White Sox Considering Erick Aybar?

In his latest blog post at ESPN, Peter Gammons mentions that the White Sox might pursue Angels shortstop Erick Aybar if Juan Uribe's future remains unclear.  Joe Crede could be the trade candidate.

Aybar, who turned 23 yesterday, hit .283/.327/.413 in Triple A last year (equivalent to .234/.269/.328 in the Majors).  Baseball America ranks Aybar as the Angels' third best prospect, behind Brandon Wood and Nick Adenhart.  Aybar has come up in many trade rumors already in his career.  According to BA, Aybar handles the bat well and his glove, arm, and speed are plus tools. They see him as more of a bottom-of-the-order, defensive-minded SS.

My feeling is that swapping out Uribe and Crede for Aybar and Fields would make the Sox significantly worse in 2007...but it is just a trade rumor right now.

Comments

[bravesbeast]

I think that if the whitesox could somehow get a trade going in which they could include chone figgins in the mix with aybar in a trade that included crede, then that would be a great move by the white sox. Figgins could play center or third,, while aybar ttakes care of short. Plus addin figgins would cost at the most a mid-level prospect. Just an idea, but having a player like figgins with his versatility is definately a good problem to have.

[Kyle]

I dont think that would be a bad swap for the White Sox. Uribe has more power than Aybar but Aybar is much faster. They are both good fielders. Right now Crede is better than Fields but it is not that wide of a margin. Crede is more expensive so you save money. I think it would make them slightly worse today but better down the road. If they could also get Figgins in there they would have a solid center field option. If Figgins could bring his BA back up to 2003-2005 levels he would be very valuable. That acquisition would bring much more speed to the Sox which I bet Ozzie would like.

[djskilbr]

I agree. I think Kenny's thinking is that he's looking around the division and seeing that the rest of the division has a LOT higher future ceiling than his Sox right now in MN, Cleveland, even Detroit and KC, mostly with pitching, youth, etc. And he wants to try to compete with that, thus the deals for "potential" pitchers. Getting Aybar/Fields in there and rid of an "older" guy in Crede would fit right into that.

As a Twins fan, I can definitely tell you I'd be less scared of their team in 2007 sure, but more scared in 2008 and beyond.

[ejruiz777]

The Angels need to get value out of their depth at SS and this is certainly a nice way to get things started. Getting a proven slugger at the hot corner in exchange for an offensively challenged glove man at SS would be a major steal. They'd still have Brandon Wood and Sean Rodriguez, so it's an entirely positive deal for the Halos.

[JakeOD21]

I'd be pretty weary about this if I was the Angels. Crede elected not to have back surgery this offseason, when it probably would have been in his best interest to do so. There's nothing to say his back won't give out in 07. It might be a worthwhile risk since Aybar is blocked and the organization has a wealth of SS talent. Still, I wonder if they would take on Crede and his health concerns.

[darkstar1661]

If I'm the Angels I do it in a heatbest. When are they ever going to be able to get anything else of worth for a guy who will probably never amount to anything more than a utility infielder?

As a Sox hater I think its a great deal! Let's set the team as far back as possible this offseason!!!

[striker]

The Sox won't make a deal for a SS until mid spring training. They'll have a better idea then of Uribe's status. They have Cintron so they aren't that desperate for a SS.

[xxxJamesxxx]

Aybar is better than Uribe in just about every aspect. Fields would certainly be a step down from Crede, but how much of a step down? Was 2006 Crede's career year? Will his back go out next year? Aybar is young, and is a huge step up from Uribe. Fields in AAA isn't of much use to Chicago. I'd make that deal if I were Chicago, but I'd ask for an arm in return with Aybar, as Crede has more MLB experience/cred than Aybar. Maybe Arrendondo?

[Pedantic]

If I were the Angels, I would laugh at Aybar for Crede and move on.

[Droptop]

Crede is worth Aybar and Figgins straight up. Angels have 4 SS's. As an A's fan I'd hate to see the Angels land Crede, keep him with the White Sox...

[scenario001]

The Angels would laugh at this deal?? Kenny Williams would do this because the Twins, Tribe, and Tigers have higher ceilings than the Sox??? LOL. Please. The only way that deal goes down is if Luca Brasi holds a gun to KW's head and tells him either his signature or brains will be on the contract.

[palehose35]

I'm a White Sox fan, and I don't mind the idea of something like Crede/B-level prospect for Aybar/Figgins. If we played Figgins in CF/LF and put Podsednik in a utility role, we'd regain some of what we'd lose by going from Crede to Fields. Also, even if Uribe comes out of his legal problems, he's still got free agency coming up, so Aybar could be given more time to develop in AAA or in a utility role himself.

[djskilbr]

scenario001, yes. The other teams in the Central definitely have higher future ceilings than the White Sox. Their pitching is younger and has more potential, especially now that McCarthy is gone, in Liriano/Garza/Slowey/Perkins/Boof/Sowers/Lee/Carmona/Hochevar/Miller/Verlander/Zumaya/Miller/Bonderman. And the disparity in high ceiling, young position players is even greater. Grady Sizemore is fast becoming the best all-around player in the game (soon to replace Beltran), Mauer is the best C in the game already, Morneau and Hafner are absolute mashers. And that's not even naming all the other talents in Gordon/Butler/Teahan/DeJesus/Marte/Barfield/Martinez/Peralta/Kubel/Cuddyer/Bartlett/Casilla/Maybin/Granderson.

It's a no-brainer that the rest of the teams in the Central have higher ceilings in 2008-2012 than the Sox. It's a credit to Kenny that he realizes that the AL Central is going to continue to be easily the best division in baseball through that time. He realizes it, and he's doing something about it. An Aybar/Crede swap would make a lot of sense.

[Droptop]

This deal isn't happening, period.

[DentalPlan]

Aybar for Crede, the Angels should jump all over that. Stop kissing up to Aybar, he's not that good at all. He's a slap hitting shortstop with decent but unimpressive plate discipline. His speed? Look at his stolen base success percentage. CRAP. It's not going to get any easier to steal in the majors than it is in the minors, looking at his numbers, what's he going to do in the majors, steal 20 bases and get caught 12 times? What an asset! What's his upside, Yuniesky Betancourt this year? Ooooh, I'm all a-tingle! Trade him now. And dump Kendry Morales off on some unintelligent GM while you're at it, you want a guy who has been overrated from Day 1, he fits the bill.

[Pedantic]

I see no reason at all why the Angels should "jump all over" Aybar for Crede. This isn't even so much about Aybar as it is Crede. People are spending so much time bashing Aybar, they're not looking at what Crede is, which is a third baseman who is lucky to produce better than league average.

There must be a lot of people coming down with LaRoche fever. A guy finally hits 30 homers in what is likely a career year, and suddenly people are all over him. Are 25 homers really worth that much these days? It's not like he has anything else to offer, except an increasingly arbitration-inflated salary for his brand of frighteningly unremarkable sock and sorry on-base skills.

I also don't see why people are so down on Aybar. He has hit all the way down the line and is still very young. He has power on par with Jeremy Hermida. Yes, his BB/SO ratio is not optimal, but since that is more a function of his unwillingness to take a walk rather than an elevated strikeout rate, I think the bulk of the impact will rest on his OBP. Who really gives a shit about speed anyway? Stolen bases are perpetually overrated. Speed is icing on the cake. His bat and his glove are the primary offerings.

An Aybar for Crede deal would be extremely shortsighted. Aybar is a dynamic player, and he could be a great shortstop. I would rather take the chance on Aybar, even if I had to wait to open up shortstop for him, than take a couple of increasingly expensive seasons from a mediocre (at best) third baseman. So he can hit 20 homers at the major league level. I just don't see why people consistently overrate players simply because they're "proven." So what if Crede is better in 2007? Trading a very good future for a mediocre present seems like a sure way to start a team on that slow, swirling descent to the bottom of the bowl.

The Angels have already shown a commitment to building through their prospects. Why would they abandon that approach now when they've been abiding by it for so long (and for something as foolish as Aybar for Crede, at that)? The only advantage Crede will have over his career is more raw power. Aybar has the superior bat otherwise. I could be wrong; if I am wrong and anyone remembers this in five or six years, feel free to bring it up again. I may be overrating Aybar, too, but no more than almost everyone else is overrating Crede.

Oh, and dump Morales? For the love of God, why? What exactly has he done other than hit like a monster to make you think he's overrated? And hit in the high minors, nonetheless. I sure would love to be that "unintelligent" GM that gets Morales. If I were a GM.

[ArodSucksAtLife]

Cause with Morales out of the way, and even more overrated player than crede, and Aybar gets to play. You need to make room for Shea how many double plays can I hit into today Hillenbrand.

[astralpanda]

Move along, nothing to see here.

[astrosfan]

Pedantic:

Are you kidding?!? You must be letting an anti-Sox (ALCS 05) mentality get in the way of the facts.

Aybar has proven nothing at the major league level. Sure he's a good prospect, but Crede is in the top 5 of offensive AND defensive 3Bmen in the league.

You said it, "Aybar COULD be a great shortstop". He also could not, and I'm hopeful KW won't trade the 4th best hitter on the team and a guy they developed for years in their minor and major league system for a box of "could-of's"

Also, Crede isn't a FA (unfortunately with Boras as his agent) until the fall of '08 and he signed his '07 contract today without going to arb, so the Sox are in no hurry tio deal him.

The Sox already have Cintron who's a very capable SS who also is a Major League hitter in case Uribe can't play, so KW certainly won't make this kind of deal out of desperation.

Besides, if the Sox want to trade that level of established major league player for an Angel prospect, I think he'd be Brandon Wood.

[P.E.Overbrook]

Looks like another swing at everything player - just what the Sox don't need.
Crede for this guy is a joke. Throw in Figgins? I guess that's okay, but Figgins is just a Rob M with a little more speed.

[DentalPlan]

"Oh, and dump Morales? For the love of God, why? What exactly has he done other than hit like a monster"

Hit like a monster? Spare me. He's been increasingly shabby is what he's been, if you call that "hitting like a monster." And Aybar, how much better is he than the amazing Alberto Callaspo? Not much. The Angels have some good prospects but you've just bought the (over)hype on all of them, which is unwise. Joe Crede is a great defender and had 30 home runs, that's better than the easy-to-come-by fine glove, no hit, no walk shortstops. "Dynamic?" What is that, code word for "doesn't do that much well?"