Buehrle close to resigning

White Sox | Buehrle close to re-signing
Wed, 27 Jun 2007 10:05:29 -0700

Ken Rosenthal, of FOXSports.com, reports Chicago White Sox SP Mark Buehrle is close to signing an extension with the team. The deal is believed to be for four years and could be similar to the five-year, $73 million deal Houston Astros SP Roy Oswalt received last year. If those are the numbers Buehrle signs for, his four-year deal would likely be close to $58.4 million.


Might be the first step in a trade to the Yankees

 

The media keeps babbling about Buehrle giving the White Sox a huge hometown discount, but that's total crap. He would not get much if any more than $14 million a year on the open market, so I have no idea what they're talking about unless they just mean one additional year on the contract (which I doubt he'd get). He's a solid starter, nothing more, and Chicago would be nuts to even give him $14 million but the local media will crucify Ken Williams if they don't.

 

Lots of media still contend that the Sox will sign and trade Buehrle. He is a top of the rotation pitcher who would get top dollar on the market. The Mets are the most interested according to the New York papers.

 

National league teams are always looking for AL pitchers.

 

That makes no sense. This isn't the NBA. I don't know that there has ever been a sign and trade deal in the history of major league baseball, it's usually just teams agreeing to open a negotiating window where the trading team gets an opportunity to work out a contract with the player themselves. If the Sox re-sign him, it will be to keep him.

Not really. If you look at his numbers he's a very good #3 starter, maybe a borderline #2. He's never been dominating, he's just solid and pitches a ton of innings. That's something, but it's closer to Jeff Suppan than Carlos Zambrano.

My point is that he wouldn't get much more, if any, than $14 million a year on the open market. The idea that he is giving Chicago some sort of hometown discount is nonsense. Zambrano will get into the $16-$18 million a year range, but not Buehrle.

 

I agree. I read the other day that one of the reasons they deal hasn't been inked yet was because he wanted a no trade clause. Although, after he completes two years on his current deal, he'll be a 10/10 (ten years in the big leagues, ten years with the same team) so he will have a no trade clause for the final two years.

I watched him pitch a lot early in his career. I think it took him a while to learn the tools he has. He's a left handed innings eater, so that will always command a premium. He's averaged about 15 wins a year since he became a full time starter. Without doing any research, I am gonna say that you aren't gonna find many #3's that will get you that many wins.

No, he is not Zambrano. He's not even close. But shit, Barry Zito got as assload of money thrown at him last year with cery similar numbers.

 

Zito was perceived (wrongly) to have a substantially higher upside. He was thought of (or at least hyped as) a potential ace. Buehrle isn't. As you note, he's an innings eater, which is basically what being a #3 starter means. Also, I do think that any solid pitcher who throws that many innings on a decent team will usually get 15 wins.

 

Bet the Giants ever think about the 126 mill they spent for Zito and have an emotional breakdown

 

Or the Dodgers with Schmidt. Investing in a free agent pitcher is a crapshoot at best.