White Sox Winter Meetings preview

December 6, 2:47 PMChicago White Sox ExaminerJJ Stankevitz

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Chicago White Sox Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

With the Winter Meetings beginning on Monday, the White Sox have a number of questions that may or may not be answered from December 8-11.

Will Jermaine Dye be traded?

All indications pointed to yes after Javier Vazquez was traded to Atlanta, but a recent Kenny Williams quote may indicate otherwise:

"There's interest," Williams said, speaking in generalities. "We have some good veteran players who continue to produce year after year. If I had to guess as I sit here right now, I don't foresee any other movement with veteran players. … I'll go to the winter meetings [next week] and be in a listening mode [instead of] an aggressive-type posture."

Rogers mentions in the article that the fact that Dayan Viciedo was told to lose ten pounds and be ready to play the outfield could mean that Dye is likely on his way out, but I don't see it that way. Remember, Viciedo is just 19. He hasn't played baseball in the U.S., and while the same was said about Alexei Ramirez last year, Ramirez was 26 when he broke camp with the Sox.

Viciedo may get work in the outfield this year, but it likely will be because the White Sox are training him to replace Dye in 2010—that is, if Dye is still with the White Sox in 2009.

And that's not a guarantee, no matter what Williams says. He didn't say that he certainly was not going to trade Dye—instead, he won't aggressively shop him. I'd still be surprised if Dye isn't traded for a starter in the Winter Meetings, but Williams is not going to give up Dye for anything but a fair package.

If Dye is traded (presumably for a starting pitcher), that would leave Williams with a few options:

• Fill the hole in the outfield internally. This would require Williams to have a ton of confidence in Viciedo or Brian Anderson/Jerry Owens to fill the final corner outfield spot. Neither Anderson or Owens should fill a starting corner outfield position and, barring some unexpected performance by him in spring training, Viciedo isn't ready to start every day in the majors. This is probably the most unlikely option for the White Sox.
• Fill the hole by making a trade. Nothing has been reported to indicate this would happen, but don't be surprised if Williams inquires about a few corner outfielders at the Winter Meetings. Because I despise unfounded speculation, I'm not going to mention any names, but a trade is definitely a possibility to fill the hole that would be vacated in the outfield by a Dye trade.
• Fill the hole with a free agent. If this option happens, the player won't sign a long-term deal. Given that the White Sox have been shedding payroll, it seems unlikely that they'll target Pat Burrell, Adam Dunn, or Bobby Abreu despite that all three were not offered arbitration. Williams likely would look to the January scrap heap to sign an outfielder to a one-year deal to fill the hole.

Of course, all of this doesn't matter if Dye is not traded.

Will Bobby Jenks be traded?

Probably not. Given that the Mets will make offers to the top three free agent closers on the market in the next week, Jenks is probably off Omar Minaya's radar for the time being. There was the rumor earlier in the week about a Dye/Jenks-for Fernando Martinez and others, but that rumor was called false by about everybody involved in the Mets organization. Martinez is not going anywhere, and the Mets will first try to find a closer through free agency before exploring trade options for Jenks and JJ Putz.

The market for Jenks really won't develop until Francisco Rodriguez, Brian Fuentes, and Kerry Wood sign. Once those three players sign, teams which were in the market for a big-time closer will need to pursue trades, and that's when Jenks' value could be maximized if the White Sox choose to trade him. However, given that there aren't a ton of teams in the market for a top-line closer, a good market for Jenks may never develop.

He'll stay with the White Sox for the time being, and it ultimately seems unlikely that the White Sox will trade him this offseason.

Will the White Sox sign any free agents?

If the team does, it most likely will be a backup catcher. However, Williams is unpredictable, so nobody really knows if he's flying under the radar on the free agent market or isn't active at all. I don't think the White Sox are in on any free agents at the moment, but, like everybody outside of the White Sox organization, I don't really know.

Will the White Sox make any other trades?

It wouldn't surprise me. They're still in the market for a leadoff hitter (preferably an outfielder) and could be looking at a third baseman. Jorge Cantu has been rumored recently, and he would compete for the third or second base starting job. Despite poor defense and a subpar OBP, the 26-year-old Cantu would come relatively cheap (although he will be due for a raise, as he is arbitration eligible) and is good for 25 home runs and 90 RBI every year. I'm not personally against dealing for Cantu so long as the White Sox don't give up a whole lot.

Williams also will field offers for Jim Thome and Paul Konerko, but it's highly unlikely that either will be traded. Both have no-trade clauses and are getting older and slower by the day to go along with expensive contracts, and it's far too early in the offseason for a decent trade market to develop for either player. Thome could go to a team looking for a quick fix offensively, but he won't go anywhere until Adam Dunn signs. If Konerko is traded, it will be because the Angels feel desperate after missing out on Mark Teixeira.

They won't be traded anytime soon, and it's unlikely they'll be dealt at any point in the offseason as well.

What will happen with Orlando Cabrera?

We'll know by the start of the Winter Meetings, as Cabrera has until tomorrow to decide whether to accept or decline the White Sox' arbitration offer. With Rafael Furcal back on the market, there's a greater chance that Cabrera will feel the heat and choose to accept the White Sox' offer. The A's almost certainly won't look to Cabrera after missing out on Furcal and the Dodgers don't plan on signing any free agent shortstop (except maybe Furcal), and the Giants are locked into Edgar Renteria.

In short, there may not be much of a market for Cabrera at this point. As the offseason progresses, he should be able to find at least a two-year deal with a team, so Cabrera's accepting or declining the arbitration offer hinges on how reactionary he and his agent are.

If he does accept, the White Sox would be left with three options:

• Keep him on the roster as a starter. Williams has already said this won't happen, but how could the White Sox seriously justify keeping Cabrera on the bench while starting either Chris Getz, Jayson Nix, or Brent Lillibridge?
• Keep him on the roster as a reserve. This is what Williams said he would do if Cabrera accepts arbitration. However, there's no way Cabrera earns around $10 million to sit on the bench behind Getz/Jix/Lillibridge.
• Trade Cabrera. This would be the most likely result of Cabrera accepting arbitration. While the return for Cabrera would be next to nothing given that the White Sox would have no leverage in trading him, there's no way the Sox would want to keep a malcontent in Cabrera on the team. They'd probably dump him on some team for cheap and wash their hands of the whole situation.

Given these options, it would not be a good idea for Cabrera to accept arbitration. Doing so would hurt his value for the free agent market after the 2009 season, and ultimately he would lose out on money and years by taking the arbitration offer this year and hitting the open market in 2009.