The White Sox have signed 19-year old 3B Dayan Viciedo to a 4-year, $10 million dollar contract. The White Sox are taking a calculated risk here as they hit a Yahtzee last season with Alexei Ramirez. It will be interesting to see how fast Viciedo rises through the minor leagues.

The White Sox have signed 28-year old righty starting pitcher John Van Benschoten to a minor league deal. He pitched in 9 games (5 starts) with the Pirates last season and he was 1-3 with a 10.48 ERA and a 2.55 WHIP. Van Benschoten has now pitched in 26 games (19 starts) in his major league career and he is 2-13 with a 9.20 ERA and a 2.14 WHIP. The White Sox will be in deep trouble if Van Benschoten pitches for them in 2009 as he’s one of the very worst pitchers in all of baseball.

The White Sox have traded 32-year old righty starting pitcher Javier Vazquez and 24-year old lefty reliever Boone Logan to the Braves for catcher Tyler Flowers, 2B/SS Brent Lillibridge, 3B Jon Gilmore and lefty reliever Santos Rodriguez. Javier Vazquez started 33 games for the White Sox last season and he was 12-16 with a 4.67 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. In three seasons with the White Sox he pitched in 98 games (97 starts) in which he was 38-36 with a 4.40 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. The only thing the White Sox will likely miss about Vazquez is the amount of innings that he gave them the last three years. Boone Logan pitched in 55 games (0 starts) for the White Sox last season and he was 2-3 with a 5.95 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP. Logan has pitched in 144 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 4-4 with 1 save, a 5.87 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP. Logan won’t be missed at all in 2009 for the White Sox. 22-year old righty swinging catcher Tyler Flowers was the biggest key for the White Sox in this trade. He was the #12 prospect in the entire Braves’ minor league system heading into the 2008 season according to Baseball America. Flowers played in 122 games in A-ball last season and he was 119 for 413 (.288 avg, .921 OPS) with 72 runs scored, 17 homers, 88 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. The White Sox see him as the starting catcher of the very near future. Flowers also walked 102 times last season showing outstanding plate discipline. Brent Lillibridge was the #6 prospect heading into the 2008 season for the Braves according to Baseball America but he didn’t have a good year. Still, the White Sox will give him a chance to win a starting job on the infield in 2009. Lillibridge played in 29 games for the Braves last season and he was 16 for 80 (.200 avg, .576 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 1 homer, 8 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He didn’t play much better in AAA ball appearing in 90 games in which he was 78 for 355 (.220 avg, .638 OPS) with 46 runs scored, 4 homers, 39 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. 20-year old righty swinging 3B Jon Gilmore was the Braves’ #13 prospect heading into the 2008 season according to Baseball America. Gilmore played in 94 games last season in Rookie + A-ball last season and he was 106 for 360 (.294 avg, .714 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 4 homers and 35 RBIs. 20-year old lefty reliever Santos Rodriguez pitched in 14 games (0 starts) in rookie ball last season and he was 1-2 with 5 saves, a 2.79 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. Rodriguez only allowed 16 hits and whiffed 45 batters in only 29 innings last season. When you look at this trade in a few years it will definately look like the White Sox held the Braves at gun point.