The Angels are trying to a poor Lucas Giolito trade on his personal life — but everyone can see they simply got swindled by the White Sox.
On July 26, 2023, the Chicago White Sox signaled the end of an era.
After a grueling rebuild that produced a playoff berth in 2020, an AL Central title in 2021, and a frustrating .500 season in 2022, Chicago’s short-lived contention window slammed shut with a series of trades.
The first domino to fall sent former All-Star starter Lucas Giolito and right-handed reliever Reynaldo López to the Los Angeles Angels.
At the time, the White Sox were 41–62. The Angels sat at 52–49 and were desperate to make a push. Los Angeles was feeling the pressure to get Mike Trout — a once-in-a-generation talent — back to the postseason for the first time since 2014. The impending free agency of Shohei Ohtani loomed like a dark cloud over the front office.
Rather than trade Ohtani for a rebuild-accelerating haul, the Angels doubled down, hoping that building around him would convince him to stay.
Having the best player in baseball on your roster and still missing the playoffs is tough to stomach. Somehow, the Angels managed to do it twice, for years in a row.
Rick Hahn may have been on his way out the door as White Sox general manager — and fairly so. He got more than enough wrong during his tenure, failing to maximize a once-promising core. But ownership didn’t exactly help him, either.
Still, if there was one thing Hahn consistently did well, it was extracting value in trades. That’s how the White Sox built their foundation in the first place — and on his way out, Hahn delivered one final gift.
Coming back to Chicago in the Giolito deal were catcher Edgar Quero and left-handed pitcher Ky Bush.
Bush made his MLB debut late in 2024 before undergoing Tommy John surgery that wiped out his 2025 season. He figures to be back in the mix for a rotation spot in 2026.
But Quero was the real prize. A top-100 prospect for good reason, Quero’s 2025 rookie season in Chicago came with more ups than downs.
He finished with a .268 batting average, 17 doubles, five home runs, and respectable defense behind the plate. Quero has a mature approach at the dish — his squared-up percentage and chase rates are elite. He controls the strike zone, stays within himself, and started to show flashes of real power as the season went on. There’s every reason to believe he can grow into a 15–20 homer hitter as he continues to develop.
After all, he’ll still be just 22 years old on Opening Day 2026.
Quero looks like a cornerstone piece for the South Side for years to come — and the Angels gave him up for a rental who made six starts before being waived.
Giolito posted a 6.89 ERA in his brief Angels stint, and now Los Angeles is offering one of the most ridiculous excuses imaginable for why it all went down.
The Angels’ front office is reportedly claiming Giolito’s struggles stemmed from going through a divorce — and that the organization was “unaware” of it when they made the trade.
So… are they lying through their teeth, or just that incompetent? Because Giolito publicly announced his divorce during the MLB Home Run Derby — more than two weeks before he was traded to the Angels.
This is why perpetually bad organizations stay bad. Even when they can’t do anything right, they grasp at straws to justify their own ineptitude.
White Sox fans know a thing or two about that. Thankfully, GM Chris Getz appears to have the organization moving in a new direction, hiring baseball minds from outside the insular structure that failed for so long.
Rick Hahn may not have been the perfect general manager, but he absolutely fleeced the Angels on his way out — and the White Sox will be reaping the rewards of that trade for years to come.
They may even reunite with Giolito in free agency if the price is right.