(670 The Score) The White Sox have browsed the trade market in recent weeks seeking starting pitching help – including holding conversations around left-hander Sean Manaea before the Athletics sent him to the Padres – but nothing has worked out.
In the mind of former White Sox manager and current NBC Sports Chicago analyst Ozzie Guillen, that's a problem for the club. He believes the White Sox need at least one more starting pitcher with ace Lance Lynn set to be out until at least the end of May with a knee injury and given the makeup of the rest of the rotation.
"Yes," Guillen said when asked on the Mully & Haugh Show on Friday if the White Sox are one starter short of being a World Series contender. "We don't know how many short they are ... (Dallas) Keuchel is a key, to see how many innings he can get you, how he'll come out of the gate. (Dylan) Cease, I think right now, we already see him enough to see there's still development … Hopefully he do like a young (Jon) Garland did – go out there and give you a lot of innings, a lot of wins.
"They signed (Johnny) Cueto. He's a guy that can give you a lot because he can pitch, he can definitely pitch. He's not the same Cueto he was 10 years ago, but this guy can still pitch. But I was surprised (by the Cueto addition). We don't have anything better in the minor league system or somebody who can be called up and give them innings? It's a big question mark how Cueto is going to come out of spring training."
Guillen believes White Sox manager Tony La Russa has his work cut out for him patching innings together while Lynn is out.
"We have a lot of question marks out there," Guillen said. "This month is going to be a challenge for Tony because he knows he's a couple guys short in the bullpen and also, I think, is one guy in the starting rotation.
"If we bring Cueto up, something is wrong with the starting rotation. There's no question about it. Somebody doing the job or they're worried about how they're throwing. Would I like to see Cueto here? Yes, but I don't want him too early because that's not a good sign for a starting rotation on the White Sox."
