A look at the small group of White Sox players who will be arbitration-eligible after the season…
- Second time: John Danks, Carlos Quentin, Tony Pena
- Third time: Bobby Jenks
Look for relievers Jenks and Pena to be non-tendered - Jenks because he's already earning $7.5MM, and Pena because he's had a rough year. With J.J. Putz eligible for free agency, the Sox may have to revamp their bullpen again.
Danks, as well as Tampa Bay's Matt Garza, may be willing to buck the extension trend and go to arbitration a second time. Recent compares are scarce, but both could earn $6MM or so. That'd put Danks about $1.5MM up on teammate Gavin Floyd, who will earn $8.5MM for the same slice of his career after signing a four-year deal in March of last year. As of November of '09, Danks hoped to sign long-term with the Sox.
Quentin's .251 career batting average will hurt his arbitration argument, but with a likely 100 home runs and 300 RBIs under his belt he'll have a case for beating the $1.65MM raise earned by Josh Willingham and Luke Scott last winter.
I would expect the Sox to keep Pena. After that 7 inning, 91 pitch start that he had, they are going to start looking at him as moer of a swingman/long-man out of the pen. There have been many times that he’s taken up like 3 or 4 innings. That’s just my opinion.
I agree the Pena has eaten some innings and thats important but hes quite inconsistent also. Finding marginal major league pitchers who can eat innings is a fairly easy thing to do. Overpaying to have one, just because he pitched one 7 inning stint, is not a great idea. If hes willing to sign for market price Id say go ahead and keep him but if theres a cheaper option…or better yet someone down on the farm who can mop up a few games..Id say see ya to Tony
I think it’s time to give John Danks an extension. He really deserves it, especially since Gavin Floyd got his 2 years ago.
I would guess that they try again to give him a long(er) term deal, but be ok if it means going year to year with him also
Why wouldn’t the sox let Pena go to arbitration? His numbers look bad but he has been a key to thier bullpen this year by eating innings. If anything he won’t get a big raise and they’ll keep a stellar arm. They will already have enough holes to fill in the bullpen next year. And Danks probably will be offered an extension again but turn it down to make more through arbitration
Look for Sox to let Quinton go.
At $2M per? For their #5 hitter? When they’re losing Paulie? I don’t think so, but that’s just me.
It’d be $5MM I think, but I agree that Quentin would be tendered. And I do see the cases you guys made for Pena, though I might drop him.
Who said we are losing Paulie? Why would we let him go
my understanding is that his contract is up after this year and Dayan is on Kenny’s big board as next year’s first baseman. Am I wrong?
Dayan has yet to show that he can be an affective hitter, even in AAA. No way hes penciled in as a starter anywhere next year. He needs to cut down on his strikeouts and learn to take a walk before that discussion even begins. Paulie is having a great year, is a leader on this team, and a fan favorite. I really dont see KW letting him walk. He’ll be brought back for a 2 year deal with an option for a 3rd that will hopefully retire him as a White Sox. I agree on letting Jenks and Pena walk though. Neither are very good. Let Carlos Torres be the long man out of the pen next year. I think he can be just as affective as Pena and would probably cost about 1/4 of the price.
umm he was batting .268 in the bigs that shows he can hit…he was hitting the ball very very hard right at guys so look for that average to climb a bit…And he actually played good defense at 1st and ok defense at 3rd this season I would guess he is penciled in at the starting DH/back up 1st and 3rd…unless manny is resigned then Dayan is the starting DH next season. And will be back up in september….A big mistake ozzie and kenny made was sending him back to AAA when Teahan came back, it should have been kotsay or jones considering lilibridge and teahan can play the infield and out field….if we make the play offs Dayan better be on the roster so there can be a legit pinch hitter on the bench and not Andruw “strike out or hit a home run” Jones..and Mark “BAD” Kotsay
You are wrong. Paul K will get a two year contract. Dayan is a DH period. Need OF who can hit. I would start with the Upton Bros.
there is only one upton brother that might be available and thats BJ and i dont know if he is available it all depends on what happend to crawford. Also if you lock Dayan to DH and PK at 1st, your out field is locked up with juan-rios-carlos…there is no room…unless Dayan can play 3rd(even he is has mediocre D witha great bat its fine) and move CArlos to DH then yes there is an open spot in the OF
You can’t hit .240 and play in that league
dont discount the idea of extending paulie….he is having an amazing year, the team captain, face of the franchise….and still very good D at 1st. Yes he might get a big pay day some where but he is older and loved in chicago by ozzie and kenny…i bet he gets a 2-3 year deal from the sox to play1st and DH
hahahah simply one of the dumbest comments i have ever read. Yes his average is bad but he consistantly is a 30 hr 80-100 rbi threat while playing mediocre D in right, there is no way he get let go…he will bea cheap option and might even get a multi year deal. he is a fan favorite, ozzie and kenny love him and he is young….yes he screams DH but he is fine in the field. With pauly possibly walking(DOUBT IT AFTER THIS YEAR) we will need that power bat who also runs pretty well in the line up. IT would literally make no sense to let him walk…if anything look for them to trade him depending on how they feel jared mitchell or jordan danks might do
The only thing consistent about Quentin’s game is the injury risk associated with him.
he has only been injured 3 times, the broken wrist shouldnt really count because it was freak injury….
Jenks is all but gone I would think
Jenks will be non tendered and maybe MAYBE picked back up later for cheaper if not picked up by another team…I hope we can finally move linebrink out of baseball and sign an arm or two…think about it if they (THEY SHOULD) resign putz and tender pena(probably will) your looking at you pen being …pena-putz-sale-and thornton…add carlos torres in there and threets if healthy there is only one more spot needed maybe
Id certainly need to see much improvement from Torres before I rely on him at all. What has he done to merit consideration for a spot on any major league roster at this point?
i just saying as a bullpen long guy…he is no matter what an upgrade over linebrink
Tony Pena has been a godsend this season, eating up innings to save the rest of the bullpen when one of the starters has a bad outing. Of course, the same can be said of DJ Carrasco last year and he was non tendered.
Anyone saying that Viciedo is the starting 1B next year has to get a clue. Seriously, your going to bring up his .268 avg as proof that he is ready? He had a whopping .268 OBP and get this; ZERO WALKS in 82 AB’s. Viciedo isnt even remotely close to being major league ready. He has a huge hole in his swing ( which was exposed in a 1-19 (10K’s) stretch before he was sent down), cant field his position, has poor plate discipline and a poor recognition of the strike zone. At 21 Im not ready to write the kid off but come one. The kid needs to spend a full year in AAA learning how to take a walk and play 1B. And I havent even brought up the fact that he needs to hit the treadmill this offseason and get serious about his conditioning. If he is the starting 1B next year, the Sox aint competing to win the AL Central.
Anyone think it’s possible Jays may look at Jenks in the off-season (assuming he is non-tendered). If Gregg declines his arbitration, they will need a closer and Jenks would be a risk free move. If he returns to his old form, then the Jays may hang on to him for a few more years or use him as trade bait at the deadline and if not, then let him walk next season.
Konerko’s gone unless he takes a pay cut, or maybe he re-ups for the same amount for another year. But I know some idiot owner is going to offer him a big raise. I expect the Sox to go heavily after Dunn. They still need a lefty power hitter with a good OBP, and one that’s not 35-40 years old.
Jenks has to be out – I’d love to see Sale close, but it seems the Sox see his potential as a starter as too high.
As for Pena – Kenny can sign/bring up a reliever with good stuff and a high 4 ERA and not pay him $1.5-2M.
Danks won’t sign long term since his ceiling gets higher each year and as his performance gets better each year, why give a discount? Maybe he’ll sign a 3 year deal the season before he hits FA and by then Buehrle or Peavy will be off the payroll or be getting less than $10M.Quentin, don’t know about him. The Sox may give him one more year to prove himself, but he’s starting to look like an oft-injured version of Jack Cust. I expect Konerko will be gone, unless he takes a substantial pay cut to sign for a longer term. But I’m sure some dimwitted GM will offer him a huge raise, and the Sox won’t match. The Sox should be big players with Dunn. They still need a lefty power bat with a good OBP who isn’t 35-41 years old. I also see them adding another DH/OF power bat later in the FA period when those guys go a bit cheap, hopefully someone better than Andruw Jones.Jenks has to be gone, he’s lost velocity, lost effectiveness, he has bad work/fitness habits, and he won’t shave that large yellow animal off his chin. 😉 I’d love to see Sale as closer, but I suspect the Sox think his potential as a starter is too great. Also, Putz might be brought back.As for Pena, I’m sure the Sox can acquire or promote an arm with good stuff who can only give them a upper 4 ERA without costing them $1.5-2M.Nobody’s touching Linebrink’s contract unless the Sox buy a large part out, so since they have to pay for him anyway, I can see him breaking camp with the team. Relievers are fickle, and maybe they can get a decent season out of him before he hits FA again.
Personally, I still want to say good bye to Pena. Id try very hard to sign Freddie Garcia and use him out of the pen …assuming Peavy is set to go, and I know thats a real big if at this point.
If Peavy takes longer, Id still sign Garcia and use either him or Sale in the rotation until Jake is ready.
Garcia is a better option that Pena and I doubt that it would take all that much more to sign him considering Pena would likely get a raise in spite of his weak 2010 numbers.
Sign JJ Putz and Freddie, say good bye to Jenks and Pena. That would probably leave one more spot in the pen to get in place over the winter
I agree with resigning Freddie, but don’t think he will be a long reliever. He is not a fast warmer upper, and at his age will probably never become one. But if Peavy is not ready, you need him again as your fifth starter. If Peavy is good to go, then Sale goes to the minors to work on starting, and you again need a 5th or 6th with the possibility of trading Floyd or Jackson for a LH bat,