White Sox Continue Spree: Hot Stove: 12/15

News

Korean infielder Jung-Ho Kang will be posted today, and he possesses big time power for a shortstop.

Nationals signed Bryce Harper to a two year, $7 million deal to avoid a grievance hearing and/or arbitration.

Free Agent Signings

White Sox signed Melky Cabrera (16 HR, 73 RBI, .301 AVG, 6 SB, 2015 age: 30) to a three year, $42 million deal ($14 million per season).

Yankees resigned Chase Headley (13 HR, 49 RBI, .243 AVG, 7 SB, 2015 age: 31) to a four year, $$52 million deal ($13 million per season).

Astros signed Jed Lowrie (6 HR, 50 RBI, .249 AVG, 0 SB, 2015 age: 31) to a three year, $23 million deal ($7.7 million per season).

Dodgers signed Brett Anderson (1-3, 2.91 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 2015 age: 27) to a one year, $10 million deal (plus up to $4 million in incentives).

Rangers signed Kyuji Fujikawa (0-0, 4.85 ERA, 1.85 WHIP, 2015 age: 34-35) to a one year, $1 million deal.

Royals signed Yohan Pino (2-5, 5.07 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 2015 age: 31) to a minor league deal.

Rangers signed Anthony Bass (1-1, 6.33 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 2 SV, 2015 age: 27) to a minor league deal.

Indians signed Jerry Sands (1 HR, 4 RBI, .190 AVG, 0 SB, 2015 age: 27) to a minor league deal.

Indians signed Brett Hayes (1 HR, 2 RBI, .135 AVG, 0 SB, 2015 age: 31) to a minor league deal.

The White Sox continued their all-in offseason with the signing of Melky Cabrera. After acquiring Adam LaRoche, Zach Duke, David Robertson, Jeff Samardzija, and Dan Jennings, Chicago added Cabrera to fill out its outfield. Now, I have to give a cautionary warning: you can’t just create a winning team; it has to be built. What I mean is that simply signing a bunch of big name free agents (and trading for Samardzija) is a very expensive way to win and it doesn’t always work. Look back to the Blue Jays after they acquired R.A. Dickey, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson, and Maicer Izturis prior to the 2013 season, and everyone thought they would be the team to beat. What did they win? Nothing. It takes homegrown talent to win, as the Giants, led by homegrown stars Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner, Pablo Sandoval, Joe Panik, Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, and Sergio Romo have shown us three times in the past five years. That said, Cabrera does fill a hole in the outfield, and he will be joined by Adam Eaton and Dayan Viciedo, though this signing does give Chicago leverage to trade Viciedo, which they have been trying to do. Cabrera, who had his moster 2012 season crushed by a suspension related to his use of testosterone, rebounded quite well in 2014 after a mediocre 2013 (in which he was also linked to the BioGenesis scandal). In 139 games in 2014, he batted .301 with 16 home runs and 73 RBI. Cabrera’s best season came in 2011, when he batted .305 with 18 home runs, 87 RBI, and 20 stolen bases in a breakout season with the Royals. The following season, he was batting .346 with 11 home runs, 60 RBI, and 13 stolen bases when he was suspended. Because of his big 2014, the White Sox are confident he can return to his 2011-2012 production and hold it for his three years with the team.

By bringing back Chase Headley, the Yankees have made a statement: they are not confident in Alex Rodriguez handling third base and will likely push him into a DH role. Headley, somewhat coasting off the success of his huge 2012 season, got back on track after he was traded to the Yankees at the 2014 deadline and is hoping to revive his status as one of the game’s big hitters. In 2012, the 28 year old Headley batted .286 with 31 home runs, 115 RBI, and 17 stolen bases in 161 games for the Padres. Even more impressive is the fact that he batted .300 with 18 home runs and 64 RBI in 80 games away from his pitcher-friendly home park. Playing in a hitters’ park in New York will help the former Tennessee Volunteer, who did bat .262 with six home runs in 58 games after he was traded from San Diego to the Bronx (he hit .229 with seven home runs in 77 games for the Padres).

Jed Lowrie will be a great addition for the young Astros, as he comes at a reasonable cost ($23 million over three years) and can play multiple positions. In the first half of his contract, he will man shortstop, but when top prospect Carlos Correa is called up, he can move to third and serve as a mentor to Correa. The move could also enable Houston to slide Marwin Gonzalez over to third base, where he would take over for Matt Dominguez, who hits home runs but can’t do much else. It was actually in Houston back in 2012 that Lowrie developed his power stroke, hitting a career-high 16 home runs while batting .244 in 97 games. When he was shipped to Oakland in 2013, he put up the best year of his career, batting .290 with 15 home runs and 75 RBI in 154 games. However, he struggled in 2014 and finished with just a .249 average and six home runs in 136 games.

Signing Brett Anderson is a risk, as he is guaranteed at least $10 million despite not having pitched more than 100 innings in a season since 2010. However, this high-risk, high-reward signing could pay off. The 6’4” lefty has shown some serious potential when healthy, and at 26 years old, he has time to reach it. He will slot into the rotation behind Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Hyun-Jin Ryu, and Brandon McCarthy, hoping to remain healthy for the entire season. The last time he did that was his rookie 2009, when he went 11-11 with a 4.06 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP in 30 starts for the A’s as a 21 year old. Multiple injuries in 2010 limited the 22 year old to 19 starts, but he was nearly un-hittable in those starts, going 7-6 with a 2.80 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. Last year, he showed flashes of what he could be, going 1-3 with a 2.91 ERA over eight starts.

Trades

Diamondbacks traded Zeke Spruill (1-1, 3.57 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 2015 age: 25) to the Red Sox for minor leaguer Myles Smith (5-10, 5.82 ERA, 1.77 WHIP, 1 SV at Class A, 2015 age: 23).

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Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers

If your team is not included, please email me and I will add them.

HR: home runs. RBI: runs batted in. AVG: batting average. SB: stolen bases. ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched. K’s: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage

Zack Silverman