The Cubs and White Sox are both in the mix for Angels left-hander Reid Detmers, according to Russell Dorsey of Yahoo! Sports. And if the Halos are fielding calls, Detmers makes plenty of sense as one of the better controllable arms available.
Detmers’ path back to the rotation has been a strong one. He entered pro ball as a former top 10 pick, showed flashes of mid-rotation ability, then spent the early part of his career battling the kind of inconsistency that can stall a young starter. The Angels pushed him to the bullpen in 2025, but he pitched well enough to get another look in the rotation this season - and he has looked like a starter who can help a contender.
Through 21 appearances, Detmers owns a 4.05 ERA. He has struck out 28% of the hitters he’s faced and trimmed his walk rate to a career-best 7.5%.
The year has still come with some volatility, but he’s steadied himself after a rough start to July. Since the All-Star Break, two of his best outings have come against the Tigers and Cardinals, when he piled up 11 1/3 innings of one-run ball, with a JJ Wetherholt homer accounting for the lone damage.
Over that stretch, he has 13 strikeouts and just two walks.
Control is the big selling point here. Detmers and rotation mate José Soriano are both under arbitration control through 2028, and Detmers is making $2.625MM this season, with a little over $775K still owed after the deadline. That kind of cost certainty is exactly why the Angels could ask for multiple top 100 prospects in return for two and a half years of an above-average starter.
The Angels are in an unusual spot with interim general manager John Mozeliak handling the deadline, and recent reporting has suggested they’re more willing than in past years to talk about their controllable players. Detmers, Soriano and shortstop Zach Neto are viewed as their top trade candidates, and if the Angels are serious about a rebuild, moving that group could give a weak farm system a much-needed jolt.
For the Cubs, the fit is obvious. Jed Hoyer has been talking about rotation help for months, and the injuries have piled up: Cade Horton, Justin Steele, Edward Cabrera and Ben Brown are all out in an injury-riddled season.
Only Cabrera appears close to a rehab assignment. Chicago also moved on from Jameson Taillon this afternoon, leaving a four-man rotation of Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Colin Rea and David Peterson.
Detmers would slide in right behind Boyd and Imanaga near the top of that group.
The White Sox are in a different place, but the need is still real. They sit 2.5 games ahead of the Guardians in the AL Central and two games in front of the AL West-leading Rangers, giving them a legitimate shot at a first-round bye. They’ve done that with one of the less intimidating rotations on paper in the American League.
Sean Burke has been the bright spot, dominating lineups for much of the last two months and ranking third in the AL in strikeouts since June 1, behind only Cam Schlittler and Dylan Cease. Davis Martin opened the season on a two-month heater of his own, but his ERA has been close to 6.00 since the beginning of June.
Anthony Kay and Erick Fedde profile as back-end arms, while rookie Noah Schultz has not been good enough for a contending club. Schultz was inefficient again tonight against the Yankees and carries a 6.15 ERA across his first 60 big league innings.
He remains a high-end young talent, but he probably belongs back in Triple-A. José Urquidy, acquired from Pittsburgh over the weekend, is depth.
A controllable starter would fit the White Sox better than a pure rental, especially with the rebuild moving faster than expected. They’ve also been linked to Clay Holmes, who is effectively a rental because he’s expected to decline his $12MM player option, so they’re clearly not ruling out short-term help.
Still, the bigger picture points to a club that wants this to be the start of a multi-year run. Chicago could also use a high-leverage reliever and a stopgap catcher after Kyle Teel’s ankle sprain sent him to the injured list into September.
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