White Sox Acquire 3B Conor Gillaspie For RHP Jeff Soptic

The White Sox added some more infield depth today with the addition of Giants 3B Conor Gillaspie for Sox prospect Jeff Soptic.

First, here's what Rick Hahn had to say about the addition.

"(Gillaspie) conceivably fits in nicely on the roster, which we’ll obviously decide more about toward the end of next month," general manager Rick Hahn said. "But we see him having a solid hit tool, above-average awareness of the strike zone, solid defensively. He gives us a little versatility in his ability to play third base as well as first. He gives Robin (Ventura) some options potentially."

The 25-year old has spent the last two years playing in 130+ games for AAA Fresno in the Pacific Coast League.  2012 didn't prove to be as good of a year as 2011 for Gillaspie, but he still batted .281/.345/.441/.786 along with 14 HRs (an improvement from 11 in 2011).

Gillaspie's value to the Sox is the fact that he is a left-handed hitter and also gives more depth at third.  With this trade, Angel Sanchez will be used for the middle infield while Gillaspie will add depth to the corners.  Those two along with DeWayne Wise and Hector Gimenez will likely be the bench players on Opening Day.

With the addition of Gillaspie, Brent Morel will almost certainly start the season in the minors.  Also, because of the addition, newly acquired Lars Anderson has been DFA'd.

Now a little more on the loss of Jeff Soptic.  Soptic was drafted in the third round in 2011 out of community college in Kansas.  He possesses a big time fastball that could reportedly touch 100, but he struggled last year in Kannapolis with a 5.40 ERA.  Still, atleast the Giants got something in return for Gillaspie who was certainly going to be lost on waivers in a couple of weeks.  Soptic's big arm gives the Giants something to work with.

Overall, I like this trade for both teams.  The White Sox got what they needed; a lefty and more infield depth.  It's not flashy, but hopefully it will be effective.

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White Sox Trade For OF Blake Tekotte

The White Sox have traded RHP Brandon Kloess for OF Blake Tekotte.  By reading different sources, it seems like Tekotte is a decent prospect (top 20 in the San Diego's system), but injuries have slowed down his career.  Tekotte can play all three outfield positions and has good speed as he stole 36 bases in 2011.  Below are a couple different excerpts on Tekotte.

Padres Prospects Midseason Top 25 Rankings:

20) Blake Tekotte – Tekotte remains an extremely interesting power/speed option in the outfield, but injuries have limited his availability this season.  He can provide a lot of value as a bench player to a contending team as Tekotte is able to play all three outfield spots. 

MLBTR:

Tekotte, 25, has hit .163/.226/.224 in 55 plate appearances for the Padres over the last two years. He's a .269/.355/.445 career hitter at the minor league level. Baseball America ranked Tekotte as San Diego's 15th best prospect before the season in their Prospect Handbook, saying he "makes enough contact against lefties and fields well enough to remain relevant as a potential center-field regular"

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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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