The White Sox exercised their $3.75MM club option on reliever Jason Frasor, tweets Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.
The Sox have a good collection of relievers under contract for 2012, but exercising the option on Frasor makes sense since he has positive trade value. The 34-year-old Chicago native posted a 3.60 ERA, 8.6 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, 1.05 HR/9, and 37% groundball rate in 60 innings for the Blue Jays and White Sox this year.
Fraser is a quality person. He has ups and downs on the diamond, but gives it everything hes got every time he takes the mound and never embarrasses the team or himself outside the clubhouse or in it.
Trade bait for KW. Clearly.
I actually like the dude (though, he wasn’t at his best in Chicago), but I’d bet real cash money that they’ll eventually replace him with either Addison Reed or Zach Stewart for a heck of a lot fewer dollars.
Bad choice. In a year that was deemed to be “cost cutting,” they excercised an option for someone who had an ERA above 5. Being a good guy or not is 100% irrelevant. He did not deliver. They have bigger question marks with fan favorites such as Buehrle being a free agent, and Quentin, Danks, and Floyd apparently all on the cutting block.
He’s trade bait.
I don’t think it’s a bad choice to basically sign him to a 1 year deal. What’s the downside? Esp when the 5+ ERA you spoke of, was earned in under 20 innings; and represented the highest ERA of his career. I see it as a bump in the road, and not the beginning of a trend.
Looking at a reliever’s ERA is dumb.
Don’t get this. They should just take the pick he would bring in as a type-B.
because he may have accepted arb. Also think like this they keep him and either trade him for a prospect or two who is slightly more proven than a supplemental pick, which he would fetch. OR the more likely scenario, someone like thornton is traded(more value on the market and bigger contract) and frasor stays…OR Frasor/ thornton is packaged with a starter to another team..
and if he did accept, i don’t think arbitration is giving him almost 4 million.
Must not be saving too much money if they are willing to give a reliever 3.75 million.
Trade candidate.
really not that bad for a pretty good reliever who has had a very good history and just had a bad few outings when he came over to chicago