It became clear over the Winter Meetings that, if the White Sox wanted to add a veteran bullpen arm, signing a guy like J.J. Putz would be the only way to go.
The Cubs may have set the tone when they signed John Grabow and his inflated walk rate for two years and $7.5 million. LaTroy Hawkins received the same deal, and Brandon Lyon then topped them all with three years and $15 million from the Houston Astros thanks to Ed Wade's unsatiable appetite for middle relievers.
So in the wake of those deals, a $3 million base salary for Putz isn't awful; it's probably fair. If he somehow maximizes his incentives ($3.25M in all), he'll have pitched well enough to have been worth it.
The Sox, who say they've done their due diligence with Putz' medical records, are usually pretty good about these injury risks. They got about everything they could expect from Octavio Dotel, who had pitched just 56 innings over his previous three seasons before coming to the South Side. Same thing with Bartolo Colon, who may not have been injured as much as he was uninterested, given the way he vanished into chubby air. Mike MacDougal also had an extensive history of injuries before the Sox traded for him. Somehow, only mental health was to blame for his unraveling.
And then there's the gold standard for grabbing a reliever on the rebound, Tom Gordon.
Even if Putz is only able to provide one half of a decent season, he'll still have served a purpose. Maybe he'll have given enough time for a guy like Jhonny Nunez or Clevelan Santeliz to get acclimated to big-league pressure. Or maybe he'll give Ozzie Guillen another reason to avoid using Scott Linebrink on back-to-back days. My guess will be that signing Putz will ultimately pay off, at least when viewed on an individual level.
It can hurt the Sox, though, if you lump Putz in with all the other guys the Sox paid for before addressing their biggest need -- hitters. More specifically, hitters who can start. Even more specifically, hitters who can replace most of what Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome produced in years past. Hell, they need to make up for Scott Podsednik a little bit, too.
In a year in which Kenny Williams claims to have little money, the Sox have spent a lot of time dicking around on the margins thus far. You can look at the individual moves the Sox made and not really quibble with any of them, but the total cost makes a definite dent on the budget:
- Mark Kotsay, $1.5M
- Mark Teahen, $2M (roughly, over what Josh Fields or Chris Getz would have cost)
- Omar Vizquel, $1.3M
- Andruw Jones, $500K
- Putz, $3M
That's more than $8 million spent on nonessential players. The Sox would need those roles filled eventually, but -- with the exception of Teahen, for some reason -- there aren't any huge plans for any of these guys. Not one of them guys is a lead pipe lock to provide value. You could spend half as much and end up with similar or better production.
Therein lies the rub. If the Sox come up $4 million short on an everyday player who would fill the open corner outfielder or designated hitter role, the strong bench Williams paid for is now a starter reject rack. All of a sudden, we're looking at a reprisal of 2007, with Jones putting a voluptuous spin on Luis Terrero.
Maybe I'm engaging in a bit of fearmongering, but it goes to illustrate that the risk isn't riding on what's left of Putz's elbow. If it turns out that the Sox painted themselves into a corner, it happened well before he entered the picture.
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The fiscal reckoning could be upon us even sooner, actually.
I don't know how Scott Merkin and Mark Gonzalez connected these dots, but it's alarming if true:
One pitcher probably out of the loop is versatile reliever D.J. Carrasco, who appears unlikely to be tendered a contract by Saturday's 11 p.m. deadline.
The logic -- whether it turns out to be used by the writers or the organization -- is lacking. The Sox may not need middle relief as much as other teams, but they do need a rubber arm. If the Sox keep Bobby Jenks around, they'll have about $15 million tied up in fragile (that's Italian!) right-handers. Linebrink can't be used on consecutive days, and it probably isn't smart to push Putz or Jenks either.
If the Sox carry six relievers, that leaves Tony Pena as the only guy who can be used for multiple innings or back-to-back days on a semi-regular basis, which doesn't seem particularly smart. Plus, until they get that hitter, the emphasis shouldn't be on who might pitch the fourth inning.
The 14th might be a bigger issue.
