With the Chicago White Sox coming off a down year in which they posted a 73-89 record and finished fourth in the American League Central. That said, this offseason could very well be the starting point of a long rebuilding period for a team that won't contend next season. They have lots of trade chips that can attract interest from other teams, but the likelihood of them getting traded is not very high, due to the fact that they will not get much in return for them.

One player that people need to keep an eye on this offseason is left-handed starting pitcher John Danks. According to the Sunday Baseball Notes Section by Nick Carfado of the Boston Globe, the White Sox would "love" to trade John Danks this offseason, but what is holding them back is his large contract and the money remaining on it. They believe it is going to be very tough to move a guy with two-years, $28.5 million left on his deal. 

Now, obviously, the only way that the White Sox will be able to trade away Danks is if they can somehow eat up most of his $28.5 million contract. Even if Chicago were willing to take on a significant portion of the 29-year-old's contract, teams may shy away from Danks because of his drop in velocity on his fastball. According to PitchFX on FanGraphs.com, Danks' fastball velocity has dropped from 89.2 mph in 2013 to 88.5 mph in 2014, and has dropped all the way down from 90.1 mph back in 2012, totaling to a 1.6 mph drop-off from 2012 to 2014.

In 32 starts in 2014, Danks recorded a 11-11 record, along with a 4.74 ERA in 193 and 2/3 innings pitched. During the 2014 campaign, he posted a 4.76 FIP, 82 ERA+, 129-to-74 strikeout-to-walk ratio, 42.3% ground ball rate and a 0.8 WAR.

Two teams that could maybe make a run at trying to acquire the left-hander are the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins. The two ball clubs were rumored to have interest in trading for Danks before the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline. As one can already understand, neither team made enough progress to make a deal, as Danks stayed with Chicago throughout the rest of the season.