I realize I'm in the minority, but I believe that Chone Figgins (right) is NOT the cure for what ails the White Sox. The Los Angeles Angels leadoff man will be a free agent at the end of the season, and I've heard plenty of speculation that Sox GM Kenny Williams will put on the fullcourt press to try to acquire him.
The Tribune's David Haugh brought up the possibility in his column today. Haugh points out that the Sox will need to find $40 million to sign Figgins.
On this blog, we will not be getting "Figgy" with it. I can't justify giving Figgins $40 million over a four- or five-year period, especially with the knowledge that the speedster with be 32 years old on Opening Day 2010. NEVER give a long-term contract to a 30-something player that makes his living with his legs.
Let's look at some numbers here, comparing Figgins to current White Sox leadoff man Scott Podsednik:
Figgins: .301 avg., .399 OBP, 5 HRs, 51 RBIs, 109 runs, 42 SBs
Podsednik: .303 avg., .353 OBP, 6 HRs, 45 RBIs, 72 runs, 29 SBs
Is Figgins the better player? Sure. But is the difference between those two stat lines enough to send Podsednik packing and bring in Figgins? The answer here is a decisive 'no.'
Podsednik, who is two years older than Figgins, is the better value because you can sign him to a minimal-risk contract of one or two years. Give Pods $2 million and be done with it. There's going to be a big bidding war for Figgins among big-market teams that are lacking a leadoff man. The Cubs and Yankees will be involved, and certainly the Angels will move to try to retain Figgins. The price will be high, both in terms of dollars and years.
Stay out of it, Kenny Williams. You have bigger problems than your leadoff hitter. The biggest problem is the middle of the batting order. The Sox have only three players with more than 70 RBIs this season. One of them was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 31. Another is hitting .180 since the All-Star break.
That leaves Paul Konerko, who has 28 homers and 87 RBIs this year, and not much else. A.J. Pierzynski is batting third now when he should be hitting sixth or seventh. Alexei Ramirez has been hitting as high as fifth against left-handed pitching. He should be batting eighth or ninth. The failures of Jermaine Dye, Carlos Quentin and Alex Rios, along with the trade of Jim Thome, have necessitated a lot of lineup juggling. It just hasn't worked. The middle of the order isn't nearly strong enough.
Contrary to popular belief, the Sox don't need table-setters. They have Podsednik, Chris Getz and Gordon Beckham. Ramirez is another guy who can run. You've got guys who can be threats on the bases. What you don't have is somebody to knock them in.
Forget about Figgins and get a guy who can bat fourth or fifth in the lineup and give you 90-100 RBIs.
I agree, I'd like however, would be the Sox to sign Akinori Iwamura to play 3B (moves Beckham back to 2B) and lead off.
Such a move would not solve the weakness in the middle of the batting order, however.
Kenny may have to look for a middle-of-the-order hitter via trade. I don't think I would count on BOTH Quentin AND Rios bouncing back. They need some help offensively. Their rotation is set, but the bats and the bullpen are question marks.
BTW, Iwamura has a $4.25 million club option. We'll see what the Rays think of him at the end of the season.
Granted we do need power up the middle as well. I think both can rebound nicely, if both can bat .270+ I'd be satisfied, but obviously Carlos needs to hit home runs too, I don't expect Rios to be much of a power hitter (since he really hasn't been one his career) I like Rios in the 6th slot, I think his speed will be useful down in the lower order myself and I suspect TCQ will hit third and Konerko fifth, and since both are righties, I'd expect a left handed power hitter to be the clean up man. And as you said, it will probably be by trade.
Granted he has that option, but IIRC, he's missed most of this year. So could be a concern of both Tampa and a team interested in him.
Offensively, he isn't much of an upgrade over Getz. Although he can run, he's not a basestealer. The main reason to acquire a player such as Iwamura would be to upgrade the infield defense. He's good with the glove, but he's not any better as a leadoff guy than Pods, IMO.
Noted. I wasn't aware that he wasn't quite the base stealer, I only thought he was a good fit because IIRC, TB was using him as a lead-off man for sometime.
But back to the topic. Jason, do you have any thoughts/ideals on whom the Sox will/should try to get?
I'd go after a different Angel: Bobby Abreu.
You'd add a left-handed bat to the middle of the order, someone who can knock in runs. The Sox can probably get him for just two years, three at most. A couple years from now, Danks the Younger and Mitchell should be ready to step into the outfield. Abreu's the ideal short-term solution. You don't want to give an outfielder four or five years right now, but you do need a stopgap. I think Abreu is the best fit.
Of course, there's always the trade route. People talk about Crawford, but I still think that's a little far-fetched. It would probably take Jenks and some combination of Danks, Flowers and Hudson. That would be a high price to pay.
I think this off season KW needs to go for 3 things:
Lead off man, LH Middle of the order bat and work on the Bullpen.
First off, I don't really trust Podsednik to come back and be the team MVP he's been this year. I think KW will go out and get Juan Pierre to play LF (which would allow TCQ to play right). He's the Dodgers 4th OF ever since Manny came to LA and I think the Sox could pick him up on the cheap maybe even for a Minor Leaguer and some cash.
Second, I agree with signing Abreu for a 2 year deal. I think he is the Left handed bat the Sox can slide in between Quentin and Konerko. He has a high OBP, steals bases and dosn't have the home run or nothing mentality to him. And since he can play RF, him and Quentin can rotate the DH around from time to time to rest, since The Sox have stated that they want to use the DH as a rotation of fielders to give them the day off.
Next the bullpen. I think Jenks has pitched his last pitch in a White Sox uniform, I think they either don't pick him back up or they give him arbitration just to trade him, but regardless of how each happen, I want the Sox to sign Jose Valverde to be our closer. Thornton has been very dominating this season, but I'd like to see him as a set up man, I think that with a Thornton-Valverde 8th and 9th the Sox should be able to secure leads. Now this leaves us without a left hander for the pen, another arm on the market is Darren Oliver, he is usually a long relief pitcher, but with his age I think he wouldn't object to only pitching an inning or two an outing if that's so what the Sox need him for. I also see Garcia as the 5th starter next season so with that in mind, I'd keep Hudson and Torres in AAA to be starters to keep them sharp. This would give us a pen of Valverde (CL), Thornton (SU), Linebrink (SU), Pena (RHP), Carasco (Long Relief) and Oliver (LHP)
I am not worried about the rotation of all, even with Colon and Contreras fiasco's the Sox still have the most quality starts in the American League. So adding Peavy to that mix can only make it better. So despite what Timberwolf says, I hardly think the rotation is "Over rated".
The bench I think is fine as is. Castro as back up (I think Flowers should stay at AAA to be a starter to work on his D and get MLB ready, or at least even more so). Kotsay, Podsednik (for pinch running), Nix and Lillibridge.
If the Sox can do these moves or moves with similar type players I think the Sox can really be the team to beat in the AL in 2010.
There are some musts, if and buts though, he have to hope none of the big four starters get injured or have a down year, each can win 15 easily with a balanced and producing line up and a solid pen. We have to hope Quentin comes back and puts up have way decent numners (.270+ avg, 30+ HR and 80+ RBI). And finally, we have to hope Rios gets his act back together. Despite what most say, I honestly think this is just a bad year for Rios. We need Alex to step up and hit need his career average and steal some bases. I think he would thrive in the 6th hole to give us speed lower in the line up, and if Pierzynski can bat around .300 again next season, its like having a lead off man and no. 2 hitter in our line up twice. We have to hope Beckham doesn't have a sophomore slump and continue to produce in the 2 hole. Sure, there is a lot of ifs and/or buts in that, but compared to the rest of the division, I like our chances.
I don't think they are going to retain Podsednik as a fourth outfielder. He's batting over .300 this year. He will have a starting job somewhere, if not with the Sox. I'd stay away from Pierre. He's another guy who isn't significantly better than Pods, but will cost much more. He's got a terrible contract. Might as well keep Pods as a cheap-in house option and spend money to fix the bullpen.
The bullpen is a huge area of need, and for that reason, I'd be a little surprised if they trade Jenks. I wouldn't be opposed to moving Bobby, but it all comes down to what you're going to get in return. Jenks is coming off a tough year, so his value isn't quite as high now as it would have been last offseason. He might be more valuable to the Sox than he would be in a trade.
I would cut Castro and use Flowers as a backup catcher/DH next season. I think Tyler's bat is ready for the major leagues right now. He doesn't need anymore ABs in Charlotte. He needs to learn American League hitters and learn how to handle a MLB pitching staff. I think a one-year apprenticeship as A.J.'s backup will be more beneficial to him than another season in AAA.