Chicago White Sox Re-Sign Paul Konerko

There has been a lot going on in the Windy City over the last couple of days. Both the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox signed first basemen, and each team appears to have overpaid for their newly hired players.

I didn’t mind the Cubs signing Carlos Pena because of the one-year contract, but the Paul Konerko re-signing by the White Sox is a bunch of Tom Foolery to me. The White Sox re-signed Konerko to a three-year, $37.5 million contract on Wednesday.

I understand Konerko has been with the White Sox for the past 12 years, won a World Series with the team in 2005, and is certainly a leader. However, the guy is not an iconic figure in Chicago. This shouldn’t have been a Derek Jeter situation yet it turned out to be strikingly similar.

Why the White Sox would practically beg Konerko to come back is beyond me, especially by offering him such a nice contract. I had Konerko as the biggest free agent bust this offseason, and my opinion hasn’t changed.

A 34-year-old who finds the fountain of youth, usually doesn’t find it twice. Konerko hit an absurd .312/.393/.584 with 39 HR’s in 2010. His .584 slugging percentage was a career high.

In the two years prior to 2010, Konerko averaged .260/.349/.466 with 25 HR’s. Not bad numbers, but he’s not worth the contract he got.

My guess is that Konerko performs more like his 2007 – 2009 seasons, which made him $7 – $8 million a year. The White Sox let their emotions get in the way in this deal, and it is bound to hurt them in the long run.

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