So time for another White Sox post I guess. I don’t know what to say. This was a roll of the dice if I have ever seen it.

For those scoring at home, this is the contract situation for the two guys the Sox just acquired, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts:

Peavy: 10:$15M, 11:$16M, 12:$17M, 13:$22M club option ($4M buyout)

Rios: 10:$9.7M, 11:$12M, 12:$12M, 13:$12.5M, 14:$12.5M, 15:$13.5M club option ($1M buyout)

Now it seems apparent that the Peavy move was looking to the future. He and Buehrle give the Sox a nice 1-2 punch in ’10 and ’11. Peavy is a former Cy Young winner and despite recent questions about his ability to pitch away from Petco, he has proven himself. Two years ago the guy was one of the best pitchers in the game.

Rios is another story.

He is 28 and in his 6th season. His career OPS+ is 105, which means he is slightly above average when you factor in ballpark, position, etc. To put it into perspective, Quentin is 112, Konerko is 116, Dye is 112, Thome is 147, Pujols is 172 and Pods is 86. Now this is by no means the only thing to look at, but it’s a key stat. What is basically means is that Rios is not more valuable at his position, as a hitter, than any of the Sox’s 4 “best” hitters. Ponder that for a second, this is a guy, who is in the midst of his prime and is owed more than $50 million still, is about league average as a hitter.

The plus is that Rios is a pretty solid RF. He has average range and makes outs with his arm more than the average guy. To put it into perspective, according to FanGraphs, of the 20 guys who qualify for Ultimate Zone Rating in RF, Rios is 9th. Dye is 19th. I would not call Rios an elite fielder, but he is an upgrade over the aging Dye for sure.

The short term problem is this though, where are they going to put him? As much as I was “wrong” about Pods, he has slipped. The last four weeks his OBP is under .300 and that doesn’t work as a leadoff hitter. Rios is capable of leading off, but it’s not his strong suit. He also isn’t a very good CF, although it’s almost a guarantee he is better than Pods. Quentin is just back from the DL but has hit well the last two weeks and looks on his way. Dye was carrying this team for a while but he is hitting .167 (!) the last 4 weeks. And he has made a few awful plays in the field recently.

In all likelihood it will be a mix of guys. Expect Thome to start sitting against lefties full time, with Dye DHing then. Expect Dye to lose the most playing time though. In all likelihood, this is the end of the Jermaine Dye era as I can’t see them bringing him back next year unless Quentin goes in the toilet.

Like the Peavy deal, this move is for the future. This begins the changing of the old guard. It virtually guarantees that Dye is gone at the end of the season. I think Thome will be gone as well unless he is willing to sign a one year deal for little money. Konerko’s last year is next year. It’s likely that the Sox are hoping Beckham-Rios-Quentin will be their 2-3-4 in 2011. The Sox are thin on middle of the order guys in the near future. This is the safe play to having someone to fill that role without breaking the bank on Jason Bay or Matt Holliday.

Credit: Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Cot’s Contracts