Kenny Williams (Photo Credit: Getty Images, By: Jonathan Daniel)
Reporting David Schuster
By David Schuster-
(CBS) Wednesday’s trade sending Edwin Jackson and Mark Teahen to Toronto for right handed pitchers Jason Frasor and Zach Stewart serves two purposes.
Number one, it fortifies Kenny Williams’ bullpen which will need to be strong, because from here on out the Sox will now go with a five man starting rotation.
But, let’s not kid ourselves, this deal was made to save money… lots of money.
By ridding themselves of Teahen’s contract and what was left on Jackson’s deal, the overall savings in the trade is $9 million dollars. Eventually you knew this would happen. U.S. Cellular has been half full most of the season after the Sox bloated their payroll prior to the campaign. Owner Jerry Reinsdorf must have had a hand in guiding Williams towards this deal.
And speaking of deals, maybe this one makes up for the one that suckered the Sox in picking up Alex Rios on waivers from Toronto two years ago. The Blue Jays got rid of a ton of money that day and the Sox repaid the favor today.
Rios, by the way, is now going to be benched in favor of Alejandro De Aza who comes up from Triple-A Charlotte. Rios has been awful all season long and White Sox brass finally got tired of his lack of production and hustle.
Williams told us that he’s still not sure what else he may do over the next 72 hours leading up to the trading deadline but if other players don’t want to exit town they might want to start a win streak.
