White Sox Extend Matt Thornton

Having lost former closer Bobby Jenks via free agency, and setup men J.J. Putz and Scott Linebrink via free agency and trade respectively, the Sox made a move to retain one of their own by resigning left handed Matt Thornton. The team announced today that they had an agreement in place that will keep Thornton in the White Sox black for two more seasons, and possibly a third if his 2014 option is picked up.

White Sox, Alexei Ramirez Agree On Contract Extension

Quality shortstops are a precisous and rare commodity in baseball, and outside of the steroid era, they always have been. There were a total of just four shortstops with at least 4 WAR in 2010, 6 in 2009, and 4 in 2008 - and Hanley Ramirez was the only one to be worth at least 4 WAR in each of those seasons. So in the rare event that a team finds a player they feel can provide long-term production at anywhere near that level, it behooves them to do everything within their ability to do just that.