multiple innings before handing it over to the bullpen.

Think about it, both Smiths, McDougal, Sandlin, Davitt, Cannon, Adams, and Thorpe could be used as guys who throw multiple innings and would be seen as key contributors out of the bullpen. Heck, they could be used as openers as well. Plus, with Noah Schultz and Erick Fedde probably going to the bullpen down the stretch and in the playoffs, it helps a lot there too as the pitching could possibly go from a weakness to a strength in the postseason. With the stuff these pitchers possess, it's not a crazy concept. At that point, should the Sox even go after a bullpen arm when they already have plenty of options to fill that void? Theoretically, in a game situation, manager Will Venable could have Thorpe start and only pitch four innings, then hand it over to Schultz for 2-3 frames, and after that have options galore considering the situation as in a tied game, go to Sandlin, both Smiths, Fedde, Davitt, Cannon, Adams, or McDougal for as long as needed, but if they are winning, let Grant Taylor, Sean Newcomb, Jordan Hicks, or Bryan Hudson do their things to close it out. See the argument trying to be made here? It's much easier to explain on a podcast than through an article, but it definitely makes some sense.

While the three starting pitchers in Davis Martin, Sean Burke, and Anthony Kay have been stellar, they probably could benefit from this as well if they dominate in their outings. Heck, even after having an opener could help this trio as well as Burke showed how much it worked out earlier in the season. This plan would help save lots of arms from fatigue, but it also would provide plus stuff being thrown from the bullpen as well as opposing teams having a hard time to game plan against this approach. The deeper this club goes in the postseason also helps give them options of whom to have on their pitching staff as whom they are facing would determine a lot as matchups do matter here. Venable would also have an easier time matching up against opposing lineups with this formula. Now whether it would help the Sox go deep in the postseason is a bigger question, but it certainly will benefit them if it comes down to pitching.

The problem this runs into is the logjam of pitchers the team already has. It will mean someone like Seranthony Dominguez or Trevor Richards won't have a spot for a playoff series. That being said, it will help in the sense that with the depth that is there on the team, going back to the argument made earlier about matchups, is that Venable can decide whom the best pitchers are for that particular series would be. It could be a completely different pitching staff if they face the New York Yankees or if they played the Seattle Mariners. Venable would have to key into the weaknesses of the opposing side's bats and assess from there whom to call in. Now, should the Sox go after a starting pitcher? It depends. It makes more sense to go after a pitcher with a couple years of control, but if they are going to try and acquire a rental, then Chris Getz shouldn't give up too much. However, this scenario makes a whole ton of sense especially if the possibility of mortgaging the farm system for one year of contention instead of trying to build and develop and it all goes south. As for next season? Whole different scenario.

*Here's an interesting video from CHGO's Sean Anderson about what the White Sox could do for the deadline and it partially ties into the point of this article. A little outdated, but still ties into the point