Five trade targets from the Chicago White Sox for the Colorado Rockies

Chicago White Sox reliever Aaron Bummer is another great fit for the Colorado Rockies

Like José Abreu, Aaron Bummer would be a great fit for the Colorado Rockies but the Chicago White Sox are unlikely to give up their reliever unless it’s for a big haul.

In 2021, Bummer appeared in 62 regular season games with an ERA of 3.51. He had a FIP of 2.96, an ERA+ of 124, and struck out 12 per nine innings. His biggest issue was his walk rate, which was 4.6 per nine innings.

Bummer, 28, is entering the third year of a five-year extension and he has two team options at the end of that so he would take a lot to get but for the Rockies, he would be valuable in two ways.

First off, he’s a lefty and the Rockies have Lucas Gilbreath and Ben Bowden as their left-handed bullpen options entering 2022. Both of them have not even played a full season in the majors.

Secondly, he’s the best groundball pitcher in baseball. According to FanGraphs, among relievers with at least 100 innings pitched since 2019, Bummer has by far the highest rate. His staggering 73.5 percent groundball rate is 8.5 percent above the next highest reliever in Clay Holmes, who was on our trade target for the New York Yankees.

For comparison, Antonio Senzatela’s 52.1 groundball percentage since 2019 is best on the Rockies and 6th-highest among starters with at least 300 innings pitched. Bummer’s groundball rate is 21 percent higher than Senzatela’s.

Which leads us to our last pitcher …