Orlando Cabrera Signs with Oakland

The last domino of interest in the White Sox's off-season finally hit the floor today. Orlando Cabrera has signed a 1-year, $4 million deal to become the A's shortstop. This means the Sox will get the A's 2nd round pick in June's Draft, as well as a supplemental round pick. Hilariously, the $4 million Cabrera nabbed would have at least been doubled had he accepted arbitration from the White Sox. I know Ozzie threatened that Cabrera would be warming the bench if he accepted (which I still find hard to believe), but I can think of worse fates than getting paid $8 million to sit and watch free baseball games all summer while you live in Chicago.

Though this isn't the ideal situation for the Sox, who won't be getting a second first-round pick, at least it's better than the "sign and trade" deal the Sox were supposedly tossing around with the Blue Jays as late as yesterday. Whatever. Cabrera's signed and we can all move on from this mess.

On an unrelated note, "38 Players in 38 Days" resumes tonight with DJ Carrasco. I hadn't originally planned on skipping Sunday, but I was out of town this weekend and didn't have time to write. If anyone's playing along at home, just skip March 1, and restart the rest of the roster today for the complete schedule.

Keeping Tabs on Free Agents of Interest

As anyone who follows baseball knows, this has been one of the strangest off-seasons in quite some time. We're just a few days from Spring Training and a plethora of quality players remain unemployed, struggling to find work in a sport that clearly was unprepared for the effect this down economy would have on it (nice giving Raul Ibanez that 3-year, $30+ million contract, Philadelphia. No way does that deal look terrible now). The the White Sox have repeatedly said they're not interested in adding more dollars to their self-imposed budget, they've still been linked to a number of free agents in the recent months and weeks. Plus, there are still several high-profile former Sox free agents out there whose decisions have very real consequences for the organization.

BOBBY ABREU
No more than a week ago, multiple sources had the Sox floating an $8 million offer to Abreu, but that deal always seemed to hinge on the Sox's ability to move Jermaine Dye, a task that has probably proved to be impossible as the corner outfield market is completely oversaturated.

• The Mariners had also always been discussed as a possibly landing spot for Abreu, but even local Seattle writers have come to terms that the M's will most likely have to look at cheaper options like Ken Griffey, Jr. (more on him later) or Garret Anderson
• Both Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal and some guy at Yahoo! Sports agree that the Angels and Abreu have just about agreed on a deal, even though Los Angeles seems to already have 10 other outfielders.

ORLANDO CABRERA
As the only Type A free agent the Sox lost this off-season, we've all be anxiously awaiting for Cabrera to land somewhere to resolve the question of what draft pick compensation we'd get. After waiting and waiting, there was even some speculation that Cabrera wouldn't sign anywhere until after the June draft, nulling the Sox's compensation and fittingly ending his turbulent time on the South Side with one final "screw you."

• Though nobody's talking, it looks like there is a renewed interest between Cabrera and the A's, but uh, good luck landing a contract in the range of $10 million.
• At least this guy's on our side: Local writer Bruce Jenkins points out the reasons why Cabrera would be a good fit in Oakland. Really, I just want someone to sign the guy.

JOE CREDE

• I have no idea what planet Joe Crede or Scott Boras live on, but the snag in Crede's negotiations are supposedly because Crede has been asking for a deal worth around $7 million/year. What! So far, the only teams that have looked remotely interested are the Giants and Twins, but even the Yankees would laugh off giving a guy whose chronic back problems have cost him over 1/2 his games the past 2 seasons $7 million per year.
• That said, this guy from Minnesota thinks the Twins should still try and sign Crede. When healthy, Joe can still hit and the Achilles' Heel for the Twins lately has been the lack of power in their lineup.

ORLANDO HUDSON
Before last season ended and even into this off-season, Hudson was consistently linked to the White Sox and for natural reasons, he would be one of the high OBP guys that could hit at the top of the order that we're sorely lacking, plus he plays a defensive position that we have no real answer for. The main concern was some nagging injury issues, but it seemed like a classic KW "wait and swoop"-type deal; Hudson would sit around, let his value depreciate a bit and the Sox would come knocking with an offer to help him redeem himself.

• About a week ago, Hudson was a guest on MLB Network's Hot Stove and he named four teams that have been showing him interest; the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, and Nationals.
• Earlier today, the Cardinals released Adam Kennedy, their starting second baseman for much of the past 2 seasons. Despite not having any real solution to their now void second base position, the Cardinals don't seem interested in bringing in any veteran players. Still, this feels like a developing situation that may yield some news yet.
• And finally, tonight, the Dodgers reportedly were set to make a big splash in the free agent market and could possibly sign deals with both Hudson and Manny Ramirez by the end of the week.

KEN GRIFFEY, JR

• Still feeling the effects of the incredible amount of available outfielders, but he's still waiting. As noted earlier, there's a strong possibility he'll return to Seattle.

FRANK THOMAS

• There's been so little interest in the Big Hurt, the best I could find was this post from a Yankees' fan blog that is roughly 95% not about him. After hitting only .240/.349/.374 in 71 gamed between Toronto and Oakland, it looks like the well may have finally run dry.

RAY DURHAM
Obviously, a former Sox All-Star but the free agent second baseman has been getting very little looks, which is surprising. He's not a Type A or B free agent, so he won't cost you draft picks and aside from his down year in 2007 (that now looks very much like a fluke... there's a good article at Fangraphs that backs my argument), Durham has been a consistent and productive offensive player. Can you think of any teams that are in need of a second baseman who can do a little with the bat? I can, the White Sox!

• The best offer it seems that Ray has recieved was a minor league deal to come to the Nationals' Spring Training to compete for a roster spot. The deal, worth $850,000 if he made the Nats' 25-man roster, was rejected and Durham has openly mulled retirement if he doesn't get an offer he feels is worth his time.
• The only other person I can find that seems to think Durham would be a nice fit for his 2B-less team is Bob Dutton, the Royals' beat writer over at the Kansas City Star.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ
I'm not sure how true the rumors ever were that linked the 1999 American League MVP to the Sox; most of them seemed to be the work of guys who noticed the fit between the two parties; the Sox have no real concrete options to backup AJ Pierzynski and Rodriguez is a veteran catcher, struggling to find work, who also happens to hit on the opposite side ot the plate as AJ.

• There were originally some reports that said the Marlins were not interested in brining back Rodriguez, but that's not true says Marlins' owner Jeffrey Loria.
• Because they're still the Marlins, though, a few days later is was reported that the Fish would indeed be willing to bring in some veteran talent, but couldn't spend more than $400,000 on them.

SCOTT PODSEDNIK

• Will be in Tuscson next week, trying to earn a roster spot with the Rockies again.

BEN BROUSSARD
Remember this guy? Three years ago, he hit 21 combined home runs with Cleveland and Seattle but since his power has mysteriously vanished (I'm not saying, I'm just saying) and his career has crashed and burned. He's played only 125 games in 2007 and 2008 combined, and had signed minor league deals with both the Cubs and Yankees in 2008, getting released soon thereafter both times.

• Well, the White Sox brought him abroad today, inking Broussard to a 1-year minor-league deal. I actually don't mind the move, it gives the Sox good organizational depth at 1B/DH in case Jim Thome or Paul Konerko break down, allowing more promising youngsters like Brandon Allen the chance to continue their development in the minors instead of being rushed to the Majors.
  

Jenks' trade value, Top 10 Prospect Shake-Up, and Farm Team featured on Deadspin

Another pretty quiet day for the White Sox in Las Vegas. The same general rumors are still floating around, Jermaine Dye is available, Jim Thome is available, Paul Konerko is available, but nothing really substantial. The biggest news of the day is that the two best closers available, K-Rod and Kerry Wood look like they've either signed contracts or are close, which of course affects the trade value Bobby Jenks, another asset the Sox supposedly have not been afraid to make available. It's been widely known that the closer market is one of the rare, truly buyer-friendly markets now, as evidenced by the "small" 3 year, $37 million deal Francisco Rodriguez signed with the Mets this afternoon. By no means, loose change, but considering the contract Rodriguez envisioned midseason, its obvious the glut of available closers and relative lack of teams needing closers will affect their value. This, of course means, the Sox will probably not be able to get fair value for Jenks this off-season and at this point, I'd expect him back for '09. Nothing, though, will really surprise me at this point.

Reds manager Dusty Baker weighed in on the ongoing Dye-to-Cincinnati trade rumors and revealed that the biggest stumbling block in the deal was Jermaine's contract, worth potentially $23.5 million over the next two years.

Not terribly shocking from the Red's perspective, they are well known cheap asses, plus it's pretty shitty to lose one of your top prospects (Bailey), rent a guy for 1 year at $10 million and then forfeit your top draft pick in 2010 when he walks as a free agent. This is however, interesting from the Sox's perspective who have repeatedly insisted they're not just slashing payroll for the sake of slashing payroll. If that were really the case, why was it so hard to come to a number everyone liked? I mean, I know it's a business and maybe Williams and Co. are waiting for a few of the other big dominoes to fall before gauging Dye's true current value, but if the real goal of the Sox is to simply get younger and more athletic, then you'd think eating some of Dye's salary wouldn't be such a deal-breaker. This makes me think that either:

1. The Sox are just cutting payroll for the sake of cutting payroll or...
2. The Sox are cutting payroll in anticipation of some other unseen moves later down the line.

Here's something that ought to give you nightmares. Joe Cowley, citing unnamed sources, claims that the Sox might try to reunite with Freddy Garcia. I shit you not,

A major-league source told the Sun-Times not to be surprised to see Freddy Garcia back in a Sox uniform in spring training if his current ''aches'' subside. The Sox know what they get with Garcia, and he'd love to be reunited with Ozzie Guillen.

If one of management's new goals was to rebuild some organizational depth, then consider the past 12 months very, very succesful. According to the Tribune's Mark Gonzales, Baseball America is putting the final touches on their 2009 prospect guides and the White Sox revised (since the Vazquez trade) top 10 will look like this:

1. Gordon Beckham
2. Dayan Viciedo
3. Aaron Poreda
4. Tyler Flowers
5. Clayton Richard
6. Brandon Allen
7. Jordan Danks
8. Brent Lillibridge
9. Chris Getz
10. John Shelby

The bolded names (1/2 the list) are guys who have been in the White Sox organization for less than 1 year. Very unlikely that any of these newcomers will make any, let alone major, contributions at the MLB level in 2009, but considering the complete mess that was the White Sox farm system just 1 year ago, this influx of young talent is very encouraging.

There has been a surprising lack of interest in free agent Orlando Hudson, at least that's what this guy thinks. Considering a few months ago, Hudson was thought to be the prize free agent on Kenny Williams wish list, it is a bit surprising to see those rumors completely vanish. However, the more I think about it, the more this seems to be the KW MO. He was able to snag Dye and Pierzynski for bargain prices before the '05 season because of their injury/character questions and the two have been outstanding, key members of the organization ever since. So even though the Hudson rumors have lulled, I'm not giving up on the thought of him starting at 2B for the White Sox in '09.

Elsewhere, a few other former Sox making news. The shortstop-less A's aren't thrilled at the prospect of signing Orlando Cabrera and forfeiting their 1st round pick in next year's draft. Don't expect OC to sign anywhere until Rafael Furcal, who was not offered salary arbitration by the Dodgers and carries no draft pick compensation, lands somewhere. Also, Jon Garland's name has been popping up. His most previous employer, the Angels, don't seem to keen on bringing him back, and while there were some rumors about him signing on with the Cardinals, the Orioles may also be in the mix.

Finally, the White Sox's newly renamed A-ball affiliate, the Winston-Salem Dash were featured on Deadspin today, the king of the sports blog world. Reason?

The team's new phallic-inspired logo.

I'll probably still just call them the Warthogs.

Quick update before bed

Very quiet day from Las Vegas, both for the Sox and just in general around Major League Baseball. What did we learn today? Apparently CC Sabathia wants to be a Dodger, Greg Maddux has retired and, as expected, Orlando Cabrera declined salary arbitration from the White Sox, so the Type A free agent is now free to sign with whomever he likes. For right now, I believe this means two things:

• The White Sox cannot negotiate with Cabrera until May 15, when he will almost assuredly be off the market and...
• The best case scenario for the Sox is OC signing with the Dodgers, as well. Since the first 15 picks of the draft are protected from free agent compensation, the Sox can only snag a 2nd 1st rounder if Cabrera signs with a team holding a pick between 16-30. If I did my math and slotting right, the Dodgers hold the 17th pick in the 2009 Draft.

If I'm wrong on any of those points, please let me know.

The only interesting nugget to chew on that I found today comes from John Perrotto from Baseball Prospectus via Sports Illustrated.com hosted by CNN (got all that?). Perrotto claims that the Sox are likely to bring someone in to fill the hole in center field rather than give the job to our current internal options: Owens, Anderson, or Wise. If that is true, well, I can't blame them.

Finally, Jow Cowley threw together some KW soundbytes from the last few days, which summarize pretty succinctly where he and the White Sox organization stand. Can't be more than 300-400 words and is a good, quick read.

Rumors Run Rampant, Sox trade Dye to Reds?

That's the way the situation looked earlier this evening. First Jayson Stark noted Jermaine Dye was the #2 trading chip at the MLB Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, right behind Jake Peavy. The way Stark writes, it's as if JD may as well have packed his bags and kept his phone next to him. Stark also mentions that Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, and Bobby Jenks are being shopped by the White Sox.

MLB Trade Rumors runs down the evening's events in pretty good, chronological order. The supposed Dye for Homer Bailey trade was first broken by the Dayton Daily News, but since then that rumor has been rejected by the White Sox, Reds, and Jermaine Dye's agent.

So, for now it looks like that Jermaine Dye jersey you own is still up to date, but Homer Bailey seems like the kind of guy Kenny Williams targets and reels in. He is a former first round draft pick, who has struggled at the Major League level, but has been very, very highly regarded. He has been the Reds' top prospect since they drafted him and peaked in 2007 when he was ranked the 5th-best prospect in all of baseball. Bailey's struggles at the Major League level may warrant getting another player in a deal with the Reds, but that's OK, since they have one of the best farm systems in baseball.

Orlando Cabrera rejected salary arbritation from the White Sox (or at least, he will). Since Cabrera is a Type A free agent, the Sox will recieve either a team's 1st round draft pick (if it is pick 16-30) and a Sandwich round pick or the sandwich round pick and their 2nd round pick (if it is #1-15).

I'm not terribly sad to see Orlando move on. While it wouldn't have been the worst thing in the world for him to come back for one more season and hold down the fort at shortstop while the Sox's bevy of middle infield prospects continue to develop, Cabrera never seemed like a great fit with this team, and if he's leaving while his value is at its peak, he'll bring back more goods in the June Draft. In the end, Jon Garland for 1 year of Cabrera and 2 high draft picks will likely turn out to be another one of Kenny Williams' more inspired moves.