Are the White Sox buyers or sellers at the trade deadline? So far, I'd say they are sellers, but who the hell really knows?
The Sox traded starting pitcher Edwin Jackson and utility man Mark Teahen to the Toronto Blue Jays Wednesday in exchange for relief pitcher Jason Frasor and minor-league pitcher Zach Stewart. Let's examine the pluses and minuses of this trade, shall we?
First and foremost, this trade is about money. Jackson is making $8 million this season. He will be a free agent next winter. Scott Boras is his agent, so there was zero chance he would be back with the Sox in 2012. The Sox have been going with a six-man rotation for much of the season. They wanted to get rid of one of them to save some money, and Jackson was the easiest choice.
Teahen was scheduled to make $5.5 million in 2012. He's been a complete bust, and the Sox were eager to move that salary to anyone who would take him.
Here's the disappointing part: Sox GM Kenny Williams reduced Jackson's value by giving Teahen to Toronto. If he had traded Jackson on his own, he could have gotten a better player(s) in return. But Williams was under orders to shed salary, so gaining financial relief was a far greater priority than maximizing a return on Jackson. Williams could have asked Toronto to give him a good prospect for Jackson. Instead, he asked Toronto to take Teahen's bad contract off his hands. The Blue Jays obliged.
So, the Sox didn't get a great return in this deal, but Frasor is not a bad pickup in the short term. Right now, the Sox are overworking Jesse Crain in the set-up relief role. Crain has made a team-high 46 appearances and thrown 46 innings already this season. That's a lot. Now, the Sox have another proven right-handed reliever to help Crain for the rest of the season. Frasor has a solid 2.98 ERA in 44 appearances this year. These two can share the load setting up closer Sergio Santos.
As for Stewart, he's being sold to the Sox fan base as a guy who could step into the rotation shortly. Not so sure about that. He's a former third-round pick of the Cincinnati Reds in 2008, but he has been pitching at Double-A this year after previously pitching at Triple-A. I'm not sold on a soon-to-be-25-year-old with an ERA over four in Double-A. Sounds like a new project for pitching coach Don Cooper.
I think a lot of Sox fans were galled when Toronto turned around and flipped Jackson to St. Louis as a centerpiece of a trade that brought young outfielder Colby Rasmus to the Blue Jays.
Rasmus has struggled all season with the Cardinals, but he's a young position player with upside who could be a cornerstone player. I'm not a big Rasmus fan personally, but if you have to trade an Edwin Jackson, you'd rather deal him for an everyday player than a middle reliever. The day's events have left a number of people asking, "Why didn't the Sox send Jackson to St. Louis for Rasmus? That's what Toronto did..."
Well, I think it came down to the Cardinals wanting left-handed relief help in addition to Jackson. The White Sox didn't have a match for them. St. Louis, I'm sure, asked about Chris Sale. Williams wasn't going to give Sale up, but it was rumored he offered Matt Thornton to the Cardinals.
St. Louis wasn't going to take Thornton, plain and simple, because Thornton is owed $11 million over the next two years. In addition, he has an option for $6 million with a $1 million buyout for the 2014 season. So, any team that acquires Thornton is assuming, at minimum, an $12 million financial commitment.
The Cardinals need to save every penny possible to try to retain free-agent-to-be Albert Pujols this winter. They needed a cheaper option than Thornton. Like Sale, for example. The Sox said no, so the Blue Jays entered the fray as the third team. They ended up with Rasmus, and the Cardinals are getting lefty reliever Marc Rzepczynski from the Jays.
At the end of the day, the Sox have a weaker roster to show for their efforts. Teahen is no loss, but I'd rather have Jackson than either Frasor or Stewart.
About the only good news? The Sox announced that loafing, slumping, lazy center fielder Alex Rios would be "taking a back seat." Alejandro De Aza was called up from Triple-A to play center field, and he hit a two-run homer in the Sox 2-1 win over the Detroit Tigers Wednesday.
Sitting Rios' sorry ass down was a move that was long overdue, so perhaps that is the one silver lining in Wednesday's roster moves.
I agree that the only good to come from Wednesday's moves is that Rios and his average in the low .200s are now warming the bench. I've tried to be patient with him all season, but reached my breaking point with him on Monday night when I witnessed one of his many dropped/misplayed fly balls in person. That dude is beyond awful this season!
I hope this "benching" of Rios lasts for more than one game. We've seen Ozzie sit guys down before, only to trot them right back out there the very next game. He shouldn't play Rios for at least a week, just to show he's serious.
Maybe some guys on this roster have gotten a little too comfortable, knowing they've got their guaranteed $$$$ and won't be held accountable for failures. Rios is by far the biggest culprit in that regard, and it's long past due that he have his playing time taken away. He and Dunn have had four months to get their excrement together, and it's not fair to those on the team who are playing well to have these underperformers dragging everyone down with them.
Rios is probably the first guy to man right field if the Sox ship Quentin out of town. Maybe for another reliever who can help marginally advance the organizational goal of winning every game 2-1.
I might have to cancel my tickets if he trades Quentin for more middle relief. That would be terrible.
They should get a nice return for Quentin. They don't have to trade him, but if KW is smart, he'll try to get Philadelphia and Atlanta bidding against each other.
If you don't get what you want, you walk away and hold on to Quentin.
Quentin is very unlike Jackson in that there is absolutely no pressure to move him. That is unless there really is more need to lower payroll than we know about.
The Sox might even get the best deal for Quentin now, rather than in the offseason. But it's a tough sell to say they're going to stay in the race with an OF of Pierre, De Aza, Rios most day, even with Viciedo on the way. We'll also still see way too much Lillibridge.
I don't think they will stay in the race if they move Quentin. But I'm not going to be filled with despair if they punt on this year and get ready for 2012. They haven't seen the sunny side of .500 since April. I can't blame management if they decide to change direction. Hell, I've been calling for them to make changes for months.
Speaking of seeing too much of somebody, why do I get the feeling we're gonna see way too much Vizquel the last two months? I feel a Vizquel-Morel platoon at 3B coming on. Ozzie falls in love with his declining veterans too much.
I'm already sick of Vizquel. His arm looks so bad at times that he's maybe only good filling in at 2B, which makes him a crappy utility infielder.
Maybe after the Sox send Quentin away for that reliever they can stick Dunn in RF. Then Vizquel can continue the slow march to 2,850 hits as the team's DH the last two months.