Manny To The Sox!

The White Sox that is.

I briefly mentioned it in the power rankings, but I'll talk about it in more depth here.

Unless this is as viewed as a partial tryout for next year, the White Sox acquired Manny Ramirez to help there playoff chances.  Those chances are pretty slim as they are 4.5 back from the division leading Twins and 10 back of the Wild Card.  However, getting Manny obviously increases those chances.  He replaces often used DH Mark Kotsay essentially who would project to have below average production from here on out.  ZiPS projects Manny to have a .400 wOBA for the rest of the season (which is to say they're going from a AAA OF to a top 10 hitter), and I kind of think that should be the baseline of what to expect.  He likely own't perform worse than that and over a month could easily eclipse it.  The change of leagues will have no effect as Manny has always performed well in the Varsity, plus he's moving to a ballpark that will be much better for him. 

It's a hefty price of about $4m but it's really a win win for the White Sox because even a bad Manny improves their playoff chances and a good Manny could be the difference in making the playoffs or not. It also could provide an audition for a potential bargain next year.  The days of Manny making $20m+ are over, and he will likely be looking at a contract that Vlad or Beltre got this year, a one year deal with incentives and maybe a team option.  We know he will play on the White Sox this year but let's speculate where he might land in the offseason.  He has to be looked at as a full time DH so only an AL team looking towards the playoffs should be interested and those teams consist of:

Yankees: They'll have the DH spot open but I think they'd rather have Jesus Montero fill that slot.  Unless his price comes down to a matter of 1-2 million I don't think they try. Verdict: Unlikely

Red Sox: Not much needs to be said, Verdict: NGA (not gonna (h)appen)

Rays: Open DH spot and they will actually have money to spend.  If Manny fell to them I think they would have made the claim, Verdict: Likely

Twins: Thome has been a perfect fit this year, so he will be resigned likely cheaper than Manny, Verdict: Unlikely.

White Sox: The DH spot has been a thorn in their side all year, and Manny is finally filling that hole, or trimming those thorns depending on what analogy you want to use.  If he does OK he'll be real cheap and if he does well the ChiSox will want him back, Verdict: Extremely likely

Tigers: They're always trying to compete and have the money.  Although they need some pitching an offer to Manny could work, Verdict: Possible

Rangers: Similar to the Thome situation in Minnesota, it's likely that the Rangers resign their own (Vlad), Verdict: Unlikely

A's: They are no longer rebuilding per se and need a lot of hitting.  They have plenty of DH types already but they've also had a history of getting guys like this (i.e. Frank Thomas, Mike Piazza, Jason Giambi (2nd time around), Verdict: Likely

Angels: They aren't going to start some rebuilding process but I just can't see them signing a guy like Manny. He doesn't fit in with the 'Angels way', Verdict: Hell no.