The White Sox are likely buyers at the Aug. 2 MLB trade deadline.
Without too much hinting into what the Sox may or may not do, general manager Rick Hahn gave a peek into what the organization is thinking going into the second half of the season with a .500 record.
“No GM in baseball, whether they are in it or not, ever feel they have enough pitching,” Hahn said. “We are certainly not immune to that. Primarily, (we have needs) because Aaron Bummer has been absent for a while. And we hope he returns at some point, but it's not a guarantee. I think bullpen is our most obvious need.”
According to the longtime GM, they have already had conversations regarding this issue.
"We have had a bunch of conversations,” Hahn said. “Not just with us but with the scouts, coaching staff and front office. We have a lot of different ideas about certain possibilities. There are a lot of teams in contention right now. The true sellers are a little bit limited right now. And those teams may not align with what we need. It will be a fun couple of weeks toying with some different ideas in order to make this team better.”
Last season, Hahn made an aggressive move to improve their bullpen by trading away Nick Madrigal and Codi Heuer for Craig Kimbrel. In turn, the Sox traded Kimbrel to the Los Angeles Dodgers for daily outfielder A.J Pollock. The move came once the Sox realized Kimbrel underperformed the back half of the season and couldn't live up to their championship standards.
This year, the bullpen has struggled a decent amount. They rank 19th in the MLB in ERA and WHIP at 4.05 and 1.31, respectively. Their only highlight comes with their 10th overall rank in saves with 27 -- 19 of them going to All-Star Liam Hendriks.
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The team has one left-hander in the bullpen currently with Tanner Banks. Aaron Bummer has been dealing with injury and is expected to return in September. But, Hahn and the front office don't want to rely on Bummer's return as a solution to the current issue at hand.
Depending on the offers, the White Sox could look to the North side for help. David Robertson has been attached to the major sell-off the Cubs are likely to produce in due time. The right-hander has a 1.83 ERA this season and could be a major addition to the lineup.
The team sent scouts up to Wrigley Field for the Cubs' last series against the Mets.
Nevertheless, with Hahn's background, expect him to be typically aggressive with bolstering the lineup with additions that will help the Sox make strides in getting as far away from .500 as possible.
The team is going into a two-game series on the road against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night. They are currently four games back on the AL Central lead.