Chicago White Sox have interest in Lance Lynn

MLB Trade Rumors: Lance Lynn is of interest to the Chicago White Sox, according to Jon Morosi on Twitter, who says that the ChiSox, who are in the market for starting pitching, are considering the Texas Rangers ace.

Lynn, 33, has been one of the best pitchers in baseball since signing a 3 year, $30 million deal with Texas prior to the 2019 season, posting a 3.30 ERA and a 3.17 FIP in 253.2 IP during that time. With Lynn being durable and consistently being able to go 100+ pitches per game, as well as being under contract for 2020 for just $8 million, he is one of the most attractive starting pitchers who could be on the market.

With the MLB trade deadline being just two days away, one would expect there would be a lot more rumors out there — the rumor mill has been very quiet, however. The extent to which that is because of a relative lack of activity versus the scouts and other folks who normally would be out looking at players being at home, and thus less in the loop (and less able to share information that eventually leaks), is an open question.

The Rangers would, no doubt, be quite happy to have Lynn in their rotation next year, but given they are out of the race this year and their prospects for 2021 is murky, the Rangers are naturally going to explore the market that is out there for Lynn. The ability to make trades right now is, however, complicated by the fact that only players in the 60 man pool can be officially dealt (though others could be included as a player to be named later), and an acquiring team hasn’t been able to put eyes on a player they would potentially be landing since March.

Its hard to say what Texas could reasonably seek from the White Sox, given the nature of the 2020 season. The dream return for Lynn would seem to be Michael Kopech, a hard throwing righthanded pitcher from Longview who missed most of 2019 due to Tommy John surgery, and who has opted out of the 2020 season. I’d be very surprised if Chicago parted with Kopech or Andrew Vaughn, the #3 overall pick in the 2019, who is considered, along with Kopech, the top prospect in their system. Whether a package fronted by Dane Dunning or Jonathan Stiever would be enough to get Lynn remains to be seen.