With a division title in sight, Chicago could bolster its rotation by acquiring the Angels' high-strikeout lefty to provide long-term stability and elite swing-and-miss stuff.
The Chicago White Sox could emerge as small buyers at this year’s trade deadline.
They currently own a 33-30 record and sit just two games behind the Cleveland Guardians for first place in the American League Central division. If the White Sox continue to win games, the front office could look to add some pieces at the deadline.
Their top area of need is starting pitching. Erick Fedde has a 4.94 ERA in 12 outings, Anthony Kay has a 5.85 expected ERA, and Sean Burke has had some uneven starts this year.
While the South Siders won’t be in play for pitchers like Tarik Skubal or even Freddy Peralta, they could still acquire a quality rotation arm by the August 3rd deadline. There are plenty of pitchers on non-contending teams who could be available later this summer.
In Jeff Passan’s trade deadline preview at ESPN, he lists Los Angeles Angels pitcher Reid Detmers as a potential target for the White Sox.
Detmers has thrown the ball well recently. He has a 1.89 ERA and a 39.1% strikeout rate over his last three starts and has seemed to turn a corner on the mound. The southpaw threw eight innings of one-run ball with 14 strikeouts back on May 24 and threw six shutout innings with six strikeouts in his most recent outing against the Dodgers.
The White Sox could definitely use a pitcher of his caliber in their rotation. He currently owns an 82nd percentile whiff rate (29.7%) and an 88th percentile strikeout rate (28.5%), and his arrival would boost this rotation for the second half.
No starter on this current White Sox team is generating more whiffs or striking out more batters than Detmers this season. Not even potential All-Star Davis Martin, who has a 27.8% whiff rate and a 25.3% strikeout rate.
Detmers is also pitching way better than his numbers suggest. His expected ERA (2.93) is 133 points lower than his actual ERA (4.26), and both his Pitching Run Value and expected batting average against (.207) rank in the top 20% of the league.
Now, it probably won’t be cheap to trade for Detmers because he does have multiple years remaining on his deal. The Angels southpaw is not a free agent until after the 2028 season, which means the White Sox would have him for the rest of the 2026 campaign and the next two seasons after that.
But it could make sense for Chicago to make a big move at this year’s trade deadline to set up the team for the future. Detmers is only 26 and a high-upside pitcher who is just scratching the surface.
