White Sox can win AL Central by trading for rival's pitcher with 8-pitch mix

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The Chicago White Sox themselves may have expected this, but the rest of baseball probably didn't.

These White Sox, after a couple of seasons of being historically bad, are in contention to win the AL Central Division.

That's going to make this a very different summer for the White Sox, who will have the chance to be buyers ahead of the trade deadline instead of sellers.

One place they could look is the division rival Kansas City Royals, who may wind up being sellers, and have a fascinating pitcher who could help Chicago.

Seth Lugo, who throws eight different pitches, could be available, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel.

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The ESPN duo names the White Sox as one of the "best fits" to get Lugo in a trade.

The White Sox would also benefit from the fact that Lugo has another year on his contract after this one, so it's not a total rental.

"Like Wacha, Lugo is who he is: a mid-rotation arm on a sensible contract," Passan and McDaniel write. "He isn't going to headline a playoff rotation. He'll take the ball, throw a dozen different pitch types and keep you in the game. Enough teams can use that sort of stabilizer that he'll have a market -- and Kansas City, which has solid starting pitching depth, could do worse than cashing in if the prices on pitching skyrocket with so many teams in contention."

Lugo used to be a star relief pitcher for the New York Mets, but his move to starting has gone off mostly without a hitch, and he has the type of arsenal that should age gracefully.

The White Sox might not love trading away someone young and talented within the division, but if they believe in Lugo enough, it could be worth it during this surprisingly strong season.

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