It's still quiet on the White Sox front, unless you count the ripple effect from three signings -- confirmed and reported -- that popped up on Sunday.
Brian McCann to the Yankees, five years, $85 million
While Robinson Cano maintains his stance that he's worth $300 million, the Yankees haven't let the hardball tactics hold up their offseason. Instead, they moved on to the other top free agent position player, signing Brian McCann for five years, including a vesting option that would bring the contract's total value to an even $100 million.
It's a Yankee move of old, so that's not particularly surprising. The more enlightening part is looking at the other teams in on McCann, since they would then shift a target to another free agent catcher. MLB Trade Rumors' roundup includes the Rockies, Rangers, Red Sox making efforts of varying intensity.
With McCann and Carlos Ruiz taken, the best of the rest with vests on their chests:
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia
- A.J. Pierzynski
- Dioner Navarro
- Jose Molina
- John Buck
- Kurt Suzuki
And the Rays are working on a two-year deal with Molina, so this list could drop by one in a matter of days.
Jhonny Peralta to the Cardinals
We talked about division rivals a few days ago, and Peralta certainly qualifies. He's spent the entirety of his 11-year career in the AL Central, splitting time between the Indians and Tigers. As a result, he's logged an entire season's worth of games against the White Sox.
Split | G | GS | PA | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
vs. White Sox | 160 | 158 | 660 | 86 | 145 | 36 | 2 | 14 | 79 | 62 | 139 | .247 | .320 | .386 | .706 |
He'll be a lifer no more, and he won't be even in the same league if the reported four-year deal with the Cardinals goes through. Jerry Crasnick broke the news and Jon Morosi confirmed the closeness, but it hasn't advanced far enough to produce a dollar figure. On Friday, Peter Gammons said that Peralta had three such offers for $52 million, and Heyman added Saturday that one of those teams said it wasn't going to be good enough.
Peralta would be expected to play shortstop -- or his version of shortstop at least -- which would put those persistent Alexei Ramirez rumors to rest.
Joe Smith to the Angels, three years, $15 million
it's a little odd that the first three-year contracts for relief pitchers have been given to sidewinders. The Giants re-signed Javier Lopez for three years and $13 million, and now the Angels lured Smith away from the Indians for $2 million more.
Smith is more than a ROOGY -- in fact, he's an argument against the idea that relief pitchers are volatile. It's hard to be more consistent than he's been over his last three years:
Year | W | L | G | SV | IP | H | HR | BB | SO | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | 3 | 3 | 2.01 | 71 | 0 | 67.0 | 52 | 1 | 21 | 45 | 1.090 |
2012 | 7 | 4 | 2.96 | 72 | 0 | 67.0 | 53 | 4 | 25 | 53 | 1.164 |
2013 | 6 | 2 | 2.29 | 70 | 3 | 63.0 | 54 | 5 | 23 | 54 | 1.222 |
If he can somehow replicate that success, he'll be worth $15 million. For what it's worth, there does seem to be a limit to the novelty of his delivery. The Indians used him against the other teams' top right-handed bats over the years, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference. At the top of his "vs. Batters" page on Baseball-Reference.com:
PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Miguel Cabrera | 26 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 2 | .348 | .423 | .609 |
Paul Konerko | 15 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | .333 | .467 | .500 |