After looking at the merits of the Boston Red Sox trading for Milwaukee Brewers first baseman, Prince Fielder, there could be another team with colored socks in the mix for Fielder’s services, the Chicago White Sox.
GM Kenny Williams isn’t afraid to bring in a big-name player to his organization, as evident by his acquisitions of Jake Peavy and Alex Rios last season.
Fielder would just serve as the latest player to come to Chicago thanks to one of the most aggressive general managers in baseball.
Much like the Red Sox, the White Sox currently have an established first baseman already on their roster. Paul Konerko has been entrenched as the team’s first baseman since joining the club prior to the 1999 season.
Konerko, who turned 34 in March, is in the final year of his five-year, $60 million contract. Most feel he won’t return to Chicago after the season. Fielder would be able to take over for Konerko at first for the foreseeable future for the White Sox.
To his credit, Konerko is off to a torrid start.
He leads baseball in home runs (12), slugging (.790), and OPS (1.206). Unfortunately, he’s one of the few players on the team doing anything at the plate for the struggling White Sox.
If Williams would trade for Fielder this season, it’s likely he would take over at first base, moving Konerko to DH. Konerko would be allowed to leave in the offseason, and extension talks could take place for Fielder.
That would be the best-case scenario for Williams and his team, but the better move would be to wait until after the season to pull off such a deal.
However, if the White Sox are in contention, he may feel the need to make a big splash at the trade deadline, and acquiring the 25-year-old Fielder would be a huge splash on multiple levels.
Much like a potential trade with the Red Sox, any deal with the White Sox would have to involve pitching. When talking about potential pitching trading chips, one must look no further than John Danks and Gavin Floyd.
Danks is off to a great start in his fourth season with the White Sox. The 25-year-old lefty is 3-0 with a 1.85 ERA in five starts to start the season. He has struck out 27 and walked only nine in 34 innings.
This was the first year Danks was arbitration eligible. He’s under team control until after the 2012 season.
He would be a great addition to the rotation for the Brewers. Although the Brewers have lefties Randy Wolf, Doug Davis, Chris Narveson, and Manny Parra already, Danks would slot right behind Yovani Gallardo at the top of the team’s rotation.
Gavin Floyd has seen mixed success since joining the White Sox from the Phillies in the 2006 Freddy Garcia trade. After two strong seasons in 2008 and 2009, he is off to a rocky start in 2010.
The 27-year-old Floyd is 1-2 with a 6.49 ERA in five starts this year. He has struck out 23 and walked 12 in 26 1/3 innings. This is a far cry from the 28 wins he posted over the last two years, and almost two runs more than his 4.75 career ERA.
Floyd is in the second year of the four-year, $15.5 million deal he signed prior to the 2009 season. In addition to the deal he signed, there is also a club option for the 2013 season, which would be very appealing to the Brewers.
Chicago would not part with Gordon Beckham, so any thought that Brewer fans have acquiring the young second baseman should be pushed out of their heads immediately.
The White Sox don’t have as deep of a farm system as the Red Sox, which could complicate a possible deal.
The Brewers won’t want to take on an excessive amount of salary, and they would prefer to acquire young talent that will be controllable for several seasons.
Most of the young talent in the White Sox farm system are position players. There are very few young pitchers high enough in their system to make a splash in the majors in the next couple seasons.
Dan Hudson is the team’s highest ranked pitching prospect.
Hudson is a 23-year-old starter that saw time in the bullpen for the White Sox last season. He started this year at Triple-A Charlotte and has a 6.56 ERA in five starts this season. He has struck out 28 hitters, but his opponents are currently hitting .305 against him.
Jared Mitchell, Brent Morel, and Jordan Danks are all young position players that are projected to one day play in the majors.
However, none have made it to Chicago at this point and only Danks has played above Double-A.
Mitchell is an outfielder that could eventually replace Corey Hart in right field. He was the top pick for the White Sox last season, and he played quite well for the Class A affiliate Kannapolis Intimidators.
Morel is the current third baseman at Double-A Birmingham. He’s hitting .280 with eight extra base hits in 20 games in 2010. He was selected by the White Sox in the third round of the 2008 draft.
Jordan Danks, the younger brother of John, is currently at Triple-A Charlotte for the White Sox. He was the seventh round pick of the club in the 2008 draft.
Danks is currently hitting .276 with 12 extra base hits and six steals in 22 games. Although he is a center fielder, he could easily transition to a corner outfield spot, and be a center-of-the-order hitter for the Brewers for several years.
The Brewers and White Sox have been trading partners before, and each came out as a winner.
The Brewers acquired Carlos Lee from the White Sox prior to the 2005 season. Lee was an All-Star both seasons with the Brewers, while the White Sox were led to the World Series by Scott Podesdnik at the top of their lineup.
Although the White Sox can’t offer a package for Fielder with an immediate impact like the Red Sox could, they could send Milwaukee several players that could have a longer-lasting impact with the Brewers.
Kenny Williams shouldn’t be underestimated in his ability to acquire a big-name player to improve his ball club.
In regards to Prince Fielder, he may be better off just sitting back and waiting until after the 2011 season and sign the slugger as a free agent and keep all the young talent in the organization.
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