White Sox “Trades” with EVERY TEAM | NL West Edition | 2027

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 West Edition.

The Au Jus

Los Angeles Dodgers

White Sox send: Chase Meidroth 2b
White Sox receive: Christian Zazueta rhp; Zach Erhard of
Rationale: Chase Meidroth was the “third” piece of the Garrett Crochet trade back from December of 2024, but to this point he’s been far and away the most productive. A 4.5 WAR player (no matter how you slice it, f or b), a gold glove finalist and he hit one of the most important post-season home runs in White Sox history. As my guy Sox Optimist would say, he’s a “dirtball” which is a tremendous compliment in baseball player parlance. He was the second best position player on the 2026 White Sox. But, as the team transitions from the little engine that could to perennial contention, hard decisions must be made. One of those decisions that the White Sox have to make is picking between having two everyday quality second basemen.

The Los Angeles Dodgers once again made it to the NLCS. This time however, they ran into the freight train that was the eventual champions the Milwaukee Brewers. In getting summarily dismissed by the Crew, the Dodgers were left looking OLD. And especially OLD on the position players side. The entire infield save for Freddie Freeman looks like it needs a makeover and a move like this is a logical first step.

Christian Zazueta is a blue chip starting pitching prospect. He’s a top 50 prospect across various sites. It’s plus fastball that touches 97 and a plus change-up. He’s 6’3″ and athletic. The freshly turned 22 year old was promoted to AA before the close of the season so his major league debut isn’t likely to be far away. The Dodgers having a full rotation has them looking to deal some of their better arms to solidify a position player group that is getting long in the tooth.

Zach Erhard is a hit tool over power outfielder. Playable in all three outfield spots, but better in a corner. He just finished a full season in AAA where he was good, but it was also the PCL. He’d be in the mix this season to unseat one of the White Sox corner outfielders. Chris Getz‘ stated goal of outfield depth.

San Diego Padres

White Sox send: Shane Smith RHP
White Sox receive: Freddy Fermin C
Rationale: The Padres have Ethan Salas and Luis Campusano on the roster at C. And while Fermin is the better defensive catcher than Campusano, the Padres will likely opt for the better bat. That leaves Freddy Fermin in that chair in the hotel room that we don’t talk about. This is why you see the Ferminator in a lot of those “most likely to be traded” blogs and articles. And you’re getting that here as well.

For the White Sox, Freddy Fermin makes a lot of sense. They seem to want a veteran defensive catcher to pair with Kyle Teel. Fermin is that, posting 8 Defensive Runs Saved and he is above average at stolen base prevention. That is a trait the White Sox really want. The offense is not there, though at one point it was, so perhaps if used selectively we could see it bounce back a little bit.

The Padres get Shane Smith, whose 2026 was disappointing. But in 2025 you could see what Shane could be, as the de facto ace of the White Sox staff and their All Star representative. And even if he becomes a bullpen piece, he would still be valuable to this roster that is losing multiple SP/RP to free agency. This is definitely within AJ Preller’s risk tolerance.

San Francisco Giants

White Sox send: Huascar Brazoban RHP
White Sox receive: Harrison Bader CF
Rationale: The Giants for some reason are treating Logan Webb as untouchable and claiming they will compete in 2027, so we need to pivot.

The Harrison Bader situation in San Francisco can be described as “complicated”, but let’s be honest, it’s bad. This is heading for a break up and they want to send him away. If you’re unfamiliar, he was already on the IL with plantar fasciitis in July. Then the night before he was supposed to go see a specialist, he had a scooter accident. The Giants ended up suspending his pay and now MLB and MLBPA are involved. So just great stuff.

That said, he’s a plus defensive outfielder in both CF and LF, where he could be the weak side of the platoon with a career slug of .451 against LHP. We’ll just need to keep him off his scooter. To that point, he seems a little bit off and I can’t tell if that will mess with the clubhouse or if he’s the perfect fit. We’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and see if once again we can grab a guy the Giants want to get rid of for “reasons” and shoot the moon.

In return, the Giants need all kinds of pitching help. But I don’t see a starter moving for Bader. Maybe Jonathan Cannon? But let’s send Huascar their way. He’s getting up there in age, but is cheap, controllable, and looked great with the Mets last year.

Colorado Rockies

White Sox send: Kyle Teel c; Braden Montgomery of; Drew Thorpe rhp
White Sox receive: Hunter Goodman c
Rationale: Hunter Goodman is an upgrade over Kyle Teel. A real middle of the order hitter, with better framing and slightly better defensive ratings generally. A two time all-star. He’s an ass-kicker!

This is not “giving up” on Kyle Teel, I still think he’ll be a very good player, but between the injuries and the k-rate moving in the wrong direction and the power not really manifesting itself, if you can upgrade the position, you should upgrade the position. In order to get the biggest swinging dick of the catchers you gotta add to this.

Braden Montgomery’s first big league season went okay. The parts are clearly there to be a very good player. But there seems to be significant adjustments to 1) actually get to the power and 2) figure out hitting LHP, which might involved not batting Right Handed or just not batting against LHP much at all. Anyways, his talent is part of the deal here. He’ll play great defense at altitude.

Drew Thorpe doesn’t seem to be part of the White Sox pitching future. He seemed ready, but wasn’t called up in September. Chris Getz gave him nary a mention in his season ending zoom call despite harping on the need for starting pitching for the better part of the 45 minutes. Thorpe still has value and the Rox definitely need the arms. This deal gives the Rockies a chance to get younger and add more talent (which they are desperate need of) and the White Sox get more thump, which they really could’ve used in October.

Arizona Diamondbacks

White Sox send: Colson Montgomery SS
White Sox receive: Corbin Burnes RHP + $20M
Rationale: The Diamondbacks biggest need is likely a left-handed, power hitting 1B to sit across from Nolan Arenado in his final year with the team and slug 30 HR. The Sox can only offer that in Munetaka Murakami, and I just do not see that happening. But this can be achieved in a different way. Colson Montgomery brings that power, but would be at 3B, moving Arenado to 1B. Nolan has been an awesome 3B for his whole career, but at this point, Colson is the better glove there. This solves one of the D’Backs biggest off-season needs. But it hurts another and that is pitching depth.

Corbin Burnes heads to the White Sox. He recently chose not to opt-out of his contract with the D’Backs which leaves 4 years and $140M to go ($120M for the Sox with $ coming their way). This is big money for the White Sox and it comes with significant risk, but also potential reward. Burnes missed most of the 2026 season recovering from Tommy John and ended the season on the shelf from shoulder inflammation. Not an inspiring recent history as he makes his way to the White Sox starting rotation. But the upside is a top of the rotation arm and one that consistently threw a lot of innings. A good, 3 WAR Corbin Burnes throwing 170-180 innings for this young White Sox team would be a major help to the pitching staff and the org as a whole.

The downside could be a very expensive pitcher that is no longer the guy he was, while Colson smokes 40 HR a year in AZ. But hey, we’re here to take chances.