Weighing in on Alex Rodriguez to the White Sox Rumors

What do you think about this guy wearing a White Sox uniform next year? (Usatoday.com)

Well, I'm a little late to the party on this one.  As you probably know, Alex Rodriguez was absolutely dreadful for the Bronx Bombers in the playoffs which led to him being benched.  Now the New York media and Yankee fans are wanting A-Rod to be shipped out of town.  Miami, Los Angeles, Anaheim, and Chicago have all been mentioned as a possible landing for A-Rod.  So here is my late take on whether A-Rod would fit well with the White Sox.

In the beginning, I didn't even want the White Sox to consider it.  I was absolutely against it.  The man is aging and his production is rapidly dropping.  His contract is huge and even if the Yanks ate most of it, the White Sox will stay be paying a lot.

However, I began to think it through.

The White Sox have very limited options with who they can play at third next year.  The White Sox will have to either work out a deal with Kevin Youkilis, play Brent Morel (God, please no), or sign someone in the offseason like Alex Rodriguez.  

While A-Rod is aging and his numbers are falling (his OPS was 1.067 in 2007 and it has consistently fallen and is now at .823), I think moving away from New York would benefit him.  In New York, A-Rod will never live up to that contract and while he can't anywhere, there will be a lot less pressure in another city.  

He has stated that he would like to join a team in a major market and Chicago somewhat fits the bill.  Of course Chicago is a major market, but let's face it, the White Sox play second fiddle to the Cubs.  With that being said, I'm not sure A-Rod would want to play for the Pale Hose.  If he does get out of New York, I think it will give him a breath of fresh air and allow him to have better years.  So I believe that there is definitely some benefit if A-Rod was to land in Chicago. 

Now let's compare A-Rod and Youk's stats from this year.  Click to enlarge.

So you can see that even after Youk's excellent first month in a White Sox uniform, he still had a mediocre year.  But, A-Rod wasn't drastically better than him.  Still, given the choice, you would probably want A-Rod over Youk if you didn't factor in money.

So let's factor in the money and other factors.  We all know that A-Rod's contract is huge.  For 2014, he will be owed $28 million next year and it reduces down to $20 million by the end of his contract in 2017.  For the White Sox to even consider this deal, the Yankees will have to eat a large portion of his contract, like enough so the White Sox are only paying him around $8 million or so.  If the Yankees are going to do that, the White Sox will need to give up a lot in return.   Viciedo, Quintana, and other top prospects would likely be part of the deal.  That's too much in my opinion.

I definitely see the benefits of Alex Rodriguez playing on the White Sox.  The team would be a better one with him at third and as stated above, I think he can somewhat revive his career in another city.  However, I'm hoping that Rick Hahn is different than Kenny Williams and doesn't give up some of the future for a year or two from an aging Rodriguez, who is clearly in decline.

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