Chicago White Sox starter Lance Lynn hears trade rumors as deadline nears: ‘Wherever you go, you go do your job’

Lance Lynn described Wednesday as unique.

“I know when you wake up at 8 a.m. and everyone thinks you’ve been traded to three different teams, it’s different,” the Chicago White Sox starter said Thursday afternoon.

Various reports popped up with the Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers and Texas Rangers among the teams pursuing the right-hander.

“When you wake up and there are three different teams you’ve supposedly been traded to, that’s the world we live in now,” Lynn said. “News gets out that’s not true. Next thing you know you just have to answer questions about it.”

Lynn carried on and was on the mound that evening for the City Series game against the Cubs at Guaranteed Rate Field.

“There’s been no communication, nobody told me that anything’s close or anything like that, so you’ve just got to go pitch,” Lynn said.

Lynn allowed seven runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks in 4 ⅔ innings in the 10-7 loss. Now he awaits what’s next.

“Everyone around the league is telling me I’m gone,” Lynn said. “But I’ve yet to hear anything from anybody here, so you never know.”

Many expect the Sox to be actively selling as Tuesday’s trade deadline nears. They dealt starter Lucas Giolito and reliever Reynaldo López to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday.

“Lucas and Lopey have been awesome,” Lynn said. “Obviously when teammates start getting traded away, that means you didn’t do your job as a group so they’re the first two to go because as a group we didn’t do what we’re capable of, and it sounds like there might be some more to go. That’s to do with lack of winning for us as a group.”

The Sox lost their sixth straight Thursday, falling 6-3 to the Cleveland Guardians at Guaranteed Rate Field. They are a season-worst 22 games under .500 at 41-63.

Lynn summarized the season as “underachievement.”

“There’s no other way to say it,” he said. “Look at what we did in ‘21, we were able to make the playoffs. We didn’t have a deep run, but you saw the start of something. Last year, going .500, and this year, it kept trending in the wrong direction. All in all, it hasn’t been what we wanted it to be, there’s no other way to say it.”

He said there wasn’t a particular rhyme or reason why it’s turned out this way.

“You’re looking at, for us, you have injuries, you have guys learning new positions, all these things just to try to figure it out,” Lynn said. “Usually injuries are the reason why guys have to play out of position and stuff like that. When it’s all said and done, that’s tough for guys. Learning new positions at the big-league level, it’s never good.

“But we’ve got guys that are talented enough to do all that, and they’ve made the best of those situations. It just hasn’t been able to put the whole group on the field for the last two years, and injuries have a lot to do with it. They bit us pretty hard where we could never really get going.”

Lynn is 6-9 with a 6.47 ERA and 144 strikeouts in 21 starts. He’s tied for seventh in the majors in strikeouts but has allowed a MLB-high 28 home runs.

“I’m better in some ways, but I’ve had some mistakes that I’m not getting away with,” he said. “I’ve got to do a better job of making pitches when I need to and not giving up the big hit or the multiple-run inning, which I have done that here as of late for sure. Stuff’s still there, figure out how to make it there more and the other stuff way less.”

A 12-year veteran, Lynn has been through the trade speculation a time or two.

“In the past I’ve had a little bit more communication, knowing what’s going on, knowing what might happen,” Lynn said. “This is one of those things you just prepare for it, you know it’s a business. Wherever you go, you go do your job.

“I’ve asked to communicate with everybody. When you play long enough in this game, you just assume that you’re going to be kept in the loop of what things might happen.”

Asked if he’s willing to waive his no-trade clause if one of the reported 10 teams on that list becomes a potential destination, Lynn said: “When it’s all said and done, if they have a deal that they like to one of those teams, they can come ask me to waive it. And as I’ve already mentioned, if it’s a team that’s got a chance to win, that’s what I’m about.”

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