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Duck.

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I found myself with a little time to kill before taking off on another jet plane and, conveniently, the White Sox decide to make a move.  So no complaining about a lack of analysis from the editors. hoodlight.

First the particulars: the White Sox receive Juan Pierre from the Dodgers, along with $10.5 million, and send John Ely and Jon Link back.  The payroll hit for Pierre shakes out as $3 million in 2010 and $5 million in 2011.

What the White Sox are sending west isn't anything to be concerned about.  John Ely, who spent all of last year at AA Birmingham, is a soft-tossing, finesse pitcher. But he's right-handed so guess how that usually works out. John Sickels ranked him as the 14th best prospect in the club's shallow system.  And Phil Rogers loves him.  I consider him irrelevant.  Jon Link, who spent all of last season in AAA Charlotte, has, as I've mentioned before, a high K rate but also a high BB rate.  Perhaps he'll figure it out but I'd essentially given up hope on that.

Now for what the White Sox get.  First, they get someone to fill the high socks void recently vacated by D.J. Carrasco.  They also get someone who looks like a Leadoff Hitter to fill the Leadoff Position.  They also get someone who isn't very good at major league baseball.  He shouldn't play CF anymore and, with Alex Rios in the fold, hopefully Ozzie won't get any ideas.  He can still cover ground in LF and his arm that makes 12 year old girls laugh isn't as much of an issue there.  He's probably a slightly above average defender if used properly.  Unfortunately, he gives up any gain there on offense.  He's projected for a wOBA of about .310 next season by Bill James, well below the league average benchmark of .330.  That's almost 10 runs below average.  Of course, one can point to his .338 last season and, except for 2008, recent numbers higher than .310 to argue that projection is a little low.  On the other hand, he's 32 and certainly in his decline, a particularly dangerous place for a slap hitter who relies on speed, and his last five seasons look like this: .338, .308, .317, .319, and .309.  Throw out that outlier 2009 and that .310 looks about right.

All that said, the overall price, both in terms of dollars and players, is low.  Even if Pierre hits that low projection, he'll probably be worth the salary he's being paid (and whatever value you want to ascribe to the fringe prospects).  And, while based on actual offensive acumen he should be about the second to last player to be considered for the Leadoff Position (thanks Omar!), his mere presence will at least prevent the usual hand-wringing over that perceived void.  Of course, if the $8 million commitment prevents the acquisition of a player with some real offensive value and/or Ozzie decides to play Pierre in CF because "he real fast", this could turn out badly.

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Goodbye, everybody.

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D.J. Carrasco, arguably the White Sox' second most valuable reliever last season, is rumored to be a non-tender candidate.  With a bullpen that already appears to be getting full with Bobby Jenks, Matt Thornton, J.J. Putz, Scott Linebrink, Tony Pena and a LOOGY to be named later (currently Raaaaaaaaaandy Williams), the team could decide that the $500K or so raise Carrasco is likely to seek in arbitration could be better spent elsewhere. Daniel Hudson in particular is a candidate for a multi-inning role, or perhaps a Clevelan Santeliz or Jhonny Nunez - all at half the cost.  Then again, it's only $500K and, if the White Sox decide to go in a different direction in Spring Training or before, they may only owe Carrasco 30-45 days of termination pay instead of the entire contract.

What say you?

Edit: Of course, the only vote that counts is KW, and he voted 'Nay'.

Carrasco was kind enough to address the 88% of White Sox fans who wanted him to return: "One of the reasons I'm going to miss Chicago is the passion and knowledge of the White Sox fans," said Carrasco, when asked if he had heard of fans' disappointment over his departure. "It holds a special place in my heart that they wanted me back."

More photos » by M. Spencer Green - AP

Kenny Williams is laughing. At you.

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The main focus fell upon the White Sox leadoff hitter, or lack thereof, at this point. Gordon Beckham would be the most likely present candidate to fill that spot, but Guillen didn't sound as if Beckham would be a long-term solution.

"A lot of people are saying that, and he's the one right now, in the lineup, I have right now," said Guillen of Beckham at leadoff. "That's the only guy really I have. I really would like to have someone out there. I think Beckham is a god RBI man. I don't want to take the bat away from him.

Ideally, Guillen would like to have Beckham hit sixth or seventh and start a better-suited player in the lineup's top slot.

There are certainly worse ideas out there. Like these:

A designated hitter-by-committee situation still seems to be a flexible and favorable option in Guillen's mind.

"Everyone is going to play," Guillen said. "Right now, we don't have a true DH, so I have a chance to move people. I can put (Omar) Vizquel at DH and as leadoff hitter if we don't have one. There's (Mark) Kotsay, (Paul) Konerko, Andruw, Vizquel, even (Mark) Teahen.

And this is something that could be dangerous but, at his price and the current OF situation, why not?

Don't rule out Andruw Jones as an everyday outfield player, if, and this is a big if, he reports to Spring Training in shape.

"That first talk I had with Andruw, before we signed him, he said he wanted to play every day," Guillen said. "I said, 'Well, you want to play every day? Make sure you come up to Spring Training and (take charge).'

"We are not going to give you that job, we not. You come here and show you can play, and I'll be more than happy to put him out there. It's going to be a nice competition."

Merkin.

We always enjoy getting questions here at SSS so let's delve right in.

What do you hear about the plans for the future of Jared Mitchell? Since his game seems to be more advanced at a young age, like Gordon Beckham's clearly is, do you think we might be seeing him getting a real chance next season?
-- Mike, Georgetown, Texas

Mike, I have no clue where you heard that Mitchell is advanced.  That's crazy talk.  He might get a "real chance" at Birmingham next season.  In the future, please do some research before wasting our time.

Well, there have been some big rumors going around saying Paul Konerko is going to the Angels and Adrian Gonzalez coming to the White Sox, but we would give up prospects. Can we afford to weaken our farm system?
-- Peter, Chicago

Petey, Konerko has been going to the Angels for years.  With their lack of Figguns and Cotchmann, there's no way this made-up deal is ever going to happen.  SouthSideSox, however, has been hearing that the White Sox are in talks - preliminary ones, mind you - with Toronto regarding a trade involving seven teams - including the Pittsburgh Pirates, Hanshin Tigers, and the Amsterdam Pirates of the Honkbal Hoofdklasse - to acquire Ray Hallidae and Johannes van der Wiel of Hesselink.  I caution you that these are preliminary talks but this could be a huge acquisition.  Maybe.

What will the White Sox bullpen look like in 2010? It's hard for me to picture it right now.
-- Lisa, Buffalo Grove, Ill.

Lisa, Don't expect much change. Here's a picture:

via thehappyyoungster.mlblogs.com

As always, please email your questions to abuse@sbnation.com.

You won't be seeing Sergio Santos use this anymore.

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Today was the Arizona Fall League Championship game between the Phoenix Desert Dogs and Peoria Javelinas, for whom White Sox prospects play.  The Javelinas won 5-4.  AFL batting champion Brent Morel had a good game, going 2-4.  Jordan Danks continued his struggles with pitches inside, grounding out to the right side on such pitches three times.  He did draw a walk, finishing 0-4.  But C.J. "Stumpy" Retherford was the hero.  He drove in Morel on a fielder's choice for the first Javelinas run and then hit an absolute bomb to left field in the 8th to give them a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

RHP Sergio Santos, the recently converted SS, made an appearance.  As expected, the control was spotty - one of his strikeouts also hit the batter - and the results were rather typical (1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K) but he flashed a very nice slider and the fastball velocity looked very good.

In other news:

• Video from the AFL, including Retherford, Morel and Danks.
• The White Sox added five to the 40 man roster, thus protecting these players from next month's Rule 5 Draft.  Phil Rogers' favorite OF Stefan Gartrell was added; with the outfield situation uncertain at this point, he was a reasonable use of space, though he strikes me as an AAAA player at best.  RHP Brandon Hynick, who came over in the Contreras trade, was also protected.  Of all the adds, he was the likeliest to actually be picked considering he is the closest to major league ready.  Raw RHP Sergio Santos is another reasonable addition.  His potential is tremendous and, as he's new to pitching, you don't know when things may click.  RHP Santo Luis will be 26 next season and it will be his first time above A ball.  I suppose he does have a nice strikeout rate.  SouthSideSox had been hearing that RHP Brian Omogrosso tore his labrum so, if that's the case, I'm not sure why he was protected since another team couldn't stash him on the DL all year.  Perhaps he's healthier than that or perhaps the White Sox see this as an irrelevant move since they have plenty of roster room and they can put him on the DL all year and, if so, would be able to get another option year.
• Potentially notable non-additions are 2006 waste of a first round pick Kyle McCulloch and John Shelby.  But I wouldn't be too concerned.
• Minor league free agency began.  Notable filings: Ehren Wassermann, David Cook and Fernando Hernandez.  But I wouldn't be too concerned.
  
• Lists season is in full swing.  BP's Kevin Goldstein published his. No real surprises on it, as one could expect an analyst who favors tools to rank Jared Mitchell and Trayce Thompson higher than most.
• You can keep track of all the White Sox players in winter ball here.  Not much has changed since last post: Jon Link still walking too many and Clevelan Santeliz is still striking out many.  Jhonny Nunez has begun playing for Licey in the Dominican Winter League so he's another to watch.

This will probably be the last front page update post until March.  Check out the right sidebar for the Minor League Update fanpost, which will probably be around in one form or another for most/all of the offseason.  And you can follow me on Twitter @SouthSidelarry.

 

Five-Star Prospects
1. Carlos Santana, C
Four-Star Prospects
2. Lonnie Chisenhall, SS
3. Alex White, RHP
4. Jason Knapp, RHP
5. Nick Hagadone, LHP
Three-Star Prospects
6. Hector Rondon, RHP
7. Lou Marson, C
8. Jason Kipnis, OF/2B
9. Carlos Carrasco, RHP
10. Michael Brantley, OF
11. Zach Putnam, RHP

Four More:
12. Jess Todd, RHP: Todd is a short, squat reliever acquired from the Cardinals, and one who reached the big leagues in short order, but his ceiling is probably as a seventh-, maybe eighth-inning set-up man.
13. Nick Weglarz, OF: Two years of non-performance have dropped him significantly, as a ton of walks can only get you so far. As a first baseman or left fielder, Weglarz needs to show more.
14. T.J. House, LHP: He was an over-slot lefty from 2008 who showed solid stuff in his full-season debut; he’s a good breakout candidate.
15. Jason Donald, SS: He's always been a bit overrated, and profiles best as a nice utility type.

...

The Sleeper: While his full-season debut was cut short by injury, 20-year-old Dominican outfielder Aber Abreu remains a bit raw, but his raw power ranks with nearly anyone in the system.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9784