Lance Lynn, one of the best starting pitchers in the trade market, is on the move — reportedly joining a young and exciting Chicago White Sox team looking to level up in the American League.
The White Sox have swung a deal with the Texas Rangers to acquire Lynn, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, on the first day of MLB’s virtual winter meetings. He joins Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel atop a White Sox rotation that is hoping to leapfrog the Twins in the AL Central and perhaps everybody else in the AL, too.
According to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, the return includes Dane Dunning, the No. 5 prospect in the White Sox system who made his MLB debut in the shortened 2020 season with 7 starts and a 3.97 ERA.
Per source, the Rangers will receive Dane Dunning and another pitching prospect back for Lance Lynn.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) December 8, 2020
Lynn, 33, has quietly turned into one of baseball’s most solid starters in recent years. He led the league in innings pitched in 2020 and had a 3.67 ERA with 16 wins in 2019, finishing fifth in AL Cy Young voting. He’ll be a free agent after 2021 and is due $9.33 million, a bargain for a pitcher of his caliber.
Reunited with Tony La Russa in Chicago
It may seem like a lifetime ago, but the trade reunites Lynn with his former manager Tony La Russa, who recently came aboard as White Sox skipper. Lynn was a rookie on the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals team that La Russa guided to a World Series win.
They’ll be both 10 years older in 2021, but the South Side of Chicago would accept the same result.
Although the White Sox were the top team in the AL for a part of the 2020 season, they ended up collapsing in September and making the playoffs as a wild-card team. With a young core around him, Lynn should deepen the White Sox’s rotation significantly, giving La Russa three pitchers who can be depended on in a playoff series.
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