This MLB trade deadline goes through Chicago — Here’s what that means for the Cubs and White Sox
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Jesse Rogers, ESPN Staff Writer
CHICAGO — Hours before he took the mound against the crosstown Cubs on Wednesday night, Lance Lynn sat in one corner of the Guaranteed Rate Field clubhouse pouring over scouting reports about the hitters he was about to face — just as he had before his 69 previous starts with the White Sox. Nothing seemed different for the 36-year-old right-hander, even as he prepared for what would undoubtedly be the last time he pitched for the South Side club.
But the team’s inevitable breakup was the talk of the room around Lynn, a free-agent-to-be on a club clearly set on offloading veterans ahead of Tuesday’s MLB trade deadline. Players were huddling in small groups, openly wondering who was going, where and when. Lines like “Hey, have you heard where I’m going?” and “Did you see what they got for him?” replaced the usual pregame chatter.
Meanwhile, across the corridor in the visitors’ clubhouse, the Cubs were doing their best to tune out the same type of trade rumors flying about their own teammates, focused instead on another opportunity to prove to their front office that this team is worth keeping together — even though Fangraphs gives the Cubs an 18.2% chance of making the postseason and just 10.2% of winning the NL Central.
“We want to convince them to be buyers,” Chicago Cubs reliever Michael Fulmer said. “It’s definitely a winnable division. We have the team to do it. Lately, we’ve been playing a lot better. We have to keep it going. It’s something we could have been doing all year. It’s just happening right now. That’s a good thing. We’re excited about this little streak and hope to keep it going.”
By the end of the night, the White Sox were putting their deadline strategy in motion while a few hundred feet away the Cubs celebrated adding another victory to the case for going for it. It was the culmination of a wild 48 hours in Chicago that saw one baseball team meet its predictable fate while another breathed further life into a season of hope.
Here’s where things stand for the White Sox and the Cubs with four days left in a trade season in which two teams in the same city hold more trade chips than just about anyone else in the sport.
The White Sox officially ended their failed rebuild and perhaps started a new one, when the team announced late Wednesday that they were sending veteran starter Lucas Giolito and reliever Reynaldo Lopez to the Los Angeles Angels for prospects Edgar Quero and Ky Bush. There was some symmetry in the moves — both pitchers were acquired together in 2016, a move that kicked off a rebuild filled with high expectations, followed by a tumultuous past two seasons. Now both move on with just two playoff wins to show for their time in Chicago.
“It’s certainly not where anyone in this organization thought we’d be come the trade deadline but clearly moves like these … are essential,” general manager Rick Hahn said after announcing the move.
It’s bound to be the first of many for the fourth-place White Sox, who have collapsed two years after winning the AL Central by 13 games.
“It’s a challenging week,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “You have to take your mind off that and play baseball.”
The difficulty of tuning out the noise — particularly for a team 21 games under .500 — was evident when Lynn gave up seven earned runs in just 4⅔ innings during his deadline audition, an outing that may have scared off some potential suitors.
While Lynn and Giolito are the most well-known pitchers scouts were in town to see, they weren’t the only ones. The Yankees, Rays and Marlins were among the teams in attendance to watch relievers Joe Kelly and Kendall Graveman. Kelly is a free agent at season’s end while Graveman has another year left on his deal paying $8 million in 2024.
The Marlins are also keeping an eye on Tim Anderson, whom the White Sox might move. The shortstop has posted a .378 batting average since the All-Star break, making potential trade partners more likely to look past his paltry .245/.285/.285 season-long slash line.
“Just feeling more like myself,” Anderson said of his resurgence. “Just trying to get back to what I normally do.”
Anderson’s ability to shoot the ball to right field and the right center gap has returned, making him an interesting trade candidate for a team that needs a shortstop or second baseman. He played the latter position during the WBC and at least one contending team, the Seattle Mariners, has a huge offensive hole at that position. Asked if he knows what went wrong for the underachieving White Sox, Anderson shook his head.
“I don’t. I wish I did. That’s a crazy question,” Anderson said. “It’s life. Things happen. I try not to think about it. … I control what I can control. Whatever happens is going to happen anyway.”
Just two weeks ago, the Cubs were 42-48 and seemed destined to be joining the White Sox with an everything-must-go approach to the deadline, setting up Marcus Stroman and Cody Bellinger to be two of the most coveted players available this summer. But winning seven of their past eight games means the Cubs’ decision on what direction to take will now come at the “11th hour,” according to one team source.
“It’s fun for you guys to write about and it’s fun for us to make their job challenging,” shortstop Dansby Swanson said after Tuesday’s 7-3 win over the White Sox. “We’ve been playing well recently. It’s fun to be part of a collective group that believes in one another and is willing to lay it out there each and every night.”
With no major moves likely to come before the end of the weekend, the Cubs have a chance to inch closer to first place with a four-game series against the struggling St. Louis Cardinals that they started with a 10-3 win. The Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds are on the road against the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers, respectively.
With Bellinger’s trade status potentially hanging in the balance, it’s safe to say front office executives will have their eyes glued to the NL Central standings.
Now that the Angels have announced they are keeping Shohei Ohtani, Bellinger is clearly the best position player with a chance to move in the next week. Several teams are watching him closely, including the Yankees, and his value has never been higher. He has a 1.176 OPS since the All-Star break and is looking more like the 2019 NL MVP than the player the Dodgers non-tendered this offseason. The Cubs front office now has to juggle his potential impact for the rest of this season with the reality that they will get nothing more than draft pick compensation if he leaves via free agency.
The other Cubs star who has drawn the most trade buzz is Stroman, the starting pitcher who can opt out of his deal and walk away for nothing at season’s end. Unlike the surging Bellinger, Stroman’s stock is headed in the wrong direction going into the deadline. While his first 16 starts produced a 2.28 ERA, his past six since facing the Cardinals in London — including a poor one in front of scouts from several contenders on Wednesday — have an 8.00 ERA attached due to a tendency to leave pitches up in the zone.
“Ever since London, I’ve been off mechanically,” he said after Wednesday’s game. “More so with my slider. My rhythm and consistency with my slider is off.”
Stroman then waved off talk about the trade deadline, choosing to focus on his own game and his team’s recent surge.
“I keep a lot of it in the back of my mind,” he said. “I love the group of guys. I know what we’re capable of when we’re hot.”
The Cubs’ dilemma is compounded by the competitive balance tax. The team is about $5 million under the first threshold and it’s not likely they’ll be willing to exceed it by adding salary, particularly when the playoffs are still a long shot, according to a source familiar with their situation. A scenario where Stroman is moved to clear up some dollars — and Bellinger is retained — is a real possibility. Then the Cubs could go into the trade market for a reliever with less worry about the tax.
“If it means trading the entire team to win a World Series sooner, that’s the job that’s at hand,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “I want to win a World Series. That’s what we’re all pushing for. The more we keep the good players, the closer to doing it [we’ll be].”
The Cubs believe they played two of their best games of the season against the White Sox. They hit six home runs and stole nine bases, their most in a two-game span in 30 years. Barring a collapse this weekend, the players hope it will be enough for the front office to add instead of subtract before Tuesday’s deadline.
“You see where the potential is. When we do everything right, we have a really good chance of winning every night,” Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks said. “We know we have everything we need in this clubhouse. We can’t wait to put it all together and go on a run no matter what.”
With five games left to play before the deadline arrives, the Cubs are treating each one like a must-win matchup. On the other side of town, the only intrigue in the coming days will be seeing how many veterans the White Sox ultimately trade away.
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Dan Wetzel
Give Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti credit for this: He will advocate for what he believes is best for one of the league’s teams. That’s true even if that same program previously unleashed an avalanche of headline-grabbing public accusations and animosity on him.
In this case, it’s Michigan football, which at the height of the 2023 advanced scouting/sign-stealing scandal hit Petitti with a blistering legal filing, claims of personal bias and choruses of boos and negative social media posts from fans.
Regardless, Petitti has sent a letter to the NCAA Committee on Infractions arguing that Michigan deserved no further punishment in a case focusing on the actions of former staffer Connor Stalions.
The letter was read at an early June infractions committee hearing in Indianapolis, multiple sources told ESPN. The NCAA has charged Michigan with 11 rule violations, six of them Level 1, which is classified as the most serious. The committee has yet to hand down a ruling, but one is expected before the 2025 season. It does not have to follow or even consider Petitti’s opinion.
The Big Ten confirmed to ESPN that Petitti sent the letter and said he would have attended in person but was recovering at the time from hip replacement surgery. The NCAA and Michigan are prohibited from commenting on a pending case. Petitti declined comment through a league spokesperson.
Petitti argued, sources said, that the Big Ten itself had already sufficiently punished the Michigan program when it suspended then-coach Jim Harbaugh for the final three games of the 2023 regular season: at Penn State, at Maryland and at home against Ohio State.
Even without Harbaugh, Michigan won all three en route to capturing the national championship.
The NCAA might still hit the Wolverines with penalties ranging from vacating past victories, a postseason ban, the suspension of coaches, a monetary fine or other measures.
Michigan, as ESPN previously reported, has proposed suspending current coach Sherrone Moore for the third and fourth game of the 2025 season for deleting a thread of text messages with Stalions as the scandal broke. Moore was the team’s offensive coordinator at the time. The NCAA was able to retrieve the texts, and Moore was not charged with having any knowledge of Stalions’ actions.
The NCAA could also punish individuals, including Harbaugh (now the coach of the Los Angeles Chargers), Stalions and others. Petitti’s letter did not address that, according to sources.
The concept of a league commissioner standing up for one of his conference’s teams is not unusual. The business of any conference is aided by its programs avoiding NCAA sanctions that might affect its ability to field competitive teams.
Petitti’s position is notable in this situation because of the extremely contentious relationship between him and Michigan when allegations first broke of Stalions sending friends and family to scout future Wolverine opponents and film sideline coaching signals.
Petitti, in a Nov. 10, 2023, letter to Michigan athletics director Warde Manual, laid out the Harbaugh suspension by arguing that “the integrity of competition is the backbone of any sports conference or league.” He noted that “taking immediate action is appropriate and necessary.”
Michigan, to put it lightly, disagreed.
The school vehemently fought back, arguing that due process had not been followed, the case lacked conclusive evidence, and there was no proof that Harbaugh had knowledge of Stalions’ activities.
The university even sought an emergency temporary restraining order in Washtenaw (Michigan) County Court against the Big Ten to let Harbaugh keep coaching.
In a fiery court filing, the school claimed the Big Ten’s actions “were fraudulent, unlawful, unethical, unjustified, and per se wrongful, and were done with malice.” It further claimed the league was causing irreparable damage to the reputations of Harbaugh and the university, declaring the suspension a “flagrant breach of fundamental fairness.”
The school eventually backed down and withdrew the restraining order request, but the rift between the team and the commissioner remained as Harbaugh was benched.
The suspension became a rallying cry for Michigan players as they continued their 15-0 season. Petitti chose to not attend the Ohio State-Michigan game in Ann Arbor that season, even though it was one of the biggest games in league history. The Big Ten said Petitti was never scheduled to attend the game.
A week later, at the Big Ten title game, Michigan fans lustily booed Petitti when he presented the championship trophy to injured Wolverines player Zak Zinter (notably, not Harbaugh, despite having completed his suspension by then).
All of that appears to be behind the commissioner. To Petitti, making Michigan overcome a three-game stretch without its head coach was apparently enough of a penalty. He noted in his initial 2023 decision that the suspension was not about Harbaugh but was a way to hit the program as a whole.
“We impose this disciplinary action even though the Conference has not yet received any information indicating that Head Football Coach Harbaugh was aware of the impermissible nature of the sign-stealing scheme,” Petitti wrote. “This is not a sanction of Coach Harbaugh. It is a sanction against the University.”
He also allowed that “additional disciplinary actions may be necessary or appropriate if [the NCAA or Big Ten] receives additional information concerning the scope and knowledge of, or participation in, the impermissible scheme.”
That Petitti is now suggesting that Michigan has paid its penance suggests no such additional information has emerged.
Apparently, bygones are now bygones, even B1G ones.
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Eli Lederman
Days after landing No. 1 outside linebacker Tyler Atkinson, Texas secured its latest five-star addition Sunday when coveted rusher Derrek Cooper, ESPN’s No. 1 running back in the 2026 class, announced his commitment to the Longhorns.
Cooper, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound recruit from Chaminade-Madonna Preparatory School in Hollywood, Florida, is the seventh-ranked prospect in the 2026 ESPN 300. After an unofficial trip to Texas in April, Cooper did not officially visit the program before choosing the Longhorns over finalists Florida State, Georgia, Miami and Ohio State on Sunday night.
Cooper’s father told ESPN that the presence of Longhorns running back coach Chad Scott, who replaced former assistant Tashard Choice in February, and the all-purpose role Texas coach Steve Sarkisian laid out for Cooper in the program’s offense were leading factors in his son’s decision.
“They’ve talked about his skill set and compared his build to [former UT running back] Bijan Robinson,” Corey Cooper told ESPN. “They don’t have a running back like Derrek right now. They feel like they can do a lot with him.”
Derrek Cooper is the fourth five-star pledge in the Longhorns’ 2026 class and continues a summer recruiting tear for the Longhorns, who have added 10 ESPN 300 commits since June 1.
Cooper’s commitment comes days after Texas edged Georgia for the pledge of Atkinson — No. 14 in the 2026 ESPN 300 and the No. 1 prospect in the state of Georgia — then flipped four-star Bulldogs defensive line commit James Johnson (No. 123 overall) later in the day.
Cooper is the second-highest ranked of six top-100 recruits committed to Sarkisian’s incoming class, joining Atkinson, fellow five-star pledges Dia Bell (No. 4) and Richard Wesley (No. 11), and four-stars John Turntine III (No. 43) and Samari Matthews (No. 99).
A gifted two-way star at Chaminade-Madonna Prep, Cooper trails only fellow Texas pledge Bell — ESPN’s No. 1 quarterback in 2026 — as the second-ranked recruit in Florida this cycle.
Cooper was credited with 124 carries for 905 yards and 13 touchdowns as a junior last fall while leading Chaminade-Madonna Prep to a 1A state championship. In 2024, he added 46 total tackles and four sacks on defense, where he was a linebacker and safety.
Cooper will join a potentially crowded running back group next year with as many as five current Texas rushers eligible to return in 2026. However, with elite pass-catching ability out of the backfield, Cooper’s versatility could create early opportunities in a Longhorns offense that has routinely found clever ways to use skill position talents under Sarkisian.
“He wants to run, he wants to be able to catch the ball out of the backfield, he wants to line up at wide receiver,” Cooper’s father said. “He wants to show he has all the skills to play at the next level, and they’re going to let him do that at Texas.”
Upon Cooper’s pledge, defensive end Jake Kreul (No. 22 overall) stands as the last uncommitted player among ESPN’s 23 five-star prospects in 2026. Savion Hiter and Davian Groce, ESPN’s No. 2 and No. 4 running back prospects, respectively, are the only uncommitted running backs in the 2026 ESPN 300.
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