White Sox Sign Viciedo

Nice signing for the Sox.

Josh Fields??

"the babe ruth of cuba"

will see...

11 million over probably 4 or 5 years. Not bad.

"11 million over probably 4 or 5 years. Not bad."

Agreed, so before anyone gets their panties in a bunch relax and consider the fact that the kis is ONLY 19, Im sure its $11 mil over the course of 5-6 years, which is probably fair.

"Still... What about Fields?"

What about him? Until he shows any inclination to field a damn groundball im all for going out and trying to find an upgrade. That said, its very likely that Viciedo outgrows his body ( ala Miguel cabrera ) and is a future 1B/DH.

Fields would be a good pickup for the Phillies since they have an opening at 3B and LF.

Forlife61, I like your idea of him becoming a first baseman

(that way hard-hands Fields can also play across diamond from him....)

Fields isn't going anywhere until this kid can prove his worth. He had an injury-plagued year in 2008, but he was coming along nicely in 2007. I, for one, have not given up on him.

In a perfect world, you hope this kid can play, Fields continues to develop, and then deal Dye.

I still think it's a bit pricey. How much did Buster Posey get this draft? Gordon Beckham? They didn't get this much and these are players who proved to be some of the best amateur players.

They weren't free agents. If they were free agents they would have gotten that kind of money.

"Look, the Yankees can't buy every player available...."

I am aware of it

Just expressed my sentiment towards this thing. Would you have said the same thing if Red Sox fan said it?

Just sayin' is all

I'm sure it will take a year or two before he hits the bigs. When he does, Konerko will be gone or DHing so he and Fields can battle it out for 1B and 3B.

"Wait.....
11M?!?!?
R u sure?!?

That seems like WAY too much

Not so solid anymore."

do some homework bro, 4-5 years worth 11M isnt even 3M a year great signing.

Im not being a blind sox fan but i really do think the white sox have the best scouts in baseball.

John Danks
Gavin Floyd
Carlos Quentin
Bobby Jenks
Alexi Ramirez

A lot of names I'm leaving out but it goes to show who they have picked up. With that in mind, Viciedo had to impress Sox scouts with his skills and also showed he does have some sort of work ethic which was the question mark in his previous scouting report.

Trading Buehrle might be the dumbest thing I've read this offseason. Hell, trading Vazquez would be stupid.

I could see trading Dye before the Swisher trade, but now even that's questionable. Jenks will only be dealt if we get a killing in return, so I doubt that happens.

"i really do think the white sox have the best scouts in baseball.

John Danks
Gavin Floyd
Carlos Quentin
Bobby Jenks
Alexi Ramirez"

Yes, it was incredible that they identified that three former first rounders and a guy who threw 99 mph had talent.

This guy is intriguing as hell. Good gamble by the Sox

"This guy is intriguing as hell. Good gamble by the Sox"

No doubt, at the very least you have to like that KW is planting his flag in Cuba, which could be a goldmine for talent ( ala the DR ) once the Beard goes bye bye.

Hey Law, if it was so easy to identify those guys, why aren't they on they on other teams? Why didn't they cost elite talent equal to the production they currently give the Sox? Or maybe it's because their ability to develop players. Either way, you look bad. I think Matt Thornton was forgotten on that list. Funny how these cast-offs are the main reason the White Sox won the central last year.

Maybe I should dress up as Keith Law for Thanksgiving. It'll be easy. I'll be a turkey, and will spew ignorance about baseball prospects and players. Oops, that was actually accurate.

Yeah that was kind of a silly comment. Floyd was considered a massive bust, and I seem to remember the Ken Rosenthal headline reading "That's All?" in regards to how "little" the Sox got for Garcia.

Jenks was taken off waivers. If it was so obvious he would succeed, why didn't another team get him?

Quentin could have easily been had by another team had they thought he was going to still have that kind of success. Chris Carter, while good, wasn't an elite prospect by any means.

Danks was liked by most people around baseball, but lots of people thought McCarthy was the better bet. So for this trade, it's his scouting dept's ability to see McCarthy had more value through trade than on the field.

Matt Thornton was had for Joe Borchard. Mariners fans at U.S.S. loved the deal at the time.

Alexei was passed over by what? 20 teams? The Sox got him at an absolute steal.

They haven't been perfect, but they've bought low on a ton of guys, and were able to pinpoint what they needed to change in order to succeed.

Let's just say we caught Jenks at the right time. Right when he started turning his life around.

It was a small risk, but it was not about other teams not seeing the talent.

"Alexei was passed over by what? 20 teams? The Sox got him at an absolute steal. "

I agree with most of your points in your post, but please inform me where you obtained this information.

I recall reading that 7 or so teams were interested in Alexei but the White Sox had the major advantage simply for the fact that Jose Contreras was already employed by the franchise and in addtion had the same agent as Alexei. Its not like he was a guarantee or anything, and I still believe to this day that there was some luck involved, you never know how a player will translate at a higher level especially coming from another country.

Which is pretty much why I believe the White Sox got this deal done as well, they already employ 2 Cuban players who both have the same agent as Viciendo. Pretty clear cut, obviously they had to be willing to for over the money as well.

Your right, our GM is KW and a lot could and probably will change between now and when the season starts. But there are a few significant differences between this season and last. Crede is gone, Contreras is gone, Swisher is gone (not a bad thing but we have no CF) and Cabrera is gone. Now obviously the majority of those previously mentioned players didn't contribute down the stretch but you cannot ignore their contributions over the course of the season. Also I think we have seen that our strong bullpen in the first half was more of a mirage and some re-tooling needs to be done there as well.

I will personally need to see a lot of creativity from KW for me to believe this team has a shot, and I hope he doesn't trade the farm away like he has so many times before, it would be nice to reap the benefits of our draft picks for once.

Hey Tim,

I was listening to 670 The Score on my way into school about 15 minutes ago, and their news update said that it was a five year, 11M deal. I can't remember who it was. However, it was the normal morning guy.

As for the signing, great pick up by KW. Low Risk, High reward type of deal, ESPECIALLY, if this kid is as good as Contreras and Alexei are making him out to be. At the very least, those two will be able to mentor him. Plus, any competion for Fields at 3B is completely a bonus in my book.

Maybe they call him the Cuban Babe Ruth because he's a drunk?

"It would be nice to have Chris Young Back from Arizona. Didn't he hit some 30 home runs after we traded him for Vazquez? He hasnt done alot since then though...."

This trade will be a wash if Young continues to play the way he did last year. A .315OBP and 165K's is awful, not to mention his SB totals dropped from 27 to 14. The DBacks got so frustrated with this guy they finally dropped him from the leadoff spot. Be interesting to see if he turns it around in '09, or if he becomes Rickie Weeks redux.

"The duration of the signing is strange. It's not totally unreasonable to assume that it will take a couple of years to make it to the bigs. You figure another year or so to get settled in and start contributing. That leaves you with about a year's worth of production before he becomes a FA again. And that's if everything goes well and he stays healthy.

Sure, he could come up quicker, then again it could be slower. My point is, why not extend out the deal to 6 years or so and tack on a few extra million.

I'm not a White Sox fan but I think this was a great move, minus the duration of the contract."

I'm not positive on how this works, but wouldn't he still be taken year to year after this contract expires on arbitration?

I assume that would be the case until he has six years of service time unless there's a clause in the contract.

What does it matter if hes a cubs fan?

Nice signing. The money isnt a big deal the sox have plenty to spend. They need to restock their farm no matter the cost and this kid looks like he should be ready in a year or so to contribute. Big market teams can afford to make deals like this and even if they dont produce it doesnt hurt. Kei Igawa anyone?

wow, thats a lot of $$$ for a 19 year old. im 19 years old, and if someone was giving me that kind of money i would go insane and it would probably all be gone in a matter of days, lol.

Svengoolie -

Viciedo will not become a LF. The guy has already been told by the Sox that he needs to drop weight (10-15 lbs) because they know his weight will become an issue later. He is going to become a 1B / DH type player.

Beckham to third base is conceivable but I think he is more destined to play 2b and Getz gets moved to 3b

"Please don't say this is your prediction for next year. Please comment back and say you were joking, no one will know that you ever predited this." - ChiSoxKilla23

Sorry, I should have put '10 instead of '09.

Don't get me wrong, it's a good thing. KW will keep his veterans as long as the Sox are contending in '09. NEXT year however, the Sox will be in a great position to have a high quality and relatively inexpensive core of young players to add free agents around.

2010 free agents that the Sox love include Brian Roberts and Chone Figgins and Justin Duchscherer.

This year should be good but next year will be the start of something special.

2B Roberts
CF Figgins
SS Ramirez
RF Quentin
LF Abreu
3B Beckham
DH Viciedo
C AJ / Flowers
1B Fields

Yes, Ramirez should bat third next year because he is a great fastball hitter and fastball hitters only see fastballs for 2 reasons :
- pitcher and catcher are afraid of baserunners stealing (Roberts and Figiins)
- when pitchers do not want to face the on deck hitter (Quentin)

Hope that clears things up. Today is my first day commenting after reading all of you guys for a while and having been a Sox fan for a long time (had season tickets in '83)