White Sox sign Beckham for $4.175M, De Aza for $4.25M

In his second year of arbitration eligibility, Gordon Beckham gets a $1.25M raise from his 2013 salary. His one year, $4.175M contract is significantly higher than the $3.5M guesstimate made by MLB Trade Rumors.

While he has never reached the high expectations placed on him by virtue of his #8 overall pick in 2008's draft, the 27-year-old at least can be called a reliable 1 WAR or so player. Even assuming no overall improvement in his production, he's likely to be worth this salary in 2014.

Beckham has formed a very good double-play tandem with Alexei Ramirez and his contributions on defense may be undersold by the various defensive metrics out there.  There's little doubt, though, that his offense has been weak. While he showed some minor improvement in production last season, he's not a good bet to provide even average offense.

It is still in doubt whether Beckham will even be on the team for the entirety of 2014.  He is getting expensive and the White Sox have a number of minor league middle infielders - Marcus Semien and Carlos Sanchez being the closest to the majors - and it's likely that at least one of them will outproduce Beckham going forward.

Alejandro De Aza's one year, $4.25M contract  in his second year of arbitration was just below MLB Trade Rumor's guesstimate. De Aza is another player who may not be with the White Sox at the end of this year. While he receives a whole lot of complaints from White Sox fans about his play - which can cross well over the border into abject silliness - the soon-to-be 30-year-old's overall performance certainly justifies a salary that doesn't even expect him to be a 1 WAR player.

De Aza is a reliable left-handed bat who produces league average to slightly above average offensive production. His defense appears to be in decline but he's still good enough to be playable in both center and left.  Given their crowded outfield and De Aza's surplus value, the White Sox are likely to trade him in 2014.

The White Sox have no remaining arbitration-eligible players.