Chicago White Sox: A.J. Pierzynski Isn't Here for His Arm

The Chicago White Sox re-signed catcher A.J. Pierzynski in the offseason amid speculation that they would part ways with the veteran backstop.  Pierzynski has come under fire this season for the frequency with which the opposition has swiped bases on the White Sox.

It seems as if some of us have forgotten why one of baseball's polarizing players was brought back for two more years.

The White Sox retained Pierzynski for several reasons, none of which was his ability to gun down base runners.

There's not much different about Pierzynski's game from the rest of his tenure with the White Sox.  He's an agitator, a steady hitter, and a capable defensive catcher.  He plays 130 games a year, hits about .280 and plays to win every game.

His calling card has never been a strong throw to second base.

Lost in the blame game between Pierzynski and pitchers like Gavin Floyd and Edwin Jackson is the fact that Pierzynski has never been strong in nabbing would-be base stealers.  Last season's 26 percent success rate was his highest in a Chicago uniform, his lifetime rate being 24 percent.

Pierzynski is on pace to allow a career high in steals and is currently throwing out just 19 percent of the attempts this season.  On the other hand, his batting average is up 20 points from last season thanks to a hot June that has seen him hit .345 for the month.

His two-run triple was a key factor in the White Sox winning their rubber game in their series with the Cubs Wednesday night.  Pierzynski's offensive production, along with the rest of his game behind the plate, offset the additional steals the team has allowed.

Let's also not forget that Pierzynski took a hefty pay cut this season to stay in Chicago and allowed the White Sox to send money the way of Paul Konerko and Adam Dunn (regardless of how poorly Dunn has performed so far).  He's been a team guy all the way.

If the team wanted to throw out more runners, they could have easily signed a better arm behind the plate.  The players on both ends of the battery need to work to make it more difficult for the opposition on the base paths. 

I'll take the sum of Pierzynski's parts and not put too much stock in an area in which he was never especially strong.