Rangers Can Steal One More From Lousy White Sox

White Sox vs. Rangers, 8:05 ET

The trade deadline articles keep coming out and they are coming in full force. I've mentioned before that baseball trade deadline and offseason used to be my favorite things about the sport growing up. I'd grab the newspaper and see what the reporters were talking about - who was going where, what the rumblings were, etc. Changes to the Wild Card race have made it so fewer teams are sellers at the deadline, and thus it is a bit less interesting. One team in today's game (White Sox) will certainly sell if approached, and one team might sell (Rangers) if they decide they can't make up enough ground. 

The White Sox are a terrible club this season, and the franchise really needs to be sold. While you're at it Mr. Reinsdorf, sell the Bulls, too. We need to get both of these teams back to relevance. The White Sox are just a few years removed from being considered one of the best teams in baseball, but the reality is that those considerations never came to fruition. The team fizzled out and very few of the players from the roster are still around. This year, they were expected to be bad (I didn't expect them to be this bad, and actually thought they wouldn't lose 100 games. They almost certainly will lose more than 100 games this year as they are currently 27-75. They've only won 10 games on the road this season, and are currently on an eight-game losing streak. They have a decent enough chance to win today with Garrett Crochet, one of the biggest names on the trade market, taking the ball for the White Sox. Crochet is 6-6 with a 3.02 ERA, 150 strikeouts, and a 0.95 WHIP. For a team that is absolute dog crap, Crochet has been a bright spot. His ERA is 16th, second in strikeouts, and fourth in WHIP. The biggest concern about him is that he's thrown a total of 180.1 innings in his career. 107.1 of those have come this season. He's only pitched six innings this month in two starts and it seems like they are trying to be cautious with him before he is traded away. He's only faced four Ranger hitters a total of eight times, and he allowed one hit. 

Apr 29, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Garrett Crochet (45) delivers a pitch against the Minnesota Twins during the first inning at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

The Rangers are in a more complex situation with their club. Texas won the World Series last year and now looks like they may be sellers at the deadline. It is possible that the club decides to keep the team together, or even add. They are just four games back of the division lead, behind both the Mariners and Astros who are currently tied. They have a shot at the Wild Card as they are just 7.5 games back, but they have four teams ahead of them, not counting the three that currently own the Wild Card spots. Either way, the team has a bit of work to do if they want to get into the playoffs this season. There have been all sorts of rumblings about what the team could do - from trading away one of their aces, Nathan Eovaldi, to hoping the team's health stabilizes. It should be an interesting couple of weeks. Tonight, they put Jon Gray on the hill to face the White Sox. Gray is having a decent enough season with a 4-4 record, 3.96 ERA, and a 1.32 WHIP. Gray has made 19 appearances and 16 starts this season. He has pitched a total of ten innings in July and has allowed six earned runs over the three games. This was on top of the 18 earned runs he allowed in 19.1 innings during June. He somewhat fell off the cliff after May. After his last May start, he had a 2.21 ERA and allowed a total of 9 earned runs in those first two months of the season. Since then, 24 earned runs. White Sox hitters haven't done much against him as they are just 8-for-48 against him, resulting in a .167 batting average. 

The White Sox are not a team that you should be willing to back regularly. The Rangers are playing some decent baseball lately, having won three of the past five games. The question is which Gray will show up. If he is pitching like he has the first two months, the Rangers are a great value at -130. If he is pitching like he has the past two months, the White Sox will win this game. The other interesting situation is how much the White Sox let Crochet throw in this one. I'll back the Rangers at -130 for the full game because I think Chicago takes Crochet out after five innings at most. I'd also expect a quick hook if the Gray starts poorly. 

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