The White Sox have signed 28-year old lefty reliever Eric Threets to a minor league deal. Threets pitched in 33 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 3-0 with 1 save, a 1.52 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He only allowed 29 hits in 41 1/3 innings in the minors last season so maybe it’s all starting to come together for him. Threets has pitched in 10 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 0-1 with a 6.57 ERA and a 2.27 WHIP. In never hurt to stockpile lefty depth in the bullpen so I like this signing for the White Sox.

The White Sox have signed 31-year old righty reliever Greg Aquino to a minor league deal. Aquino pitched in 10 games (0 starts) for the Indians last season and he was 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA and a 1.75 WHIP. He has now pitched in 145 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 3-6 with 17 saves, a 5.31 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP. Aquino will be a long shot to make the White Sox’ bullpen out of spring training but he has enough of an arm to help them at some point in 2010 if needed.

The White Sox have claimed 26-year old righty reliever Freddy Dolsi off waivers from the division rival Detroit Tigers. Dolsi pitched in 6 games (0 starts) for the Tigers last season and he was 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP. He has now pitched in 48 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 2-5 with 2 saves, a 3.55 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. This was a solid move for the White Sox as Dolsi could help them in middle relief in 2010.

The White Sox have signed 29-year old switch hitting OF/DH Jason Botts to a minor league deal. Botts played in Japan last season. He last played in the majors during the 2008 season with the Texas Rangers. Botts has played in 93 games in his major league career and he is 65 for 282 (.230 avg, .669 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 5 homers and 28 RBIs. Botts will probably start the season in AAA unless he has a huge spring.

The White Sox have acquired 32-year old lefty swinging outfielder Juan Pierre and cash from the Dodgers for two minor league pitchers who have not been named yet. Pierre played in 145 games for the Dodgers last season and he was 117 for 380 (.308 avg, .757 OPS) with 57 runs scored, 31 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. Pierre has now played in 1,433 games in his 10 years in the majors and he is 1,663 for 5,533 (.301 avg, .720 OPS) with 804 runs scored, 13 homers, 387 RBIs and 459 stolen bases. Getting Pierre gives the White Sox a tremendous weapon at the top of the line-up as he is a good hitter with speed to burn. If the White Sox are going to use him in LF he will have more range there than anyone in the American League besides Carl Crawford of the Rays. The Dodgers are also more than half of his contract the next two years which means the Pale Hose are getting $10.5 million bucks from them. I will let you know who the pitchers are when they are revealed but this move with definately help the White Sox in 2010 and 2011.

UPDATE I: The White Sox will pay Pierre $8 million bucks over the next two years.

UPDATE II: The White Sox have sent 23-year old righty starting pitcher John Ely and 25-year old righty reliever Jon Link to the Dodgers to complete this trade. John Ely was the White Sox’ #11 ranked prospect heading into the 2009 season according to Baseball America. He pitched in 27 games (all starts) in AA-ball last season and he was 14-2 with a 2.82 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Jon Link was the White Sox’ #22 ranked prospect heading into the 2009 season according to Baseball America. He pitched in 48 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last season and he was 1-2 with 13 saves, a 3.99 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. As soon as I saw that the Dodgers kicked in $10.5 million bucks to complete this trade I knew they were getting decent prospects back for Pierre but I still like the move for the White Sox.

The White Sox have signed 29-year old lefty swinging SS/2B Freddie Bynum to a minor league deal. Bynum played in 73 games in Rookie+AA+AAA ball last season and he was 62 for 245 (.253 avg, .631 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 3 homers, 17 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. He has also played in 188 games in his 4 years in the majors and he is 82 for 351 (.234 avg, .654 OPS) with 54 runs scored, 6 homers, 32 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. The White Sox will likely stash Bynum in AAA at the start of the year.

UPDATE: The White Sox have released Freddie Bynum so that he can pursue a career in Japan. This is no loss for the White Sox.

The White Sox have signed 29-year old righty swinging outfielder T.J. Bohn to a minor league deal. Bohn has played in 32 games in his major league career and he is 4 for 19 (.211 avg, .707 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer and 5 RBIs. He has also played in 736 games in his minor league career (seven years) and he is 711 for 2,633 (.270 avg, .758 OPS) with 385 runs scored, 59 homers, 316 RBIs and 100 stolen bases. He is a longshot to make the White Sox but he will give them organizational depth likely starting the year in AAA.

The White Sox decided not to tender a contract to 32-year old righty reliever D.J. Carrasco making him a free agent. Carrasco pitched in 49 games (1 start) for the White Sox last season and he was 5-1 with a 3.76 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. He worked a stunning 93 1/3 innings for the White Sox mostly in relief last season as he was a life saver for the pitching staff. He pitched two years for the Pale Hose working in 80 games (1 start) in which he was 6-1 with a 3.82 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. This was a money decision by the White Sox but all of those solid innings Carrasco pitched for them out of the pen will be hard to replace.

The White Sox have signed 32-year old righty reliever J.J. Putz to a 1-year, $3 million dollar deal. The deal also has incentives that could be worth up to $3.25 million based on games finished which means that Bobby Jenks time in Chicago could be nearing a end. Putz pitched in 29 games (0 starts) for the Mets last season and he was 1-4 with 2 saves, a 5.22 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. Putz has now pitched in 337 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 23-19 with 103 saves, a 3.24 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. Putz has only allowed 299 hits in 352 1/3 career innings in the majors while whiffing 356 batters showing how good his stuff is when he is right health wise. This was a good signing for the White Sox.

It’s no mystery that the White Sox would like to move Bobby Jenks next week if they can get value for him. The White Sox could use a DH or a legit CF or RF. Coco Crisp, Randy Winn or Xavier Nady are probably the kind of guys the White Sox will look at in the outfield. Hideki Matsui would be a great idea for the Pale Hose to sign as the DH but they will also likely consider bringing back Jim Thome to fill that role. The White Sox look like they will have a great starting rotation and a decent bullpen even if they move Jenks so they need to make sure they bring in a couple of more decent bats.