Are the Twins are Laughing at the White Sox Today?

Yesterday the White Sox inked catcher A.J. Pierzynzki to a one-year, $2.5 million contract. While he spent last season as the backstop for the Giants, for the bulk of his major league career, A.J. was a member of the Minnesota Twins.

The Twins, winners of seemingly every AL Central Division title this millennium got rid of A.J. for good reasons. His abilities as a player are questionable; his personality is apt to rub teammates the wrong way. Most importantly, this just brings to light how foolish last summer’s trade of Miguel Olivo was.

In Olivo, the Sox had a young, developing star behind the plate. He’d come up through the Sox system with many of the Sox pitchers and prospects and seemed to fit into the team’s future plans quite well. Instead, Olivo’s potential was sent to the Mariners in exchange for Freddy Garcia, who was quickly rewarded with a rich contract that will likely limit the Sox’s ability to acquire front line players who are either already-in or coming-into their primes.

Now the Twins and their fans have one more reason to laugh at the White Sox; the Sox are now taking the Twins castoffs, and this doesn’t even really make them a better team than they were before.