White Sox “Trades” with EVERY TEAM | NL East 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 NL East Edition.

The Au Jus

Atlanta Braves

White Sox send: Korey Lee C
White Sox receive: Alek Manoah RHP, Vidal Brujan UTIL
Rationale: Korey Lee is the odd man out in the Sox catcher group, but could still have utility with the team if they were to keep 3 catchers. But their need for 3 catchers is lesser than that of the Braves. The Braves have 2 very nice options in Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy, but Murphy just had hip surgery in September and is hopeful he can start the season. Baldwin is healthy, but also a viable DH. Lee can take some of the pounding behind the plate keeping the other two fresher and healthier.

The return on Lee probably won’t be much. In Manoah you get a huge question mark who was actually available on waivers recently and never cracked the big leagues this past year. With the 27 pitchers recovering from injury that will be available for the Braves and their want to add starters, Manoah is on his way out. Similarly, when the Braves add a SS, out of options Brujan will likely get pushed out. Both of these guys could contribute to the Sox in 2026.

New York Mets

White Sox send: Luis Robert Jr. of
White Sox receive: Frankie Montas rhp; A.J. Ewing of
Rationale: The White Sox recently picked up Luis Robert Jr.’s $20 million dollar option for 2026 and that makes me comfortable tryna trade him in this blog. I have chastised Chorizy’s previous attempts trading LuBert to the Angels and Yankees in prior blogs because they are the kinda trades that I think the White Sox could’ve gotten at the deadline last year when teams were unwilling to meet value. Fast forward to 2026 and with a full season of play (potentially) the calculus should be different for a deal that the White Sox would actually accept in the off-season. To me, this is that type of deal.

First thing’s first, Frank Montas is in here to even up the money. Now look, I know Uncle Stevie is on the other side of this transaction, but let’s be real, after bleeding cash the first few years of his regime, I expect he’ll want to clawback as much of the penalties he’s paying as possible. That makes sending Montas and his $17 million dollar salary to Chicago. Now ole friend Frankie is hurt and will probably miss the season, so this is just a financial maneuver to effectively make LuBob a $3 million dollar player for this year.

The prize of the deal is A.J. Ewing a 21 year old centerfielder in AA. Ewing stole 70 bases last year and is a plus defender out in center. That’s the good news. The bad news is there’s really NO POWER there…LIKE NONE! Ewing is probably a year or two away from joining the big club, but prospect hounds like the chances that he’s a big league regular, even if it’s a second division regular due to the lack of power. I think it would take this type of profile minimum to make the White Sox deal before the season.

Miami Marlins

White Sox send: Lenyn Sosa 1B/2B
White Sox receive: Janson Junk RHP
Rationale: The Marlins are in desperate need of some power. They also don’t have much going on at 1B/DH. So while they won’t really need Lenyn at 2B, they can certainly find plate appearances for a 20HR hitter, considering they hit 154 as a team in 2025. Not that the Sox were far ahead of that, but that’s not the point here.

In return the Sox get Janson Junk, who in addition to having a wonderful baseball name, has unbelievable command. My man only had a 2.9% walk rate last year. But you guessed it, he can’t really strike guys out. The lack of a wipeout pitch leaves him at a 6ish K per nine guy and has kept him a swingman. With the White Sox, I think he is in the starting rotation. Not a sexy pitcher, but one that should keep you in games, especially if he can get back to higher groundball rates.

Washington Nationals

White Sox send: Caleb Bonemer 3b; George Wolkow 1b; Matthias LaCombe rhp
White Sox receive: Mackenzie Gore lhp
Rationale: The Nationals had built up a nice young core via their dismantling of the 2019 World Series Championship team only to completely miss the boat with it, but never spending and having enough misses to derail the ship. They are ready for a short retreat and try to make it again with the core that start with James Wood, Dylan Crews and the newly drafted Eli Willits.

Of the guys hanging around Mackenzie Gore, who just finally realized some of his former prospect promise, has the highest upside of the group in trade. The White Sox, depending on how you view this, are either idiots for not spending because the young core produces for 3 months or too far away to compete. If you are in that former group, then this is an acquisition for you. Gore only has 2 more years of control, so you’ll be looking to make the most of that time. Gore’s 27.2% K-Rate would provide some much needed strike outs to this staff.

In return the Nats can refill their farm with the hottes prospect in White Sox circles Caleb Bonemer!! Bonemer has power and speed and the 19 year old absolutely dominated A ball last year. He’s probably more likely a 3b and not a shortstop, but that’s fine as the Nats can use the power anywheres. He becomes a top 5 prospect in their system tomorrow.

Wolkow is also added here. The Nats, unlike the the White Sox have had success with developing a gigantic power hitter to their big league team (the aforementioned Wood). A team looking to re-work their core would be happy to take such gambles.

Last but not least, I have added in Frenchman Matthias LaCombe. He allegedly hits 98 MPH, although I’m not sure this isn’t some French / US conspiracy to pump up MLB in Paris. We’ll see when he actually pitches at an affiliate level.

Philadelphia Phillies

White Sox send: Edgar Quero C
White Sox receive: Griffin Burkholder CF, Devin Saltiban 2B/CF
Rationale: We previously discussed the good problem they have of trying to find at bats for their catchers. This doesn’t necessarily make Quero expendable as there are many ways to find at bats for him and god forbid we try to keep these guys fresh and healthy. But a lot of teams can use catchers and the Phillies have their catcher headed into free agency. With their push to retain Kyle Schwarber, they could look to replace J.T. Realmuto.

In return, rather than a top 100 prospect like Beef imagined in the Rays trade, the Sox would get two prospects of about equal standing in the Phillies’ system. Both of whom project as centerfielders, but with very different builds. Burkholder is 3-5″ taller depending on where you look and is lankier. But his Captain America nickname gives you an idea of how toolsy he is. On the other hand Devin Saltiban is built like a running back. In both cases there is an expectation they end up in CF, but only the power has shown up for Saltiban who has hit 25 HR in the minors thus far. The Phillies are going to promote Justin Crawford this year, but even with that, Dante Nori still stands in the way of both of these guys. Not to mention, the Phils are not afraid to spend in free agency.