The Chicago White Sox are just three games back in the AL Central. That's a series sweep away from first. But they're also open to trading all sorts of important pieces from their 25-man roster. It's time to party like it's 1997.
Now the rumor mill is churning out all sorts of White Sox. Left-handed reliever Matt Thornton is the latest name in the mix. From Joel Sherman:
Sense #Whitesox have really fallen out love with Thornton, would love move $13M owed '12-'13. #Yankees among teams watching the LHR
The 2010 All-Star is having a good season, though it's not quite up to his standards of his previous three seasons. His strikeout rate is down, and his walk rate is up. Of course, we're talking about 35-2/3 innings, so there be small-sample dragons here.
In addition to the Yankees, Ken Rosenthal noted the Red Sox are interested, and then said that the Rangers had interest, but ...
Sources: #Rangers pursuing #WhiteSox's Thornton. White Sox want (Derek) Holland in return.
Oh. I'll bet they'd give up that Andrus kid too if you asked really nicely. Rosenthal then clarified the rumor and brought relative sanity back to the rumor mill:
Source: #Rangers would only move Holland for Thornton if #WhiteSox expanded deal to include a starter such as Danks.
That's more like it. More and more teams will come up before the deadline is over because everyone can use a left-handed setup man.