LINEBRINK DEAL DOESN’T MAKE SENSE
So let me see if I have this straight. The White Sox will not offer starting pitchers more than 3 year deals, unless you are Mark Buehrle and get 4. They also thought Jon Garland was too expensive at $13 million this season, so they dealt him to the Angels.
So the next logical step, obviously, is to offer a middle reliever a four-year contract worth $19 million. Whuh?
Nothing against Linebrink here. At one time, for a brief period, he was one of the better set-up men in the league. The last 2 seasons? Not so much.
He gave up 12 homers in 70 innings last year, and converted only 1 of 8 save opportunities. His strikeouts have gone down for 3 consecutive seasons. He’s still a solid reliever. But I wouldn’t offer a solid reliever 4 years and $19 million.
I’m a little surprised at the move too, although Linebrink should be solid for most of his contract. He struggled after being traded to Milwaukee, which is where I’m guessing some of those nasty numbers were acquired. Hopefully for Sox fans he’ll pull it together and earn his dough.