The White Sox and Cubs are among the teams that have shown interest in Angels starter Reid Detmers, reports Russell Dorsey of Yahoo! Sports. The Halos have surely gotten calls from most contenders about the southpaw, one of the best controllable arms on the market.
Detmers has made a strong return to the starting five. A former top 10 pick, he flashed mid-rotation upside but battled inconsistency over his first few years. The Halos moved Detmers to the bullpen in 2025. He pitched well enough to earn another rotation look this season and has performed as a playoff-caliber starter.
The southpaw has a 4.05 earned run average across 21 appearances. Detmers has fanned 28% of opponents while limiting his walks to a career-best 7.5% clip. The performance has still been a little up and down throughout the year, but he’s rebounded from a shaky start to July with two of his best outings coming out of the All-Star Break. Detmers has combined for 11 1/3 frames of one-run ball (a JJ Wetherholt homer) against the Tigers and Cardinals in the second half. He has recorded 13 punchouts against two walks.
Detmers and rotation mate José Soriano are both under arbitration control through the 2028 season. The former is playing on a $2.625MM salary, a little over $775K of which will be owed after the deadline.
The Angels could seek multiple top 100 prospects to part with two and a half years of very affordable control over an above-average starter. They’re in an odd spot with interim general manager John Mozeliak running their deadline, but recent reporting suggests they’re more open to conversations on their controllable players than they’d been in prior years. The aforementioned two starters and shortstop Zach Neto would be their top trade candidates and could rejuvenate a weak farm system if the Halos are truly open to a rebuild.
Both Chicago teams are obvious fits to add a starter. Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has talked about their rotation need for months. They’re without Cade Horton, Justin Steele, Edward Cabrera and Ben Brown in an injury-riddled year. Only Cabrera seems close to a rehab stint. The Cubs moved on from Jameson Taillon this afternoon and have a four-man rotation of Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Colin Rea and David Peterson. Detmers would slot alongside Boyd and Imanaga among their top three starters.
The White Sox hold a 2.5 game edge over the Guardians in the AL Central. They’re also two games ahead of the AL West-leading Rangers, which gives them a legitimate chance to secure a first-round bye. They’ve succeeded despite one of the less imposing on-paper rotations in the American League.
Sean Burke has carved up opposing lineups for the better part of two months, ranking third in the AL in strikeouts since June 1 behind only Cam Schlittler and Dylan Cease. Davis Martin had his own excellent two-month run to begin the season but has an ERA close to 6.00 since the beginning of June.
Anthony Kay and Erick Fedde are back-end starters, while rookie Noah Schultz simply hasn’t been good enough for a contending team. Schultz had another inefficient outing tonight against the Yankees and has a 6.15 ERA across his first 60 big league innings. He’s a high-end young talent but should probably be back in Triple-A. José Urquidy, acquired from Pittsburgh over the weekend, is a depth arm.
A controllable starter would be ideal for the Sox, who are ahead of schedule in the rebuild and probably don’t want to leverage too much young talent for rentals. They have been linked to Clay Holmes, who is essentially a rental given the expectation that he’ll decline his $12MM player option. That suggests they’re not closing the door on impending free agents, but they’re surely hoping this is the beginning of a multi-year window. The Sox could also use a high-leverage reliever and a stopgap catcher after losing Kyle Teel to an ankle sprain that’ll sideline him into September.
