The Chicago White Sox have signed 32-year old righty swinging outfielder Andruw Jones to a 1-year, $500,000 dollar deal with an extra $1 million bucks that Jones can earn by playing well. Jones played in 82 games for the Rangers last season and he was 60 for 281 (.214 avg, .782 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 17 homers, 43 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Jones has now played in 1,918 games in his 14-year major league career in which he is 1,776 for 6,898 (.257 avg, .826 OPS) with 1,109 runs scored, 388 homers, 1,174 RBIs and 143 stolen bases. The White Sox aren’t taking much of a risk here because only 500K is guaranteed to Jones, and, if he plays like he did in his Atlanta days the Pale Hose have a steal on hand.

The White Sox have signed 42-year old switch hitting infielder Omar Vizquel to a 1-year, $1.375 million dollar contract. Vizquel played in 62 games for the Rangers last season and he was 47 for 177 (.266 avg, .660 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 1 homer, 14 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Vizquel will back up at 2B, SS and 3B this season for the White Sox and he still is a outstanding defensive player. This was a good signing for the White Sox as Vizquel is a winner. Alexei Ramirez and Gordon Beckham will likely benefit from having such a great defensive player working with them. Vizquel has now played in 2,742 games in his major league career and he is 2,704 for 9,922 (.273 avg, .693 OPS) with 1,378 runs scored, 78 homers, 906 RBIs and 389 stolen bases.

23-year old righty swinging 3B Gordon Beckham finished in fifth place in the official voting for the Rookie of the Year Award in the American League. Beckham played in 103 games last season for the White Sox and he was 102 for 378 (.270 avg, .808 OPS) with 58 runs scored, 14 homers, 63 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Beckham will slide to second base this season for the White Sox where his offensive numbers could really stand out.

The Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle won the AL Gold Glove award for pitchers, the first of his career.  Buehrle is the first White Sox player to win a gold glove since Robin Ventura won it in 1998 at 3B.  Buehrle is the first White Sox pitcher to win the award since Jim Kaat, who won it in 1975.  Buehrle finished the year with only 1 error on 55 chances.  He also had eight pickoffs this year, which led the league.  This capped off a memorable 2009 season for Buehrle, who went 13-10 with a 3.84 ERA.  Buehrle had the best game of his career on July 23rd, when he pitched a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Chicago White Sox have re-signed 33-year old lefty swinging 1B/OF Mark Kotsay to a 1-year, $1.5 million dollar deal. Kotsay played in 40 games for the White Sox after coming over from Boston in a trade last season and he was 33 for 113 (.292 avg, .783 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 3 homers and 18 RBIs. Overall with the Red and White Sox, Kotsay played in 67 games last year in which he as 52 for 187 (.278 avg, .717 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 4 homers, 23 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Kotsay has been a solid player in the major leagues in his career as he has played in 1,517 games in which he is 1,576 for 5,606 (.281 avg, .749 OPS) with 725 runs scored, 113 homers, 632 RBIs and 94 stolen bases. Kotsay will serve as Paul Konerko’s backup at first base next season and he will also be the #4 outfielder for the White Sox. This was a good move.

The Chicago White Sox have acquired 3B/RF Mark Teahan from the Royals in exchange for 3B Josh Fields and 2B Chris Getz. The 28-year old lefty swinging Teahan played in 144 games for the Royals last season and he was 142 for 524 (.271 avg, .733 OPS) with 69 runs scored, 12 homers, 50 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. In his 5 year major league career, Teahan has played in 676 games in which he is 667 for 2,480 (.269 avg, .750 OPS) with 343 runs scored, 59 homers, 293 RBIs and 42 stolen bases. Despite not having a ton of power, Teahan whiffs an awful lot as he has struck out 573 times in his career already. Many are speculating that Teahan will play in RF but I think that the inclusion of Getz was to allowed Gordon Beckham to shift to 2B with Teahan starting at 3B. Only time will tell if I am right on this one. 26-year old righty swinging Josh Fields just hasn’t lived up to his potential for the White Sox. Maybe he will benefit from a change of scenery which could revive his career. Fields played in 79 games for the Pale Hose last season and he was 53 for 239 (.222 avg, .648 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 7 homers and 30 RBIs. He played 4 years for the White Sox appearing in 204 games in which he was 152 for 664 (.229 avg, .718 OPS) with 90 runs scored, 31 homers and 101 RBIs. Fields also whiffed 226 times for the White Sox which always seemed to bug them. 26-year old lefty swinging Chris Getz earned the starting 2B job for the White Sox last season. He played in 107 games for the Pale Hose in which he was 98 for 375 (.261 avg, .671 OPS) with 49 runs scored, 2 homers, 31 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. In two years with the White Sox, Getz played in 117 games in which he was 100 for 382 (.262 avg, .669 OPS) with 51 runs scored, 2 homers, 32 RBIs and 26 stolen bases. In conclusion I have never been much of a Mark Teahan fan but if they use him at 3B instead of RF I like this trade for the White Sox because it will allow Gordon Beckham to play one of his more natural positions.