SOX RELIEVERS: MULTI-YEAR DEALS (Linebrink)

[StatManDu]

(This document is also attached if that is easier to read)

 

Just as Santo=Dorf believed, Scott Linebrink made club history when he signed with the White Sox Nov. 29.

Soon after it was announced the big right-hander was going to sign a four-year deal with the Sox, Santo=Dorf, a veteran and respected poster on Soxtalk.com, wanted to know if the team had ever given a reliever that long of a contract.

“Can you look up the last time the Sox gave a big multi year deal to a reliever?” he messaged me. “I can't even recall them giving someone two years with a third year option.”

By digging through White Sox media guides (which list contract status in a players’ bio), I was able to confirm what Santo=Dorf suspected: The Sox had never given a reliever the deal they gave Linebrink in years and most likely in money ($19 million total).

This obviously speaks to the increased value the game is putting on middle relievers and maybe the desperation the Sox were feeling when it came to their 2008 bullpen.

I began my research with Bobby Thigpen in the early 1990s.

“Thiggy,” you recall, saved a still-standing 57 games during the Sox renaissance season of 1990 and was rewarded with a big contract. Following that historic campaign, the Sox signed Thigpen to a three-year contract with options for 1994 and 1995. It would take another 15 years before the Sox gave a reliever that many years.

It should be pointed out here that Thigpen was really the first marquee reliever the Sox dealt with in the “free agent era,” which began in the mid-1970s.

The Sox unloaded Rich Gossage and Terry Forster before they become free agents. Lerrin LaGrow, who saved 25 games for the 1977 White Sox, never made it to free agency. Ed Farmer, who saved a club record 30 games in 1980, did make it to free agency but the Sox opted not to re-sign him. Dennis Lamp became a free agent after the 1983 season but the Sox passed. Bob James broke Farmer’s record with 32 saves in 1985 but best I can tell he was working on a series of one-year pacts until his time with the Sox was finished in 1987.

Thigpen, in essence, inherited the closer’s role from James, which brings us back to the early 1990s.

Here are the relievers the Sox signed to mutli-year deals:

Kirk McCaskill: After he was moved to the pen (where he was effective), the Sox signed the Canadian righty to a two-year deal covering the 1995 and 1996 seasons. McCaskill became a reliever during his three-year contract which went from 1992 to 1994.

Tony Castillo: The left-hander was signed to a two-year deal prior to the 1997 season.

Bill Simas: The former Angel signed a two-year contract for the 2000 and 2001 seasons.

Keith Foulke: One of the best relievers in club history, Foulke worked on a two-year pact for 2002 and 2003.

Bobby Howry: The Sox signed Howry for two years (2002 and 2003) with a club option for 2004.

Antonio Osuna: El Canon was signed to a two-year contract for 2002 and 2003 with a club option for 2004.

Billy Koch: One of the biggest busts in franchise history worked o a two-year contract with the Sox for 2003 and 2004.

Damaso Marte: The enigmatic and – at one point – highly-effective lefty agreed to terms on a three-year contract with club options for 2007 and 2008 on March 5, 2004.

Dustin Hermanson: A key member of the 2005 title team signed a two-year deal Dec. 8, 2004 with a Sox option for 2007.

Mike MacDougal: Signed a three-year deal with a club option for 2010 in December of 2006.

Matt Thornton: Signed a three-year contract with club options for 2010 and 2011 on April 1, 2007.

Notable one-year deals: Roberto Hernandez, Scot Radinsky, Cliff Politte, Shingo Takatsu, Tom Gordon, Rick White.

relievers.doc

Edited December 6, 2007 by StatManDu

[santo=dorf]

Thanks!

 

As you can see, the Sox tend to only give at least a three year committment to relievers if they are on the team and aribitration eligible.