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Details of a White Sox offer to Dexter Fowler offer emerge

If Dexter Fowler is a Volkswagen, will Yoenis Cespedes drive him to spring training next week?

Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

While the Dexter Fowler drama last week was surprising to say the least, it seems like the White Sox were very much part of the discussions to the very end.

According to Bruce Levine, Rick Someone and the White Sox had given Dexter Fowler a two year offer of more than $17 million.  The actual contract with the Cubs could be worth $17 million, but it is structured as $8 million first year with a mutual option for $9 million for the second year with a $5 million buyout for the Cubs.  So, although the Sox offer was worth more, Fowler seems to be gambling on a better market in 2017 when he's not encumbered by a qualifying offer.

Assuming this quote wasn't about frozen lobster, the inability for the Sox to pay Fowler more than the going rate of 3 WAR over two seasons may be what Kenny Williams was talking about last week.

Overall, the Fowler situation turned into something very disturbing to me.  I really wasn't a big fan of Fowler, but if he'd gone to Baltimore for the 3 year, $35 million that had been rumored, I'd be fine.  The fact that he went to the Cubs doesn't really bother me either.  Unless Bruce Somebody really meant that the Sox offered way over $17 million to Fowler, it means they couldn't even bring themselves to pay $10 million a season over a couple of years to fill one of their biggest offseason holes.   Now, that's disturbing.

On a more positive note, the first game of spring training is Thursday.  See you then.