Putz to the desert

Well, J.J. Putz has signed with Arizona. On the plus side of things we get a sandwich pick, but on the more obvious downside of it, we lose a significant part of our bullpen.

Now, I should mention that I have no problem with KW not resigning Putz. I wouldn't have matched or topped the offer the DBacks gave him. He's simply too injury prone. Even in 2010, he was a bust in the second half of the season. I was open to bringing him back at a reasonable cost, but not with the guaranteed $10MM or so that he got.

The real question now is what steps should be taken to replace him. There's a fairly good number of decent relievers on the free agent market. However, free agent relievers are demanding some inflated salaries (thanks, Detroit), and with the White Sox finances the way they reportedly are....a free agent signing is doubtful provided we bring Paulie back.

I'm intrigued at the availability of Jonathan Broxton. He had a pretty dismal season for the Dodgers, but there's no doubting his arm. He seems like exactly the type of guy KW would target: flamethrower, big body, coming off a down year, big name.

I imagine it would take a considerable package to get Broxton, but with our "all in" philosophy, we might have the prospects to make it work. I'm dreaming big on this one, but I don't think it's totally out of the question. The most obvious problem would be that Broxton is owed $7MM for 2011. Unless we send Quentin to LA as part of the deal, it's probably not feasible. And even if we do send Quentin, we're short an outfielder.

So basically...I proved myself to be an idiot. Glad I worked this out.