Popular White Sox Trade Idea Faces a New Hurdle

At the 2026 trade deadline, one of the many pitchers the Chicago White Sox were linked to was left-handed pitcher Reid Detmers of the Los Angeles Angels.

Detmers is an Illinois native and former top-ten pick in the MLB Draft. While he's had brief flashes of success in the past, including a no-hitter during the 2022 season, Detmers finally put it all together in 2026 in his sixth MLB season, posting a 3.36 ERA with the Angels over 185 innings pitched. He also had 211 strikeouts and posted 4.9 fWAR, which was a top-30 mark in all of baseball.

Detmers also has two years of club control remaining. He'll become a free agent entering the 2029 season, making him an attractive addition for any team looking for controllable and affordable starting pitching.

The White Sox were one of many teams interested at the deadline. And why wouldn't they be? It just wasn't the right time to pull the trigger on a trade involving some of the top prospects in Chicago's farm system.

However, you'd have to assume the appeal is still there, which might make sense for the White Sox to revisit these trade conversations in the offseason.

The Angels need to rebuild. There's no doubt about it. Perry Minasian, the former Angels GM, was fired on June 26, while former Cardinals executive John Mozeliak took over as the interim GM that same day.

Still, without a full-time GM and coming off a sale of the team and the franchise's first 100-loss season in its history, it's never been more clear that the Angels need to reset their roster. The two years remaining on Detmers' contract won't match up with their competitive timeline.

Reid Detmers should be traded, and he makes perfect sense for the White Sox. He has All-Star upside. He's left-handed, which complements the current rotation well. He has multiple years of control, and he wouldn't come with a large salary that impacts the team's payroll or limits spending on other offseason additions.

There's only one problem. The Angels aren't going to trade Detmers…at least, not yet.

According to a report from Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the Angels are holding on to their stars, namely Detmers and shortstop Zach Neto, until they're able to hire a full-time GM.

It's understandable, at least in theory. The next GM will be handed the keys to the franchise. And you'd like to give that GM some ammunition, with blockbuster trades for Neto and Detmers still to be made. The return package needs to fit the vision of the new Angels front office…whoever that might entail.

What may hurt them, however, is how delayed in the process the Angels are. The organization is starting informal meetings with GM candidates this week at the GM meetings in Las Vegas. Incoming ownership group Kroenke Sports & Entertainment is said to be casting a wide net. And Mozeliak, the interim GM, is helping put together the list of candidates.

However, the Angels are expected to wait until the sale from Arte Moreno to Stan Kroenke's group becomes official before they actually hire a GM, a president of baseball operations, or any other key personnel.

No approval vote has been scheduled by the MLB owners, and there's no indication that this will happen before the new year.

So while Major League Baseball is up and running with free agent signings, trades going down, and rosters beginning to take shape over the next few weeks leading up to the expiring collective bargaining agreement and potential lockout at the start of December, Detmers won't be changing teams. That makes it increasingly unlikely that the White Sox can get a deal done.

Many teams, the White Sox included, are going to be aggressively pursuing starting pitching in free agency and the trade market over the next few weeks. GM Chris Getz has already said that he anticipates additions to the roster being made before the collective bargaining agreement expires in December. The White Sox have holes to fill. But by the time the Angels get around to trading Reid Detmers, they may have already filled them.

So while he remains a perfect fit on paper, this very popular White Sox trade idea has met yet another hurdle.