Media members lined the dugout wall, noting the conspicuous absence of Willson Contreras and Ian Happ. It was Jed Hoyer on the line letting him know he’d been traded to the Mets in a deal netting the team pitching prospect Saúl González. Minutes later, he’d get back on the phone and take a slow, calm walk back to the dugout and into the clubhouse. Reliever Mychal Givens checked his phone, put it away after a quick conversation then started getting his arm warm. Most of the Cubs roster spilled onto the field, pitchers working in the outfield grass and position players taking grounders and batting practice on the dirt. It was a strange scene early Tuesday evening at Busch Stadium as the clock ticked closer to the 5 p.m. It’s not what it needs to be, but that’s a 103 wRC+ (three percent above league average total offense). He flatly described his work this year as “below average,” a few days earlier, though after cranking his ninth home run of the season the night after the Sox did nothing to supplant him as a right field/DH option against right-handed pitching, Sheets is hitting. It probably grates less on Gavin Sheets, who has spoken since spring training with clarity about his role in balancing out the White Sox lineup with left-handed power. It could surely grate on the Sox that Joc Pederson - their righty-mashing white whale - remains in San Francisco on an expiring deal, for a Giants team the Sox have scouted in recent weeks as it dipped further out of the playoff race. I was a little surprised some expiring contracts didn’t move. “This wasn’t a reflection on any individual club, everybody knows their own situation. “I was a little surprised that in the end,” Hahn said. There were a number of rental players dealt at this season’s deadline who would have deepened the White Sox lineup or bullpen, but in summing up how Tuesday went by with nothing more added, general manager Rick Hahn spoke like someone who counted on there being a larger market of options.
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