White Sox offseason flurry easing to a stop & other notes
/I have a smattering of thoughts that aren’t worthy of a full post’s energy.
White Sox tapped out?
It’s not an absolute perfect bellwether, but Scott Merkin’s recent piece really paints a picture of a team that’s done with its major spending for the off-season. In the end, only Scott Boras knows when any of us are done spending money, but the Sox seem self-satisfied.
On the budget, Merkin has Hahn quoted:
"We got a little bit of distance from where he wanted this thing to wind up," said Hahn of Reinsdorf. "But again, it's a combination of his own aggressiveness and the support we've received thus far and the feedback we received thus far that have made him comfortable."
That’s not just “We’re at our budget,” that “We’re overbudget and we only did it because we care too much, and God, Jerry is just so generous. Isn’t he great? How about another round of applause?”
Which, yeah, congrats on your league-average payroll in the No. 3 media market and your hopes of immediate contention before Shark’s contract expires and most of your FAs slide into convalescence. I would give the Sox more credit if they could wait five minutes before demanding it. It’s not like they tanked for five years and are suiting up Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg and a full slate of cost-controlled superstars. They’re doing a rapid rebuild and will probably need to spend over their impatience, but instead of flooring it, they’re going 10mph over the speed limit and talking about how Jerry isn’t scared of the cops.
Is Dayan staying? Does Bonifacio make this possible?
Agreeing to terms with Viciedo is not something the Sox could just put off while they continue to shop him, but agreeing to a $4.4 million deal just signifies another step closer to the streaky soon-to-be 26-year-old showing up to Spring Training, and it seems like they have made some preparation for the possibility of carrying him on the roster, even in what would have to be a limited role.
Emilio Bonifacio has an actual chance to be what I guess is the perfect world projection for Leury Garcia, where you can carry a positionless pure bat on the bench because one guy is your defensive replacement outfielder, part-time second basemen and platoon partner at third base.
The downside is the pure bat is Dayan Viciedo. We’re now used to carrying a useless extra DH on the 25-man all year now, which is both an ailment and the only thing that will give us the fortitude to survive this. It’s like the flu vaccine, if the symptoms the flu vaccine gave you lasted for six months.
Brian Anderson is here. Huh.
The prodigal son and former first-round draft pick has returned to the organization on a minor league deal, and well...
This dude is still playing? The last time this guy was getting regular playing appearances in affiliated ball was in 2009. I was in college! I was thin(ner)! This is somehow even less intriguing than Mitch Mustain pitching. It’s definitely a fun story because of his former status, and there’s no such thing as a bad minor league deal, but this is a rusty 32-year-old with no success at the MLB level. This is the last time we'll hear about him, right?
Rodon vs. Anderson
We had plenty of chatter in the email thread about Baseball Prospectus rating Tim Anderson over Carlos Rodon in their list of the White Sox top prospects, but didn’t really get into it in public, and actual smart guy Ethan Spaulding was defending it.
As Nick argued on Twitter, the only possible advantage Anderson has is a very optimistic view of his ceiling, whereas Rodon completely annihilates him in terms of proximity to majors and likelihood of reaching expectations. A disappointing end for Rodon probably still includes a significant career as a useful reliever. Anderson may never succeed in Double-A.
Boy, am I sure glad the Sox didn’t ship Anderson to Oakland if he’s secretly better than Rodon, but this a position I just can’t wrap my head around.
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