Chris Getz and Will Venable offered insight into the White Sox rotation and what the team could do next before Monday’s trade deadline.
On Saturday night, the Chicago White Sox made a trade with the Seattle Mariners, acquiring right-handed pitcher Luis Castillo, a three-time All-Star with multiple years of contract control who will immediately be inserted into Chicago's starting rotation.
With that deal now completed, what's next for the White Sox? What does this mean for their starting rotation, and what trades could still be made before the deadline?
White Sox manager Will Venable and general manager Chris Getz both spoke to the media ahead of Monday's trade deadline and offered some insight into what the next 24 hours might look like for Chicago.
Erick Fedde Moves to the Bullpen
According to Venable, veteran right-hander Erick Fedde will move to the bullpen, while rookie Noah Schultz will remain in the starting rotation. Castillo replaces Fedde and is set to make his White Sox debut in Boston this week.
He'll be rested enough to pitch in any of the games, but it's still unclear which night he'll first take the mound in a White Sox uniform.
White Sox Recall Duncan Davitt
As for the bullpen spot left vacant by Seranthony Domínguez heading to Seattle, the White Sox have temporarily patched that hole by recalling right-handed pitcher Duncan Davitt from Triple-A Charlotte.
Davitt is the No. 30 prospect in the White Sox organization but has struggled this season, posting a 6.22 ERA in the minor leagues. He made his MLB debut in April, throwing a scoreless inning against the Royals on April 10.
In my estimation, Davitt is up on a temporary basis to eat some innings while the White Sox settle their pitching staff over the next two days. The roster will probably look different after the trade deadline and before Tuesday's series opener against the Boston Red Sox. I still believe a top prospect such as Tanner McDougal is a viable option to make his MLB debut in Chicago's bullpen.
Will the White Sox Make More Trades?
What about more trades? Is there more coming for the White Sox?
I absolutely get the feeling that this team is not done.
White Sox GM Chris Getz confirmed Sunday that adding a catcher remains on the team's radar. "I anticipate we do something," he told the media.
Tyler Stephenson of the Cincinnati Reds is an intriguing name to watch. He would provide a clear offensive upgrade for Chicago, is a rental acquisition and has experience catching Castillo in the past. That familiarity would be extremely valuable when adding a backstop to a playoff contender.
Whether or not the White Sox are done adding starting pitching remains to be seen.
According to a note from Ken Rosenthal in The Athletic, “the White Sox remain open to bringing in another starting pitcher” and could potentially dip into the rental market if they decide to acquire another arm. That's something Getz and the White Sox would like to do, but getting it done is a different story.
As Getz discussed during his Sunday press conference, parting with a top 100 prospect isn't something the White Sox feel inclined to do at this time, especially for a rental pitcher. Ultimately, if prices remain high and acquiring another arm requires Chicago to part with Caleb Bonemer or Billy Carlson, Castillo could end up being the team's only starting pitching addition.
"When you're having these conversations about potential rental starters or controllable starters and you get an idea of what the cost is going to be, and candidly, with some of these meaningful rental starters that will be available here in the next day or so, we didn't want to go into our top 100 prospects,” said Getz.
Regardless of what goes down over the next 24 hours or so, the White Sox will have plenty of moves to consider and plenty of calls to make. One trade is complete, but there are still plenty of roster moves to come as Chicago looks to put itself in the best possible position to win the AL Central and make some noise in the postseason.
