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White Sox trade rumors: John Danks still scheduled to start

Yankees and Marlins are still reportedly interested, but not strongly enough to change rotation

By Jim Margalus
Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Last July, the rumors circulating Jake Peavy approached their crescendo at the same time he was scheduled to make his next start. Instead of risking an injury or spoiling Peavy's immediate availability to an interested club, the Sox called up Andre Rienzo to make a start in Cleveland. Rienzo made his major-league debut with Peavy present, but the Bulldog switched Sox before the end of the day, and Rienzo spent the rest of the season in the major-league rotation.

That's how you'd expect a team to play it when a deal is likely. Conversely, when John Danks remains the probable starter for today's game (as of 3:30 a.m. EDT, anyway) against the Detroit Tigers, one set to take place hours before the trade deadline, deductive reasoning suggests that Danks isn't going anywhere immediately. Also, Robin Ventura used Rienzo out of the bullpen on Wednesday instead of holding out for a possible emergency start, which further bolsters that theory.

When we last looked at the Danks rumor mill, the Yankees were the primary suitor, but now there are dissenting opinions. While Jon Heyman reiterated the possibility on Wednesday afternoon ...

The Yankees and White Sox are still discussing John Danks as a trade possibility, but the latest word is the sides were still apart in terms of the package New York would send back.

... the New York Post's Joel Sherman tweeted that New York had no such interest:

If the Yankees are still interested in Danks, they may no longer be alone. Both FoxSports.com's Jon Morosi and WEEI.com's Rob Bradford have reported that the Miami Marlins have discussed trade possibilities with the Sox. Maybe Danks' contract isn't as objectionable as we're led to believe.

Star-divide

Beyond Danks, there isn't much chatter around the other White Sox tradeables. Jayson Stark made a brief reference to one of them in his Wednesday "Rumblings & Grumblings" column:

Outfield bats the Yankees have checked in on this week: Marlon Byrd and Dayan Viciedo.

That's more times than the Yankees have checked in on me, so that's something.

Gordon Beckham isn't even getting that much direct-ish press. His name is only coming up in tweets, articles and posts referring to the market's second base possibilities. Something like this:

San Francisco is the contender with the greatest need for a second baseman, but even though Grant Brisbee has seen Dan Uggla up close and personal, he still gives Beckham a D-:.

Is he worse than Uggla? No, Beckham can field. But it's not a binary decision between Beckham and Uggla. It's more of a decision between giving up a prospect and starting Beckham or starting Joe Panik and keeping the prospect. The latter is much more preferable to the former.

If the White Sox will just let the Giants have him as a glorified PTBNL in the Conor Gillaspie deal, sure, why not? If he takes anyone -- anyone -- in the top 30, there's no point.

Beckham had a five-game hitting streak interrupted by an 0-for-3 night in Detroit on Wedneday, but that hitting streak met the minimum requirements only. He went 5-for-20 over those five games, and with an OBP (.227) that's lower than his batting average (.250).

Yet those five games still qualified as a relative "tear" for Beckham, who enters the final day of July hitting .124/.146/.191 this month. He doesn't blame the rumors for his play, but he says his play has probably affected the rumors:

"I’m definitely not going to blame my struggles on the trade deadline; it is what it is," Beckham said. "It’s been a little different, but you know what, I mean, honestly, I played so bad, unfortunately, I don’t know how much of a chance the White Sox have to trade me. So, that’s the unfortunate thing for them."

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