White Sox Officially Sign Octavio Dotel & Alexei Ramirez

Okay, this time it's for real (and yes I know I'm a day late). Dotel signed the two-year, $11 million deal that had been thrown around in the rumors last week, while Ramirez agreed to the expected four-year contract worth $4.75 million. The shock/surprise of adding both of these players had already worn off, because all Alexei had to do was pass a physical and I had a gut feeling/knew Dotel would be in a Sox uniform come March. To make room on the roster, David Aardsma was designated for assignment by the club, a fittingly anticlimactic conclusion to a disappointing White Sox career.

I've already made it known that I am in favor of both of these transactions (I don't think anyone can oppose the Ramirez signing). While the Dotel deal certainly carries with it a high level of risk due to his injury-prone nature, he and Ramirez have the potential to be two of the best free agent pick-ups in recent White Sox history. A lot of people are expressing their disapproval of Kenny's attempt to buy a bullpen, citing the unusually high levels of inconsistency associated with relievers, particularly in a hitter-friendly park like U.S. Cellular. However, the other option (excluding trades, of course) is to call up some young guns from Birmingham or Charlotte, which we tried last year--lest we forget the revolving door to the Sox bullpen in the second half of 2007--with disastrous results. The hurlers in our farm system have proven, for the most part, that they are not yet ready to pitch in the Majors, if they ever will be. So if Kenny is looking to win now, what other choice do we have but to overpay free agents that would otherwise have signed elsewhere for similar terms (though I doubt anyone would have given Linebrink four years)? I know a big part of this problem stems from Kenny trading away most of our farm system, but this is what we have now and we need to deal with it in the best possible way.

Even when considering the sometimes severe issues I've had with KW's deals this offseason, I must say I am impressed with the position in which he has put this team. The Swisher and Ramirez signings give us two long-term, extraordinarily manageable contracts upon which we can (hopefully) build an outfield and a line-up. Linebrink and Dotel give us two solid relievers when healthy, and in Linebrink's case, if he outperforms expectations, we do have him sealed up for four years. Uribe makes for a valuable back-up (though a very expensive one) and Cabrera gives us a much improved bat out of the shortstop position. The additions of Swisher and Quentin give us significant flexibility in how Ozzie plays the outfield, as well as added options should someone struggle.

On the flipside, we are left with three question marks in the rotation and a non-existent farm system, both of which must be addressed ASAP to ensure current and future success. More on that in a post coming soon.