posted on Thursday, November 20, 2008 9:36 PM
by
Jim
White Sox to sign Viciedo (updated)
So sayeth Phil Rogers:
According to major-league
sources, the Sox have reached an agreement with 19-year-old third
baseman Dayan Viciedo, who was declared a free agent a week ago.
Viciedo
reportedly will receive a major-league contract worth about $11
million. That’s more than twice the size of the deal that brought
Alexei Ramirez to the White Sox last season, and Ramirez was second in
American League Rookie of the Year voting last season.
It's hard to see how this is a bad deal if the Sox have control over him for six seasons with full arbitration rights. He's not going to be blocking anybody if he starts the year in Triple-A at either corner infield position. The Sox don't have any power-hitting prospects outside of Brandon Allen, and even he's pretty sketchy considering last year was his first quality season in pro ball.
And if Josh Fields happens to be somebody worth holding onto, the Sox will have an opening at first when Jim Thome's contract expires for either Fields or Viciedo. Fields could also go back to a corner outfield spot if Jermaine Dye is no longer around. There are options to be had, and he provides nice insurance if Fields doesn't rebound.
There's also the possibility that Fields is traded before the offseason is over, and considering how swiftly Nick Swisher was sent packing, I suppose we shouldn't count out another guy traded at the nadir of his career.
Here's
the Baseball America scouting report from a couple weeks ago, if your memory needs to be refreshed. Also, the Cheat has
a good breakdown of the actual contractual possibilities.
************************
So Viciedo will join the 40-man roster, which
the Sox added four other names to today:
Santeliz is the only real headscratcher. His numbers don't indicate anything phenomenal, whether it's control, ability to strike guys out, get grounders or keep the ball in the park. All of it spells mediocrity, and he just was converted into a reliever toward the end of last season.
I first thought I heard a lot of good things about Santeliz, but then I realized all of them came from Baseball America, which meant they all came from Rogers. He said in the recent chat:
But the guy I think we could get there fairly quick if he
turns it around is Clevelan Santeliz, who definitely has big-league
stuff. He's pitching in Venezuela for the second year in a row, which
is a good sign, and has hinted that he could come fast, either as a
starter or, more likely, a reliever.
It's not like I have sources better than Rogers' or anything, but it wouldn't be the first time he grew too attached to an utterly unremarkable pitcher (see Phillips, Heath).
The 40-man roster now stands at 37, and Viciedo will make it 38.