
2. Chicago White Sox
The White Sox could really use some good PR at the moment. With their manager Tony La Russa embroiled in a DUI scandal just shortly after he was hired, much to the dismay of the front office and the fans.
Over the trade deadline in the 2020 season, the White Sox were one of the teams to express interest in Hader, among other Brewers pitchers, and they have the players to pay for him.
While the White Sox made the postseason for the first time in a long time this year, they did not make it past the Wild Card round. The end of the year was kind of a disappointment, culminating in the firing of manager Rick Renteria. The young core the White Sox have spent the past several years building is finally ready.
Now that the core has arrived, they need to supplement that group. Adding Josh Hader to that roster would give them the lockdown closer they need to pair with Aaron Bummer in the back end of that bullpen.
The White Sox have a lot of young players that would intrigue the Brewers, but most of the players available for trade are going to be prospects in the farm system. At first base, they have Jose Abreu, he’s not going anywhere. At third base, Yoan Moncada is there and he just signed a big money extension so he’s not available.
At catcher, they just signed Yasmani Grandal so he’s not an option for a trade either.
The farm system, however, has a bunch of possible pieces for a Hader deal. Chief among them is top prospect Andrew Vaughn, the third overall pick in the 2019 draft. He’s a first baseman, which fits a long-term need the Brewers have, and is just about ready for the big leagues.
There are also some pitching prospects that are held in high regard that could be big league ready quite soon.
The White Sox are ready to compete and ready to make some moves to put their team over the top. They have some pieces that could work for Hader, but they’re mostly prospects, which lands them at No. 2 on this list.