The Chicago White Sox Should look to Target these Veteran left-handers as a Reclamation Projects

With the Chicago White Sox looking to target players on the bottom of team’s depth charts to take chances on, or those coming back from injury the White Sox should look to players like Steven Matz, John Means, and Wade Miley as reclamation projects.

As the Chicago White Sox are in the midst of yet another rebuild, which admittedly I would have to say this one is seemingly going far better than the last one. So far, the White Sox under Chris Getz have done a nice job not only bringing in the necessary players to better their roster, but they made a shrewd move by hiring and appointing Phil Nevin to be the Special assistant in their player development department who according to Bob Nightengale will be:

“involved in a number of player development roles, including amateur scouting for the 2025 Draft.”

With both Chris Getz and former big-league manager Phil Nevin manning the helm and gathering the necessary talent to make the Chicago White Sox better fans should rest easy knowing their White Sox are in good hands.

The Chicago White Sox Still Need Help in the Starting Rotation

The White Sox enter the 2025 season with a starting rotation which figures to be one of the youngest in Major League Baseball. The oldest pitcher projected to be on the staff for Opening Day will be Davis Martin who is 28 and have only 0.117 days of Major League service time under his belt. The White Sox projected starting rotation according to FanGraphs will be 1. Jonathan Cannon 2. Davis Martin 3. Sean Burke 4. Bryse Wilson and 5. Drew Thorpe rounding out the rotation.

In that rotation of names listed they all have one thing in common, yes you guessed it, they are all right-handed. The White Sox do have a couple of young lefty prospects in Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith who both are projected to make their debut at some point in 2025 as options. However, the White Sox might want to air on the side of caution and give them both a little more seasoning down in the minors to see how they do before giving them the callup.

Steven Matz

The 33-year-old Steven Matz enters into a final year of a four-year $44 million deal he signed with the St. Louis Cardinals back in November of 2021. During his time with the St. Louis Cardinals Matz struggled on the field accumulating a record of 10-12 with a 4.47 ERA, amassing 185 strikeouts in 197.1 innings pitched. As well as struggling to remain healthy and not being able to pitch a full season (150 innings) since 2021 where he had 150.2 innings pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays, Matz looks to have a bounce-back season in 2025.

Steven Matz would be a perfect target for Chris Getz and the Chicago White Sox to trade for given he is in the final year of his deal and he has struggle on the field and to stay healthy in the entirety of his deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. According to Mark Fiensand of MLB.com both Erick Fedde and Steven Matz are drawing interest from teams writing:

“veteran starting pitchers Erick Fedde and Steven Matz have drawn trade interest”

Coming off a season where he went 1-2 with a 5.08 ERA in 44.1 innings and suffering a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee, which according to John Denton of MLB.com who said of the injury that it’s:

“an injury that could require season-ending surgery or one that could be repaired through rest and rehab”

This injury in fact forced Matz to miss the remainder of the 2024 season. With the St. Louis Cardinals taking a minor step back and looking to play more of their younger guys, trading away a piece like Steven Matz would make sense. The White Sox who currently have no lefties in their rotation and who also need a veteran presence there would be a perfect fit to acquire Matz and take on his $12.5 million salary that he is owed for this coming season. With Matz looking to bounce-back from his injury and look to show he can still pitch and the Cardinals needing to shed salary this would be a perfect trade for the White Sox to make.

John Means

John Means would be an interesting signing for the White Sox to make. Set to miss most if not all of 2025 after getting Tommy John surgery after being pulled from a start back in May and was put on the injured list with a left forearm strain, Means will also be looking to have a resurgence in his career. So far in his career Means has not proven he can stay healthy and be trusted to put in a full season on the mound with this being his second Tommy John Surgery in five years with the other coming back in 2022.

When healthy however John Means shows that he has the ability to be one of the best left-handed pitchers in all of baseball. For his career, Means has accumulated a record of 23-26 with a 3.68 ERA, and 334 strikeouts in 401 career innings pitched and was named and American League All-Star in 2019. Assuming that Means was to miss all of 2025 the Chicago White Sox would have to sign him to a two-year deal with the hopes he can help them in 2026. That wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world given injuries, trades, and Bryse Wilson being on a one-year deal signing Means could makes sense for the White Sox to do.

Wade Miley

Wade Miley will be yet another pitcher who will be trying to make his way back onto the mound after having Tommy John surgery. Miley who in comments made to USA Today eyed somewhere around late April to early May of him being able to fully be ready to pitch for any team willing to take a chance on the 38-year-old. Speaking of how he feels Miley stated:

“”My shoulder feels amazing right now,” Miley said. “I’m in a better spot mechanically. The UCL part of my elbow feels amazing. The bone spurs in the back of my elbow, that’s what I’m not recovering from great right now.”

Signing Wade Miley would be an “out of the box” idea for the Chicago White Sox to do being he doesn’t check being young, controllable, or figures to be in their future plans. However, Miley does bring one thing to the table and that’s fifteen years of Major League experience. In his career Miley has accumulated a record of 108-99 with a respectable 4.07 ERA with 1361 career strikeouts in 1745.1 innings pitched.

Having that many years of experience under his belt would be an asset for any team to have, but for the White Sox is something that cannot be quantified. Having a player of Miley’s caliber to help mentor and mold this young pitching and staff into being productive Major League pitchers is what the White Sox need. Especially whenever it is time to call up young lefties Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith Miley like Matz would be a perfect mentor.

Signing any of these three pitchers would be valuable for the Chicago White Sox to do especially both Steven Matz and Wade Miley who both can help the White Sox now.

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