CHICAGO – Erick Fedde's 21st start with the White Sox, during a 6-3 loss to the Mariners Saturday night at Guaranteed Rate Field, also might be his last.

The 31-year-old right-hander, who has been one of baseball’s top stories during the 2024 season, is one of the prime trade targets for contenders from coast to coast and everywhere in between. His two-year, $15 million free-agent deal agreed upon in the offseason calls for $7.5 million in 2025, making Fedde even more appealing to interested organizations.

Getting asked by the media four or five times about trade possibilities, which already has happened for Fedde (7-4), can become a bit arduous. But for a man who went to Korea and reinvented himself in a highly successful ‘23 campaign, that interest is more a sign of individual progress.

“I try to look at it as a 180 in the career,” Fedde said. “I was sent away and now, [I’m] possibly a trade piece that people are willing to give up stuff for. If anything, I look at it as a compliment and it’s something that I hold my head high about.

“I’m glad that [general manager Chris] Getz and the White Sox took a big chance on me. Hopefully I made them proud.”

Fedde worked four innings and threw 79 pitches, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks to go with four strikeouts. It was his shortest outing of the season and culminated with the Mariners (55-51) scoring three in the fourth to erase a 1-0 lead as 2005 World Series heroes Paul Konerko and A.J. Pierzynski spoke on-air in the FOX broadcast booth.

During that turnaround campaign in Korea, Fedde threw 180 1/3 innings. Saturday’s abbreviated effort put him at 121 2/3 innings, but manager Pedro Grifol had been talking about watching his workload since just before the All-Star break.

“He had that big break, came back and threw 98 pitches [on July 22 in Texas],” Grifol said. “Today we were scheduled right around 85 and I wasn’t going to send him back out at that particular time.”

“Before the game, they talked about me having a long year already or a busy year,” Fedde said. “They said I wasn’t going to go super heavy on pitch count today and unfortunately I threw a lot of pitches in the fourth. Wanted to go back out but that was the plan and I should have thrown less.”

There have been absolutely no excuses made by Fedde since he joined the White Sox. When people named him as an All-Star snub, as an example, the veteran smiled and said while he was proud of his first half, he should have pitched a little better.

That sort of pragmatic quality is another part of the overall trade package being offered by the White Sox. Of course, those interested teams probably are most impressed by his 3.11 ERA and 108 strikeouts against 34 walks.

So, why are the White Sox trading Fedde if he’s that valuable of a commodity? It’s for the same reason they are listening to offers on Garrett Crochet, who has been one of the game’s most dominant starting pitchers in ‘24.

This team slipped to 27-80 with its 13th straight defeat, marking the second time this season it has lost 13 in a row following a 14-game losing streak from May 22 to June 6. They have an 0-9 ledger in the second half, fell to 1-18-1 in the past 20 series and are the fifth team in baseball history to lose 80-plus in its first 107 games.

Building a talented young core sustaining the future, with the trade returns they get aiding that cause, seems more important than the far-ranging potential of contending in ‘25. Second baseman Brooks Baldwin, who is part of that young core, tallied three hits Saturday, but all eyes were on Fedde with the Trade Deadline on Tuesday.

“Obviously, the thoughts are there,” Fedde said. “It’s something I’m not in control of so I’m going to keep showing up the next couple of days and go into work and whatever happens, happens.

“My friends ask, of course. Everyone’s curious. It’s just something that comes with the territory. … We’re well compensated athletes. It’s part of the job, something you just have to deal with. I’m sure lots of people have things that are uncertainties in their lives, and this is just the one that comes with ours.”