It's still relatively early on in Spring Training, but the White Sox have already begun getting calls on outfielders Alejandro De Aza and Dayan Viciedo, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter). The two are battling for the everyday job in left field, as it 2013 trade acquisitions Adam Eaton and Avisail Garcia are likely to man center field and right field, respectively.
De Aza is the more established player of the two but also comes with less team control. Set to turn 30 in early April, De Aza has batted .279/.343/.420 in 357 games with the White Sox since being claimed off waivers from the Marlins in 2009. The lefty swinger belted a career-high 17 homers last season and has stolen 46 bases over the past two seasons. Ultimate Zone Rating pegs him as an average defender in the outfield, though Defensive Runs Saved feels he's somewhat below average. He has extensive experience in center field and also played 426 innings in left field for the Sox last season. De Aza is under team control for two more seasons and will earn $4.25MM in 2014.
Viciedo is the younger and more powerful of the two, but comes with question marks about his defense and on-base skills. Viciedo, who turns 25 on Monday, mashed 25 homers in his first full season with the Sox in 2012, posting a .255/.300/.444 triple-slash line. However, he wasn't able to match that power level in 2013, as he hit just 14 homers with a .265/.304/.426 slash line. UZR/150 pegs him at -5.5 over his career in left field, while DRS has him at -3. Both metrics agree that his glove worsened in 2013. As a Super Two player, he'll earn $2.8MM in 2014 and is controllable through the 2017 season.
De Aza would seem to be a natural fit with the Tigers, who recently learned that they'll be without Andy Dirks for roughly three months due to back surgery. His left-handed bat would pair well with Rajai Davis to form a left field platoon, which was supposed to be the role filled by Dirks. With an extra year of team control, he could potentially fill Torii Hunter's spot in 2015 if Hunter signs elsewhere and the Tigers don't find a suitable replacement on the free agent or trade market. Of course, this is all purely speculation on my part, and the White Sox and Tigers may prefer not to swing a trade within their own division. Other teams that could use an upgrade in the outfield include the Orioles, Mariners and Pirates, to name a few.
San Diego should be interested after losing Maybin.
Viciedo for Grandal? Hundley catches til Hedges is ready
Pads don’t do that. Not clear Viciedo is a major league regular player. You don’t trade your starting C for that.
I do not think that the Padres sell low on Grandal. I could see Eric Stults for Viciedo or De Aza working, but only if the White Sox need pitching and San Diego likes what Robbie Erlin is doing.
Sox ditched Stults a couple of seasons ago. Doubt they’d be interested in him again. Especially with the pitching depth they already have. If I was Hahn, I’d be exploring all possible Grandal options indeed. Add a minor leaguer or two, solve the catching issue.
Stults has broken out since his first stint with the White Sox, but you make a valid point.
He is a 34 year old journeyman
3.62 ERA in 296 innings over last two seasons. Not really a journeyman anymore.
I never understood why the Sox got rid of Stults…he didn’t do a bad job in his small sample of work.
This would be ideal
Sox ditched Stults a couple of seasons ago. Doubt they’d be interested in him again. Especially with the pitching depth they already have. If I was Hahn, I’d be exploring all possible Grandal options indeed. Add a minor leaguer or two, solve the catching issue.
Paging Jack Z. Jack Z to the yellow courtesy phone.
Franklin and a lower prospect for de aza
The White Sox have a ton of up and coming middle infielders in their pipeline.
okay then i m sure we will find something. Tyler Marlette
Take them both. Please.
Not a great fit for Sox, and the M’s want more for Franklin (although they probably won’t get it). Too bad the M’s don’t have an extra catcher.
I can’t see the Pirates being interested. They would not want to block Polanco in RF.
I think it would also depend on how Travis Snider looks in spring training. Coaches are saying that his toe injury last year was to blame for his struggles. If Snider doesn’t perform any better, that would leave the Bucs without experienced lefty hitting options in the entire OF and at 1B. In that event, I could see the Bucs maybe kick the tires on De Aza as a temporary solution or to strengthen a weak bench.
Good points, but the Pirates are more likely to spend the money at 1B if nothing internal works out there. The first base situation is not as stable as RF, where they could feel safe with Tabata/Snider platoon until Polanco arrives either this season or next. Who knows, maybe Gabby Sanchez can regain his All-Star form of a few years back.
Good points, but the Pirates are more likely to spend the money at 1B if nothing internal works out there. The first base situation is not as stable as RF, where they could feel safe with Tabata/Snider platoon until Polanco arrives either this season or next. Who knows, maybe Gabby Sanchez can regain his All-Star form of a few years back.
I agree, but Polance is still very young and has less than 300 at-bats above A ball. It’s possible his winter league performance says that he’s ready for his close up, but I can see De Aza as a place-holder, plus he could be an attractive candidate to flip at the deadline if the Pirates either need to fill a hole or somehow end up as sellers.
With Dunn and Konerko gone next year, I don’t see a reason to trade either of these guys unless you get a major league ready starter back.
Because this is a pseudo rebuilding team. And the white sox could get assets for the future, or a catcher who can help now and for the long term. And When they have a bunch of out fielders in the minors who project to be at the minimum just as good as the platoon of vicedio and de Aza. If not better and for cheaper. Why not move them. Plus it would allow them to play Jordan danks in left who is better defensively. And realistically not that much worse on offense.
Viciedo needs to play every day. And De Aza is a everyday player with surplus value – so he is worth something to another team in a trade.
I’d be very happy trading De Aza for high ceiling players who are currently in the low minors.
Dombrowski needs to work something out for De Aza. Perfect fit.
Tigers may have to offer up more if they want either to get the Sox interested in trading within division.
Possibly, but they did just do a trade last year. Granted it was a three team trade but at this point I don’t think Rick Hahn is going to turn down good prospects just because the team trading them is in the same division.
I agree with Jacks. I just wrote about how the options that the Tigers have to replace Dirks for two months aren’t appealing at all- in fact they’re downright scary since they’re likely to use Davis full time or worse- Don Kelly starting vs RHP’s. Ausmus has said that Daniel Fields isn’t ready, and Lombardozzi hasn’t hit all that well and has limited time in the outfield.
If the White Sox are realistic, they’ll admit that they have no shot this year, but their future could be bright in the near term if they make the right moves. The Tigers could also say that they want a premium to trade within the division.
I don’t know what Chicago would want for DeAza, probably a near major league ready prospect and the Tigers don’t have many of those, but DD should look into it.
Don’t panic, best thing for Detroit to do now is…nothing. To make a trade from a position of weakness,will often force you to give up more than you get.DD says(in public) they will fill the left-handed batter spot from within,which means Kelly and Lombardozzi(on the 40 man roster)or pick from either Trevor Crow or Ezequiel Carrera,who are Spring camp additions.In the next 3 weeks,all the teams will firm up their rosters,so more than likely there will be an opportunity to pick up a lefty bat that is better than these internal options the Tigers have now. Many teams who have a player that is out of options will be eager to trade rather than release. DD can make a trade or gamble that he can get the player when released. If not, one of these 4 will do.
DeAza or Viciedo aren’t an upgrade over what the Mariners have in their outfield. At this point, I see the M’s going with an OF of Ackley, Almonte and Saunders. I think Hart will move to DH and play some OF vs tough lefties.
I don’t believe that is true. De Aza would be an upgrade over Ackley in LF. He is a better hitter, baserunner and no worse as a fielder.
Ackley is the better hitter. You will see that this year. Wedge got into his head and messed him up. Ackley went down to Tacoma and was revived by HoJo. Ackley hit .365/.472/.500 in Tacoma then came back to Seattle to hit .304/.374/.435 in the 2nd half. HoJo is the hitting coach in Seattle this year and all signs point positive that between HoJo and McClendon they have his head straightened out. It’s early spring, but Ackley is showing power already that he’s never shown in camp.
Ackley has always been a good hitter and this year he’s going to show what he’s all about. DeAza is already in decline.
That second half line is very misleading. Ackely’s second half was carried by one good month in August where he had a 1.017 OPS driven by a very unsustainable BAbip of .459. He followed that up with an OPS of .665 in Sept/Oct. I guess the silver lining is that Sept/Oct OPS was his second best month of the season.
Just for comparison, De Aza had 5 of 6 months with an OPS better than .665.
That second half line is very misleading. Ackely’s second half was carried by one good month in August where he had a 1.017 OPS driven by a very unsustainable BAbip of .459. He followed that up with an OPS of .665 in Sept/Oct. I guess the silver lining is that Sept/Oct OPS was his second best month of the season.
Just for comparison, De Aza had 5 of 6 months with an OPS better than .665.
DeAza is an upgrade over all three of those OFs
Well see about that in September. DeAza had good value as a CFer on offense. As a LFer, he’s maybe not league average.
I thought I already replied to this. DeAza is in decline and he’s not that special. Ackley OPSd over .800 in the 2nd half after going to Tacoma. Saunders hurt his shoulder in April running into the wall and had to play hurt because the M’s had no other options. He OPSd .790 post ASB. Saunders has more speed, power and youth than DeAza.
Almonte may be the closest comp for DeAza, but he can take a walk and is younger. DeAza is getting old in a hurry and his ceiling is the floor of Ackley, Saunders and Almonte.
Viciedo makes perfect sense for the Rangers as the RH counterpart to Moreland. I don’t know if he’s ready to accept that role yet at 25 however
He really should be. Viciedo numbers vs. RHP are pretty bad (.242/.287/.388) and one of the reasons he has yet to crack 1.0 fWAR for his career.
Yeah I think it is too soon to write him off as an everyday player. He has a lot of power and had an early wrist injury effect his hitting the rest of the season. He finished strong the last month or so however.
He also makes sense for Pirates but has played IF in awhile.
Cubs should look into acquiring De Aza.
I dont think the White Sox would trade with them but who knows.
Viciedo hasn’t reach his peak yet, the guy is really strong and has a cannon in fact is the best arm in MLB for a left field. He can’t hit, just need more time I think, I remember him hitting 420ft bombs when he was 13 y/o back in Cuba.
He hasn’t reached his peak, but that’s why he’d be attractive to other teams.
Another year or two of such poor plate discipline and sub-level OBP and home run power as his only real asset and the Sox would not only have to pay more for him in arbitration vs. Boras, but his trade value due to potential would be lesser.
Last offseason would have been a better time to move him, but Hahn is been laser focused on moving salary to get young cost-controlled talent. I’d think Viciedo is firmly in the first category.
Go get Gary Sanchez, Rick. Ok, probably not. But we all know the Sox number one target now is a starting catcher. They have a lot of C+ guys but no standouts. Would love if Hahn could swing a deal for a top catching prospect. Unfortunately, there aren’t many of them and the few that do exist won’t go for cheap.
Viciedo for Grandal get it done Rick Hahn!!
Tigers will probably be more opportunistic. There are always players that another teams let loose late in Spring Training. Just wait and be flexible.
To trade Viciedo right now would be to sell low on a guy who still has some potential to fill. I’m actually pretty surprised De Aza hasn’t been shipped off yet, since he’s not a part of the future and seems like he could be of some value to a few teams.
That all depends on what the Sox would be able to get back for Viciedo. Trading DeAza seems the more sensible decision indeed, but if it takes Viciedo to get a young Major League ready catcher or almost-ready prospect, Hahn would be silly not to do that. And over the past year, we’ve all seen Hahn is not of the silly kind.
I think De Aza was a good player, but you have to question his concentration. Especially after seeing gaffs on the base paths and in the field last season.. I thought he got picked off of third in a game.. I mean really… getting picked off of third?!
As much as I would love to see him do this for Detroit I would be more concerned that he wakes up and starts playing better and cost the Sox games in the division.
Viciedo on the other hand is really not meant for the outfield and I’m guessing will be DH once Dunn is off the books and Paulie retires. As for last season I think he had a hand or wrist injury for a chunk of the season, which probably explains the poor numbers (like the rest of the teams was not just as snakebite)