Dunning
Jun 20, 2015; Omaha, NE, USA; Florida Gators pitcher Dane Dunning (3) throws against the Virginia Cavaliers in the first inning at the 2015 College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

Former Gator Dane Dunning Traded to Texas

In case you missed it: the Chicago White Sox traded RHP Dane Dunning and prospect Avery Weems for frontline starter Lance Lynn.

In other words: a major trade in Major League Baseball.

As reactions continue to pour in, Rangers and White Sox fans have begun speculating which team won the trade.

Trade Winner: Texas Rangers?

  • Dunning, a former Gator who will turn 26 later this month, is the main prize in the Rangers’ pickup.
  • Chicago originally acquired Dunning (along with Giolito and Lopez) from the Nationals for outfielder Adam Eaton in December 2016.
  • Dunning is also an ex-top 100 prospect who is coming off an encouraging debut with the White Sox.

  • He missed all of 2019 due to a torn UCL that necessitated Tommy John surgery during spring training of 2019, per Lone Star Ball.
  • Though Dunning didn’t pitch in the minors in 2020, he had 7 major league starts in the 2020 regular season, as well as facing four batters as the starting pitcher in Chicago’s Game 3 Wild Card Game against the Oakland A’s.
  • The Rangers also have high hopes for the 23-year-old Weems, a 2019 sixth-rounder who threw 60 1/3 innings in rookie ball that year, per MLB Trade Rumors. He’ll give the Rangers another fairly polished college arm to add to their ranks.

Trade Winners: White Sox?

  • The White Sox have been looking for a starting pitcher, and they landed what some would consider the best of the best in Lance Lynn.
  • Nevertheless, fans can’t seem to wrap their head around the rationale for giving up Dunning for Lynn.

  • Some fans project that this aggressive move was meant to indicate Chicago’s intention to win as soon as possible.
  • Other fans, those who are tempering their emotions, consider the trade to be a high cost but one the White Sox needed to take in order to have landed a quality SP2.

About Olachi Ihekwaba

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