The Chicago White Sox agreed to
terms on a five-year, $65 million deal with pitcher John Danks,
a 26-year-old left-hander who has a 54-56 record over five Major
League Baseball seasons.

Danks had an 8-12 record with a 4.33 earned run average in
27 starts for the White Sox last season. After losing his first
eight decisions, Danks went 8-4 with a 3.69 ERA.

Danks, who broke into the major leagues with the White Sox
in 2007, will receive $8 million in 2012, which would have been
his final season of arbitration eligibility. He’ll get $14.25
million each season from 2013 through 2016, the White Sox said
in a statement on their website.

Danks went 15-11 during the 2010 season and ranks fourth
among American League left-handed pitchers with 48 wins over the
past four years, trailing Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox, CC Sabathia of the New York Yankees and former teammate Mark Buehrle, who signed with the Florida Marlins as a free agent in
December.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Erik Matuszewski in New York at
matuszewski@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at
msillup@bloomberg.net

The Chicago media is reporting that the White Sox have agreed to pay John Danks $65 million over the next five years.That’s a lot of money for a pitcher who was 8-12 last year, has a losing career record and an ERA over 4.00. But it’s also the going rate for pitchers who have averaged 12 wins and 195 innings pitched the last four years, especially left-handed, 26-year-old pitchers. So I sort of like the White Sox signing Danks to that extension.

But not if that means, as the Chicago Tribune reported, that it is then likely that the White Sox will trade Gavin Floyd. Gavin Floyd has also averaged 12 wins and 195 innings pitched the last four years and has a similar WHIP (1.326 hits and walks allowed per inning to 1.304 for Danks) and strikeout totals to Danks. He is two years older, at age 28, right-handed to Danks’ left-handed and has a career ERA almost half a run higher at 4.50. In other words, he’s not quite as good as Danks. But he only costs about half as much ($7 million next year, with a team option for $9.5 million in 2013).

I’m all for trading Floyd if you can get more for him, but my hunch is the White Sox could have gotten more for trading Danks, if nothing else because Danks is left-handed.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Chicago White Sox’s Mark Buehrle pitches against the Cleveland Indians in the first inning of a baseball game on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011, in Cleveland.

Worse, the White Sox let their best pitcher walk. Mark Buehrle has won at least 10 games and pitched at least 200 innings for 11 seasons in a row. He’s still relatively young at age 32, four years older than Floyd and six older than Danks. Not a single one of these three pitchers has improved in the last three years, which is a big reason why the White Sox have made the playoffs only once since winning the 2005 World Serie. But while Floyd and Danks have actually gotten a little worse, Buehrle has held steady. Last year he had his lowest ERA (3.59) since that 2005 World Series year. Mark Buerhle’s ERA for the last five years is the exact same as his career ERA (3.83). He also signed for less overall money than Danks: four years, $58 million.

The percentage move for the White Sox, who do need to rebuild a little and cut salary from an aging and bloated $130 million payroll, would have been to keep their most reliable left-handed pitcher and trade their left-hander with the most trade value. John Danks is a tantalizing prospect. He always seems like he could be so much more than he is. That’s why the White Sox wanted to keep him. But it’s also why others would have wanted him.

If the Sox were going to completely rebuild, I say move all three. But if they are going to do it only halfway, they should have kept their best pitcher (Buehrle) and their cheapest of their three mainstays (Floyd) and shopped their biggest trade chip (Danks).

What they did do is OK. Not good. Not bad. OK. Sort of like how the White Sox have played for the last six years now.

By SportsDirect

POSTED: 7:31 am MST December 22, 2011

KSBY Sports continues its countdown of the top 11 local sports stories of 2011. Our second nominee is the Chicago White Sox decision to hire Arroyo Grande resident Robin Ventura as its 39th manager in club history.

The news broke on October 5 and culminated with an introduction in the Windy City on the 11th. The Righetti High graduate returned to a White Sox uniform, sporting number 23 like he did for the first ten seasons of his 16 year Major League career. Tuesday, the 44 year old officially the 39th manager in franchise history. “Being where I was and being able to do this for a franchise that I love and for people that are in the organization that I love, I’m confident and I’m excited about being able to do this,” said Ventura. “Obviously I’m overjoyed about the opportunity to wear a White Sox uniform and to be the manager is an honor and I’m humbled to be able to do it.”

The press conference came barely four months after Robin was hired as a special advisor to the team that ended his six year absence from the major leagues. Ventura spent that time with his family living in Arroyo Grande. Robin sees his break as a strength because he is able to look at the game from the outside. “I’ve lived life and I’ve enjoyed it. But I’ve also enjoyed baseball and I think that helps me to be able to see beyond whether a guy got a hit or not,” added Ventura.

White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams said Robin was always at the top of his list because of his integrity, character and knowledge for the game. Despite this being Ventura’s first managerial job, the six-time gold glove third baseman is confident he can go from the hot corner to the hot seat.

Ventura is the 17th former White Sox player to become the team’s manager. The White Sox went 79-83 last season and are six years removed from a World Series title.

The White Sox open the 2012 season April 6 at the home of the Texas Rangers.

KSBY will unveil one story every day. Once all eleven nominees are announced, the public will be allowed to vote on the top local sports story of 2011.

TOP 11 STORIES OF 2011
- Meteoric rise to the Major Leagues by 22 year old Lompoc native Danny Duffy
- Chicago White Sox hiring of Central Coast resident Robin Ventura as team’s manager

Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura is set to take the stage during a performance of “A Christmas Carol” at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre.

The White Sox hired Ventura in October to replace Ozzie Guillen. Ventura will appear in the show on Wednesday evening with 9-year-old Emily Beazley of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The pair will wear costumes specially made for them. They will appear in select scenes throughout the production.

Ventura says he’s honored to participate.

___

Online: http://www.goodmantheatre.org