The White Sox Should Give the Braves a Call

The Chicago White Sox are expected to have a quiet offseason in comparison to last year. Fans shouldn’t expect another move as big as the Adam Dunn signing but knowing general manager Kenny Williams, something is likely to happen. With Mark Buehrle  hitting free agency and money being kind of tight, it makes a lot of sense to see a player or two even being traded. That’s where the Atlanta Braves come in.

Martin Prado is one of the most underrated players in baseball.

At the beginning of the week, the Braves made it known they would be willing to trade standout starter Jair Jurrjens and versatile infielder Martin Prado. Jurrjens is one of the best young pitchers in the game and really isn’t needed. Prado on the other hand is the perfect player for the White Sox. He hits for average, has some power and plays second, third and left field. The White Sox have lacked a guy who gets on base and scores runs for a couple years now. He is a lot like what everyone thought Gordon Beckham was going to be. What will it cost? Only Carlos Quentin.

Is Quentin a better player than Prado? Yes. But the reality of this is that it will be an equal trade. Quentin is a free agent after next season and is about due a contract extension. The White Sox are limited as far as money and still have to consider extensions for John Danks, Gavin Floyd and the possibility of bringing back Buehrle. The Braves badly need another run producer. The addition of Michael Bourn at the trade deadline made the impact of Prado a little less important.

The White Sox are a team full of run producers and really lack table-setters, especially with Juan Pierre also leaving via free agency. Prado is the ideal two-hitter assuming Alejandro De Aza takes over the leadoff spot. With Beckham struggling at second the last two seasons and Brent Morel providing more defense than offense at third, he could potentially start at  a few positions. Prado also helps the White Sox financially because he doesn’t hit free agency till 2014 . He is expected to earn a cap-friendly $4.4 million next season through arbitration.

In the end, this would be a win-win trade for both teams. Quentin in a contract year for Prado who still has two years of arbitration left solves both the White Sox money and offensive issues and the Braves’ need for pop in the middle of the order.

With Prado in the lineup, the everyday lineup would potentially look like this: LF Alejandro De Aza, 3B Martin Prado, 1B Paul Konerko, DH Adam Dunn, RF Dayan Viciedo, C A.J. Pierzynski, CF Alex Rios, SS Alexei Ramirez, 2B Gordon Beckham.

Not too bad on paper. But we have said that before, right?

Original Story: http://chicagosports360.com/the-white...