More than 15 years ago, a teenage Gio González impressed White Sox brass enough by dominating Miami-area high school hitters with an already above-average curveball that they selected him 38th in the 2004 draft. While his stuff was mature, the White Sox front office saw some shaky command that would delay his arrival to the majors, which is how González wound up getting traded away twice (in 2006 for Jim Thome and 2008 for Nick Swisher) in win-now moves.



González was packaged with Aaron Rowand and sent to the Phillies in the first deal, which is hard to criticize because it brought back Thome — though Rowand’s best year wound up occurring elsewhere. Chicago reacquired González from the Phillies, along with Gavin Floyd, in exchange for Freddy Garcia in the second trade, which was an under-the-radar coup for then-GM Kenny Williams. The third deal in 2008 sent González to the A’s, where he led the league in walks in 2011. He...