Mariners and White Sox can help each other in Chicago's search for starting pitching

The last time the Seattle Mariners and Chicago White Sox hooked up on a trade, Seattle got a fast-rising prospect and Chicago got a rapidly declining Luis Castillo. One wouldn't blame White Sox GM Chris Getz if he has trust issues related to dealing with the Mariners.

However, the White Sox want starting pitching and the Mariners have starting pitching to offer. The White Sox have infielders and that the Mariners need an infielder. Hmmm.

Of course, the White Sox don't necessarily need to go the trade route to address their starting rotation. Getz indeed openly alluded to free agency when speaking of potential options, according to James Fegan of the Chicago Sun-Times: "We’re going to be as ready as we can when free agency opens. And be able to pounce when need be."

It's nonetheless hard to imagine the White Sox getting in on the Tarik Skubal market. And after him, this winter isn't going to have much beyond dice-rolls. Freddy Peralta and Trevor Rogers can be good. They have also shown recently that they can be quite bad. Sonny Gray and Kevin Gausman would bring experience, but both are old and well-traveled enough to raise concerns of another Castillo-like flop.

Imagining what another Mariners-White Sox trade might look like

Given all this, it would be malpractice if Getz didn't consider what might be out there on the trade market. And while pursuing Mariners starters has tended to be a dead end in past offseasons, there's every reason for this winter to be different.

Seattle's pitching staff is in need of a shakeup. It's also overcrowded in the rotation. Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo, Bryce Miller, Emerson Hancock and Kade Anderson is more than plenty. With Ryan Sloan standing by and Logan Evans due to return from Tommy John surgery, "too much" comes to mind.

Since Gilbert is due for free agency after 2027, he's not the cleanest fit for a White Sox team that hopes it's only beginning a multi-year run as a contender in the AL Central. Unless a superstar is involved, Anderson and Sloan are presumably off-limits. With the others, though, Jerry Dipoto should at least be in "Well, Let's Talk About It" mode.

If it's Kirby, Miller or Hancock in play, Colson Montgomery would be a reasonable request on the Mariners' side. He set a single-season record for strikeouts this year. He also hit 31 home runs, and his defense at shortstop has generally rated on the good side of average. He's just 24 years old and controlled through 2031.

If it's Woo the White Sox were to ask for, the price goes up into Miguel Vargas territory. He's not a great defender at third, but right-handed hitters with elite place discipline and 30-homer power are in short supply. Further, Vargas is 26 and controlled through 2029.

The White Sox surely don't want to trade these guys, but they have three reasons to consider it if the opportunity is just right. Namely, their three best prospects are left-side infielders: Roch Cholowsky, Caleb Bonemer and Billy Carlson.

We're just throwing ideas out there, but one can imagine some semblance of these concepts on big white boards in Seattle's and Chicago's front offices. Each knows what they have and what the other might want. It may just be a question of whether Dipoto or Getz picks up the phone first.

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