The White Sox made a franchise-altering decision on Wednesday night, trading longtime starter Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López to the Los Angeles Angels in return for their second- and third-best prospects, Edgar Quero and Ky Bush, respectively.
That's no easy decision to make. But White Sox general manager Rick Hahn broke down the trade after the White Sox' loss to the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night.
"Unfortunately the ’23 season isn’t working out the way we wanted," Hahn said Wednesday after the game. "So I think it makes prudent business and strategic sense to add future assets for those becoming free agents."
Giolito is currently playing through his final year of arbitration before he hits unrestricted free agency in the winter. López, too, is playing in his final year of arbitration; like Giolito, he will be a free agent in the winter. Instead of risking each player walking in free agency, Hahn capitalized on their value and flipped them into future assets.
In doing so, how did the process with the Angels unfold, in terms of their discussions?
"My conversations with Perry (Minasian) were very direct over the last 48 hours in terms of what we were looking for," Rick Hahn told the media on Wednesday after announcing the trade. "He was very clear about the needs they are trying to address.
"We were able to move fairly quickly over the course of today towards a decision."
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Hahn mentioned he engaged in discussions with other teams about Giolito and López. Giolito, a Los Angeles native, has had his name attached to the Los Angeles Dodgers for some time, including earlier today with a report from USA Today's Bob Nightengale.
López, too, was suspected to be on the move. Though, his imminent trade status and inclusion with Giolito were certainly unexpected details. Ironically, the two were traded to the White Sox back in 2016 as part of the Adam Eaton trade to the Washington Nationals.
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The decision to move both Giolito and López cements the discourse for the White Sox' reload. Hahn refused to conform to the club undergoing a rebuild. Earlier reports from Wednesday are congruent with that thinking, considering the front office has reportedly declined offers for Dylan Cease.
So, with less than six days before the MLB trade deadline, where do the Sox go from here? Are more moves ahead?
"It’s impossible to prognosticate," Hahn said. "I don’t think by any stretch we’re done. But until you line up on the actual deals and everything gets approved medically, et cetera, nothing’s done until it’s finally done."
Know this: if it's not the sweltering Chicago heat that overheats Hahn's phone, it'll be opposing general managers over the coming days.
"We've been busy. There's been a lot of calls."
There is plenty of time left for the White Sox to continue loading up on future assets. They made a splash with Quero, a reputable Double-A game caller, and Bush, a 6-foot-6, behemoth, left-handed pitcher. Hahn mentioned the club believes both of them have the chance to "contribute" to the team next season.
MORE: Who are the prospects the White Sox received for Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López?
Other names to be on the lookout for potential trades include Lance Lynn, who Bob Nightengale reported is on deck for a trade imminently, Keynan Middleton, Kendall Graveman, Aaron Bummer, Joe Kelly, Yasmani Grandal and Elvis Andrus. More could be included on that list, too.
There are untouchables, as reports demonstrated with Cease. Most would suspect the Sox would like to keep their hands on Luis Robert Jr., and even Andrew Vaughn and Eloy Jiménez. The young up-and-comers will almost assuredly stay, too, such as Garrett Crochet and Oscar Colas.
But, as Hahn said, the White Sox won't know the departures for certain until they have an offer in front of them. After that, they'll take a step back and evaluate the state of the franchise.
"Over the course of the next week or so, we are going to make the moves that make sense and put us in the best position going forward," Hahn said. "In terms of declaring titles or where we are at for the organization going forward, there will be plenty of time for that."
