White Sox “Trades” with EVERY TEAM | AL West Edition | 2026

A long time ago, I was listening to an interview with legendary poker professional Phil Ivey and the interviewer asked the question (paraphrasing) How would you recommend a player learning the game get better the fastest? Phil said something to the effect of (paraphrasing) Buy in to a game at much lower stakes than you would normally play, and then play every single hand for an hour. Try and figure out how you would play all of these different hands in different situations and positions that you are normally taught not to play in. In the spirit of that recommendation from an all-time great, Chorizy and I are once again going to undertake the exercise of making a White Sox trade with every team in the majors…..this is the AL West Edition.

The Au Jus

Texas Rangers

White Sox send: Sam Antonacci 2B, Jacob Gonzalez SS, Jairo Iriarte RHP
White Sox receive: Marcus Semien 2B
Rationale: The word on the street is that the Rangers want to shed payroll and an aging 2nd baseman owed $72M for his 35-37 years seems like the kind of guy you’d want to move. Of course, they need to make it look good for their fans, so they’re gonna get Sam Antonacci and two guys the Sox may have already given up on, but are still lurking around in their top 20 prospects.

I’m honestly torn on if I believe Semien will have a little dead cat bounce, continue to be a 2-3 WAR player, or absolutely succumb to age. I’d like to believe he is still a very good defensive 2B and the pop in the bat is worth 15-20 HR. And let me be clear, I have no problem with Chase Meidroth forcing him out of this position at some point. I do, however, have a problem with anointing Chase 2B after he looked good in 2025. Let’s have some gosh darn competition for these kids unlike in the Rick Hahn era!

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

White Sox send: Luis Robert CF
White Sox receive: Dylan Jordan SP, Jose Fermin RP
Rationale: When you look at the Angels contracts over the next few years, you’ll see that after this season, they’ll shed roughly $70M in contracts between Anthony Rendon, Jorge Soler, Taylor Ward, and Travis d’Arnaud. Ward has been good, so that will be a loss, but overall the word “shed” applies and would give you the indication that eyes are on 2027. However, Perry Minasian is entering his final guaranteed year as GM of the Angels. Now, I don’t know a ton about how this type of stuff works, but I imagine ending an eleven year streak of not making the playoffs would help you stick around. That said, I think he’ll be looking to add to the roster.

Right now, Jo Adell is penciled in to be in centerfield. His 2025 was a home run filled (37) break out that helped him eclipse that 100 mark in OPS+ for the first time in his career. His play in CF on the other hand left something to be desired as he posted a -8 OAA and -13 DRS. Even in RF the metrics don’t love him, so CF is a need for the Angels.

Enter Luis Robert. The Sox have assured us they are picking up that contract. But they have not assured us Luis will make it to Opening Day. Luis is very much a feast or famine type of player and the exact type of guy you roll the dice on when you got 1 year to make something happen. Add to that, the price for Luis has to be at an all-time low.

Dylan Jordan just turned 20 and was a 5th round pick in 2024. He sits low 90s maxing out at 95 and as of now is a 2 pitch pitcher. Both Fangraphs and MLB.com agree there is opportunity to increase velocity and develop a 3rd pitch. These are two difficult things to do and would be the type of challenge I would like to see presented Brian Bannister.

Jose Fermin on the other hand is an absolute wild card. He’s got a fastball that’s in the mid to upper 90s and a slider in the 80s. This combination helped him traverse Rookie, AA, AAA, and the majors in his 2025 season due to the amount of strike outs he compiles. So what’s the problem? He’s wild. Like Nuke LaLoosh wild. As he went level to level, you saw the SO/9 go down and the BB/9 go up. Not great, but a project worth attempting.

It’s sad to see Luis getting traded for middling prospects from a mediocre to below average farm system, but this is where we are.

Houston Astros

White Sox send: Andrew Benintendi OF
White Sox receive: Christian Walker 1b, Alimber Santa RHP
Rationale: Every year that we do this series of blogs, we are always looking for somewhere to trade Andrew Benintendi. Ever since he signed the most lucrative free agent contract in White Sox history, we have attempted to get him the fuck out of here! We’ve tried perverse salary dumps. We’ve tried to angle for situations that just seemed implausible. But finally, I think we have found a reasonable suitor in the Houston Astros. The Astros both are hilariously right handed in their lineup, (potentially starting 8 right handed hitters nightly to go along with Yordan Alvarez), and they haven’t really found a solution for left field. They tried Jose Altuve there, didn’t work, they used Cooper Hummel, Chas McCormack, ick….just a tough situation. Beni, while not optimal for the Sox finds himself a nice niche with the Stros, who’s Crawford Boxes in LF make the defensive part of the job even less demanding.

In return, the White Sox take back even more contract than Beni’s in Christian Walker (Walk is owed $40M the next two years, while Beni is owed $32.2M). Walker is coming into his 35 year old season, he still bangs the long-ball (27 last year), but his OBP has taken a tumble and so has his once terrific defense (while still very solid). This seems the most likely conclusion for a real Beni trade.

Now, since the White Sox are taking on $8M more in money, they deserve a prospect back and that guy is Alimber Santa. This is what $8M buys you these days (THANKS DJT!). A potential lights out reliever with beautiful fastball / slider combo (throws a decent curve as well) and command issues. This recent write up in July 2025 at Fangraphs denotes his likelihood to be a menace versus right handed hitters out of the bullpen. That sounds great and has me plenty enthused to pull the trigger on this deal, even if Christian Walker’s decline at 1b is quick and sad.

Seattle Mariners

White Sox send: Miguel Vargas 1B/3B, George Wolkow OF, Aldrin Batista RHP
White Sox receive: Luis Castillo SP
Rationale: Luis Castillo is not the pitcher he once was and in a pitcher rich organization, he could be a Jerry DiPoto trade chip, especially to free the Mariners of their highest salary. Castillo is owed ~$48M over the next two years. He has a vesting option if he pitches 180+ innings in 2027, which might be tough if there is any type of work stoppage. But if the option does vest, it’s worth $25M. With this contract and with multiple hitters entering free agency, it may be enticing to the M’s to get away from this aging pitcher and allocate those funds to re-signing Josh Naylor, who is said to be a priority for them.

Now, I may not have sold Castillo very well, but he’d instantly be at the top of a Sox rotation that barely exists. In my opinion, they currently have 2 starting pitchers: Shane Smith and Davis Martin. Adding a pitcher of Castillo’s talent is a tall order for the Sox even if they’re willing to spend.

The return will hurt if you’re a believer in any of these guys, which I am pretty sure most of White Sox Twitter is. Miguel Vargas is the centerpiece here. The guy everyone wanted to run out of town 7 months ago is now a beloved member of the squad. The M’s could see him as a bat to fill some of the void of the free agents they will lose. If they are good with his play at 3rd base, even better. The downside risk for the Sox is that Vargas finds some more power and they gave up a 25 HR 3rd baseman with a ton of control. But there is very much a chance that Vargas is a 1st baseman with 20ish HR power. That’s not a great outcome, but it’s the Vargas we saw in June and July.

George Wolkow is a goddamn unit, but striking out 147 times in single A is worrisome. If the Mariners think they can address that, it could be gold for them. I am worried that even though he’s very young, it’s a tough road for him to get to the bigs.

Aldrin Batista is getting some praise from the prospect hounds, but he’s far from the bigs and rule 5 eligible. He’s a nice throw in that could end up a valuable piece for a team that churns out pitching.

Oakland Athletics

White Sox send: Lenyn Sosa 2b / 1b
White Sox receive: JJ Bleday rf / lf
Rationale: This is basically “a guy” for “a guy” trade. The White Sox are starting to pile up middle infielders, especially ones that likely aren’t shortstops. Conversely they are very light in the outfield (both in Chicago and on the proverbial farm). This trade allows them to turn a 2nd division infielder like Sosa into a 2nd division outfielder. Sosa is a nice fit in Oakl…Vega..Sacramento with his high contact and power rate. If Baseball Savant is to be believed his 22 homers with the White Sox in 2025 would’ve translated to 35 homers in the California state capital.

Bleday is a former top pick, 2 years removed from a revival of his career when he registered 3.2 fWar with the A’s in 2024. Last year was a step back and the team even taught Tyler Soderstrom how to play LF on the fly to get him out of the lineup. With the White Sox he’d get one last chance to show his pedigree. At a minimum, the White Sox would get average corner outfield defense (a nice step up from the $75 Million dollar man on that front) and a strong walk rate. From there they figure out if they can rekindle that top form.