White Sox, Pirates keep eyes on future through struggles this season

Both the Chicago White Sox and the Pittsburgh Pirates are projected to be sellers over the next two weeks leading up to the July 31 trade deadline.

As the White Sox head to Pittsburgh on Friday night, both squads still hope to finish the 2025 campaign on positive notes as they continue their respective rebuilds.

Pittsburgh left-hander Bailey Falter (6-4, 3.79 ERA) will oppose Chicago right-hander Jonathan Cannon (3-7, 4.44) in the opener of a three-game series.

Pittsburgh put together a six-game winning streak over a homestand in which it swept the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals, outscoring them by a combined 43-4 and shutting out the latter opponent in all three games.

But the Pirates followed that up with a dismal 1-8 road trip, getting swept by Seattle and Kansas City and salvaging the lone victory at Minnesota last Sunday.

Still, Pittsburgh has ace Paul Skenes in the hunt for a Cy Young Award and a general optimism in the dugout surrounding manager Don Kelly, who took over on May 8 after Derek Shelton was fired.

The Pirates already were active on the trade front during the All-Star break, dealing second baseman/outfielder Adam Frazier to the Kansas City Royals for 28-year-old minor league infielder Cam Devanney, who was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis.

"Our focus is short-term," Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said on Pittsburgh's 93.7 The Fan radio show on Sunday. "By short-term, I don't necessarily mean August of 2025. But our focus is going to be: How do we get this thing on track and be better in 2026, win more games in 2026? That's our focus in all of our decision-making."

The White Sox have the second-worst record in baseball, but they have shown signs of progress this season.

A big question surrounding the club is whether it will trade struggling center fielder Luis Robert Jr., who enters the second half hitting .190 with nine home runs and 35 RBIs in 268 at-bats. An All-Star in 2023, Robert also has 22 stolen bases this season.

Promising rookie talents such as shortstop Colson Montgomery have shown glimpses of their potential. But Montgomery has labored through some rough patches such as a recent 2-for-18 stretch at the plate. Montgomery is viewed mainly as a shortstop, but he has played a couple of games at third base as well.

"Yeah, it's definitely encouraging, and it validates the vision that we had and the work that's gone into it," White Sox general manager Chris Getz recently told reporters. "We've got a young group up here with our major league club. They're playing pretty well."

Although he has the best record among Pirates starters, Falter has struggled of late, allowing a combined five home runs over 10 1/3 innings in his past two starts.

Falter lost his lone career start against the White Sox on April 18, 2023, although he held Chicago to three runs on three hits and three walks while striking out three over seven innings.

Cannon struck out five and allowed two runs on three hits and three walks, not factoring into the decision in his most recent start July 11 at home against Cleveland.

He lost his lone career start against Pittsburgh, allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out four over six innings on July 12, 2024.

--Field Level Media