Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times says the White Sox "began preliminary talks last month on a contract extension" for closer Bobby Jenks. GM Kenny Williams also hopes to extend new shortstop Orlando Cabrera before the season begins.
Jenks, 27 in March, has a 3.26 career ERA with 87 saves in 174 innings. Last year he traded some missed bats for improved command, while also maintaining a strong groundball rate. By my count he is eligible for arbitration after the ’08 season and free agency after 2011.
Cabrera, 33, hit .301/.345/.397 for the Angels in ’07. Bill James’ panel of ten experts ranked his defense 11th among shortstops. He makes $9MM in ’08, though the Angels are paying $1.5MM of it.
