White Sox Need More From Trade Deadline Additions

The goal at the trade deadline was for the Chicago White Sox to add the veteran experience and talent necessary to push this team toward an AL Central title and a potential postseason run.

The White Sox already had a talented roster and were in first place at the deadline. Despite being ahead of schedule from the organization's overall rebuild timeline, Chris Getz and the front office had an opportunity to add fuel to the fire and give the White Sox a legitimate chance to make noise in the playoffs in a weakened American League. The biggest focus was on the pitching staff.

But after an early acquisition of right-handed pitcher Luis Castillo, the White Sox had a rather quiet deadline day, bringing in reliever Huascar Brazoban, outfielder Brenton Doyle, and catcher Joey Bart in a series of moves that left something to be desired. Most White Sox fans, myself included, believed the team needed to add an additional starting pitcher.

Chicago held serve and opted not to part with premiere prospect capital. Meanwhile, the addition of a player like Doyle, while not necessarily a bad move when factoring in his future contract control, didn't really address a need that benefits the 2026 club in a significant way.

It's been nearly three weeks since the trade deadline, and it's becoming much easier to look back at those moves and see how the White Sox faired.

Up to this point, the four pieces added haven't brought much to the team. But that's not to say the White Sox can't still win the AL Central or can't find value from these trades. After all, each of the players the White Sox brought in has club control beyond 2026.

For a team looking for help in the here and now, however, they haven't gotten much so far.

Castillo has been the best acquisition of the bunch. He's made three starts in a White Sox uniform with a 4.60 ERA. On August 12, he threw seven scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and recording 10 strikeouts against the Cincinnati Reds. It's one of the best outings by any White Sox starting pitcher this season. 

He battled through another tough start against the Chicago Cubs on August 17 and was one out away from getting through the fifth inning with just two runs allowed before an infield single and a throwing error cost the White Sox a pair of runs.

Castillo may continue to be a bit hot and cold the rest of the way, but it's abundantly clear at this point that he's an upgrade for the White Sox starting rotation over the other internal options. Chicago is having trouble filling out a five-man rotation as is, and that's with Castillo in the mix and pitching pretty well. He won't be a savior, and he's still probably the team's third-best option when it comes to a playoff series. But the issue with the pitching rotation is the fact that the White Sox didn't add more, not the fact that they added Castillo.

Joey Bart has been a bit of a wash. He played in just three games for the White Sox and took six at-bats, going 0-for-6 before getting hit by a pitch in the hand, breaking his hand and sidelining him for over a month. The timeline for Bart's recovery is still a bit foggy. It's possible we see him back on the field in September, at which point he could provide a boost at the catching position. But I wouldn't hold my breath on having significant contributions from Bart in 2026.

Brenton Doyle has played in 15 games for the White Sox, but hasn't been any better than he was in Colorado. He's batting just .212 over his first 33 at-bats in a White Sox uniform, and while he does have one home run, his OPS has dipped down to .545.

With Tristan Peters heating back up and rediscovering more of his All-Star form, at-bats for Doyle are few and far between, rendering him more as a late-game defensive replacement or pinch runner, a role that was previously held and is still also held by Luisangel Acuña. It creates a bit of a redundancy on the White Sox roster.

While I'm intrigued by Doyle in the future, as the White Sox make some adjustments to his swing and see if they can recapture his 2024 production, it doesn't seem as though he'll be much of an upgrade to Chicago's outfield in 2026. And of course, you have to wonder if it was worth moving on from someone like Everson Pereira, who has a .856 OPS in 10 games with the St. Louis Cardinals since being designated for assignment by the White Sox.

I was a big fan of the Huascar Brazoban trade at the time, and I'm still optimistic this one will end up working out for the White Sox. But the early returns haven't been great.

Brazoban has a 5.63 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP in eight appearances with Chicago. He's allowed 10 hits and three walks in eight innings of work and just hasn't been the high-leverage arm the White Sox acquired him to be. Again, there's some future value here, and there's plenty of time for Brazoban to turn things around. We know about the volatility of relief pitching, but for a pitcher that had a 2.56 ERA and was very consistent in a variety of roles with the New York Mets in 2026, his early performance with the White Sox has been disappointing.

The most concerning piece of it all is that outside of Castillo, it's hard to make an argument that the White Sox are better for any of the three trades they made at the deadline.

Have any of them played above replacement level? Has Doyle brought more to the White Sox than Pereira could? Has Brazoban brought more to the team than any other relief pitcher from Triple-A Charlotte? Or even Seranthony Dominguez, dare I say?

Obviously, Bart didn't fix the catching situation. Not that freak injuries are something that can be factored in at the deadline.

Regardless, though, the White Sox have a first-place team that could still very well win the division, make the playoffs, and even get a bye straight to the ALDS. Chicago will need more from their trade deadline additions, however, if they want to reach their ceiling as a unit.