What It Means:

In the AL, the White Sox have the ninth best odds of making the playoffs at 6.4 percent, according to our algorithm. Despite just sitting one game below .500, they are just 27th in our MLB Power Rankings. Based on our nERD metric, which measures the number of runs a batter is contributing above a league-average hitter per game, Cespedes would be the better acquisition with a 1.51 nERD that ranks 51st among all hitters. Upton wouldn't be too shabby either with a 1.13 nERD. Both of them would provide an upgrade over Melky Cabrera (0.24 nERD) and Avisail Garcia (-0.40 nERD) as the White Sox attempt to make a playoff run in the last two months of the season.