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Chone Figgins, chilling White Sox rumors and arbitration
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Temperatures in Chicago this week dropped to a Ice Age levels. The bitter cold might have left some with frozen and impaired brain function, particularly sports writers. This might explain the rebirth of the city’s longest-standing trade rumor: Chone Figgins to the White Sox for a slugger in return.
The Figgins rumor has its genesis in the columns of Chicago Tribune baseball guru Phil Rogers. For years poor ol’ Phil insisted—or at least suggested—the White Sox were on the verge of trading Paul Konerko for Figgins. As with most of Phil’s predictions, this one never materialized. Konerko-for-Figgins resurfaced after Mark Teixeira bolted town, but now Chicago Sun-Times beat reporter Joe Cowley has a new twist, substituting Jermaine Dye for Konerko in the rumored swap.
While Dye would make for a welcome addition to the Halos’ power-needy offense—the Sun-Times notes that he has led all AL outfielders in homers (137) and RBI’s (378) since 2005—it doesn’t make a lot of sense from the Angels’ viewpoint. Exactly who is going to bat leadoff after Figgins departs? Figgins, who avoided arbitration by signing a one-year, $5.775 million contract with the Halos Wednesday, has a decent career on-base percentage of .356. No other Angel has approached that number on a regular basis. Here’s a list of candidates with their lifetime on-base percentage.
Howie Kendrick:.333
Erick Aybar: .298
Maicer Izturis: .337
Gary Matthews Jr.: .333
Reggie Willits: .379
Based on those numbers, Willits would be the likely choice. His injury filled 2008 season, however, was awful. He hit .194 with an OBP of .321 and no power. The Angels probably view him as more of a fourth outfielder. And with Dye on hand, he would have trouble cracking a strong outfield rotation, even if he returns to health and puts up his solid 2007 numbers.
In the end, the Los Angeles Times quashed the Figgins-Dye rumor in an interview with Angels GM Tony Reagins. He even mentioned that he hasn’t spoken with Chicago since early December. But you can bet the Chicago sports media, likely suffering from hypothermia, will soon recycle this tired rumor.
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