Is Alex Rios headed to the South Side?

After months of speculation (and after the Trade Deadline), the Toronto Blue Jays are once again rumored to be making a big move. However, it’s not Roy Halladay that the Jays are shopping. This time around, the Blue Jays put outfielder Alex Rios on waivers. It was announced yesterday that Rios was claimed by an unnamed team. After much speculation, it appears that the Chicago White Sox were the team that put in a claim on Rios. So, what exactly is Kenny Williams playing at here?

Kenny Williams is no stranger to taking risks. Hell, he just acquired an injured pitcher to help the White Sox down the stretch. Now, it appears he is willing to take another risk this season by trying to acquire Alex Rios. After acquiring Jake Peavy, it appeared that the White Sox could not afford to add any more payroll to the roster this season. That may make things more difficult with the Blue Jays considering Rios has a 7 year, 69 million dollar contract. However, the move to acquire Rios shows that the White Sox are committed to winning, both this season and in future seasons. The Sox will most likely have a lot of money coming off the books following this season. Jim Thome, Jermaine Dye, and Jose Contreras’ contracts are all up at the end of the season, and it is likely the White Sox will not re-sign any of the three. This leaves some cash to pay both Peavy and Rios for the following seasons. Hopefully, Williams also saved enough cash to sign pitcher John Danks to a nice long contract as well.

Williams' risks have paid off so far

Williams has truly done a great job re-tooling this White Sox team in the past couple of years. After winning the World Series in 2005, Williams didn’t stand pat. He traded fan favorite, Aaron Rowand, to acquire slugger Jim Thome. The team still won 90 games in 2006, but failed to make the playoffs. However, the team collapsed in 2007, only winning 72 games. However, 2008 put the White Sox back on the map with a division title and another playoff appearance. While Kenny Williams will never admit it, 2008 was a re-building year that went far better than expected. While there were still some old veterans on the team, young players came out of nowhere to lead this team to the division title. In the rotation, both John Danks and Gavin Floyd emerged as future top-mid rotation starters. At the plate, Alexei Ramirez and Carlos Quentin came close to winning the Rookie of the Year award and the MVP trophy respectively. The White Sox were far from the best team in baseball in 2008, but it was truly a brilliant season for Kenny Williams. He realized that the Sox’s aging stars were fading and would not be effective in a few years, yet he also realized that his team had to get younger. He took the same approach in the off-season, acquiring catching prospect Tyler Flowers from the Braves.

The face of the new dynasty?

This year has brought more of the same from Williams. The aging sluggers aren’t getting any younger, but every other position seems to be solidified for the near future. Gordon Beckham has solidified himself as a legitimate Rookie of the Year candidate, while Chris Getz has been ok at second base. With most of the veterans coming off the books after this season, Williams has continued to build the next (the first?) White Sox dynasty by acquiring Peavy and potentially Rios for the upcoming seasons. Williams has already taken some big risks this season, but even if they don’t work out in 2009 the Sox are in position to contend in 2010 and in future years.