Carlos Beltran, The Chicago White Sox & Potential Trade Targets

There is a lot of discussion on the blog, and there will be for much of this month and next month as well, today about the August 1^st trade deadline and this post is no exception. Carlos Beltran is being quoted all over the place as being willing to waive his no-trade clause to help the team if approached and he even went as far as to say that he would be willing to go to the National League if need be which got me thinking. I can think of a team and organization that may need Beltran’s services and he wouldn’t have to go to the National League to do it either. This all hinges on one man currently on the Chicago White Sox 40 man roster, Justin Morneau.

The Chicago White Sox, if they plan on contending in 2016 anyway, need a designated hitter and they need one in the worst way. After the abrupt retirement from Adam LaRoche in spring training the team has watched as their DH’s, who mainly hit eighth in their batting lineup, have combined for just eight home runs and a .708 OPS. The White Sox main DH, Avisail Garcia, is batting .228 with five home runs, 22 RBI and a .658 OPS this season leading Chicago to sign Justin Morneau to a deal with the intention of him returning to the field in the second half of 2016.

Well here we are, officially this is the first day of the second half of 2016 so where is Morneau? Well the White Sox first baseman is down in Birmingham (Double-A affiliate for the White Sox) with the plan on coming back to the Major Leagues as early as this week. Morneau has been working his way back from offseason elbow surgery and has just six minor league games under his belt at the time of this writing. If Morneau is not fully healthy or he doesn’t turn it on pretty close to immediately you have to think the White Sox and Yankees become immediate trade partners, no?

The White Sox, and any team for that matter, would love to add a veteran switch hitter with postseason experience to their roster. Especially when said veteran player is leading the Yankees in home runs with 19 and RBI with 55 with a batting average that is hovering around the .300 mark. What would it take to land Beltran and what should the Yankees ask for specifically? That I do not know, I’m not an expert in the White Sox system and you have to think it would not be anyone in their Top 10 – Top 15 if they are trading for a rental in Beltran, but the deal makes too much sense not to at least look at for both teams. Am I right?