According to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com, the Chicago White Sox put John Danks (among others) on waivers. While this may not mean that the White Sox are legitimately interested in trading Danks, the act of putting him on waivers means they are at least looking into it.
On Tuesday, I posted an article outlining 10 starting pitchers the Cleveland Indians could look into adding. I didn't include Danks because he wasn't on waivers at the time.
Most of the options in the article weren't very good, but there were a few gems (Wandy Rodriguez, Chris Capuano, Tom Gorzelanny). With Wandy staying in Houston, Danks becomes the best option out there.
I doubt the White Sox would trade Danks to the Indians, but with the Indians sixth in the waiver order (behind Baltimore, Kansas City, Minnesota, Seattle and Oakland), they should definitely make an effort at it. Few pitchers this young and talented become available.
Danks is only 26 years old and has put together a very solid start to his career. In five seasons, Danks has a 3.95 ERA (114 ERA+), 4.13 FIP, 4.18 xFIP, 6.99 SO/9, 2.98 BB/9, 2.35 SO:BB and, including this year, four straight seasons over a 2.0 WAR. Not many pitchers are able to start their careers at such furious pace.
While 2011 has been rough on Danks, his 3.88 ERA (107 ERA+), 3.99 FIP, 3.77 xFIP, 1.315 WHIP, 7.07 SO/9, 2.52 BB/9, 2.81 SO:BB and 2.1 WAR paint a picture of a pitcher still improving upon a torrid start. Since Danks is only 26, it's only normal that he'd still be improving.
There are obviously many reasons to be high on Danks, and yet his name has repeatedly shown up in trade rumors (here, here and here are three good places to start). Where there's smoke there's fire. At some point, it would seem the White Sox just might go through with trading Danks.
While Danks would command a fairly good return, the makeup of the Indians' rotation with him is downright scary. I still believe that Ubaldo Jimenez will round back into form (he owns a 4.88 ERA in 2011, but a significantly lower 3.71 FIP and 3.62 xFIP) and become the real ace of the staff. Assuming that, check out what the Indians rotation could look like (age in 2012 in parenthesis):
Ubaldo Jimenez (28)
John Danks (27)
Justin Masterson (27)
Josh Tomlin (27)
Carlos Carrasco (25)
That list assumes that Fausto Carmona isn't brought back (he'll only be 28, but he has fallen off) or any of the Indians' younger pitchers (Jeanmar Gomez (24), Zach McAllister (24), David Huff (27)).
Sure, Carrasco, Gomez, McAllister and Huff aren't sure things and Carmona is far from a consistent contributor, but the Jimenez/Danks/Masterson/Tomlin is a great four-man rotation. Combined with this starting lineup for next year, the Indians could easily be AL Central favorites:
C Carlos Santana
2B Jason Kipnis
SS Asdrubal Cabrera
3B Lonnie Chisenhall
LF Michael Brantley
CF Grady Sizemore
RF Shin-Soo Choo
DH Travis Hafner
The Tribe will have to decide whether they trust Matt LaPorta with the first base job and do general bullpen maintenance, but with John Danks, the Indians will have a very solid base for 2012.
Like I said earlier, I think it's very unlikely that the White Sox will trade Danks to the Indians, but that doesn't mean that the Tribe shouldn't make a concerted effort. Even if it costs two high-ish prospects, having John Danks in the starting rotation with Jimenez and Masterson might just be enough to put the Indians over the top.
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