When the White Sox signed 35-year old righty starting pitcher Freddy Garcia over the winter not many people thought he would make much of a impact in 2010. After all, from 2007-09 Garcia pitched in 23 games (all starts) in which he was 5-10 with a 5.02 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. This season though Garcia has been very solid for the Pale Hose. He has pitched in 14 games (all starts) for the White Sox this season and he is 8-3 with a 4.66 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. I guess not too many White Sox fans should be surprised at how well Garcia is pitching for them this season. He has pitched in 105 games (all starts) in his 5 years with the White Sox and he is 51-28 with a 4.30 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. The White Sox are praying that Garcia can stay healthy the whole year.

The White Sox have traded 27-year old lefty reliever Wes Whisler to the Marlins for future considerations. Whisler pitched in 19 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the White Sox this year and he was 0-0 with a 5.02 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP. Whisler pitched in 3 games (0 starts) for the White Sox in 2009 and he was 0-0 with a 13.50 ERA and a 2.25 WHIP. The White Sox have a lot of pitchers they like more than Whisler so they won’t miss him.

The White Sox have sent 28-year old righty swinging catcher Jared Price to the A’s likely for a bucket of baseballs. Price played in 35 games in AA-ball this year and he was 20 of 102 (.196 avg, .591 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 3 homers and 5 RBIs. He also whiffed 39 times while only walking 9 times this year showing an utter lack of plate discipline. The White Sox won’t miss Price at all.

UPDATE: (6/28/2010) - The A’s have sent 25-year old righty swinging 2B/SS Michael Richard to complete this trade. Richard has played in 42 games in A+AA-ball this season and he is 26 of 125 (.208 avg, .533 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 7 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He has now played in 283 games in his four years in the minors and he is 275 of 1,016 (.271 avg, .690 OPS) with 171 runs scored, 4 homers, 91 RBIs and 87 stolen bases. The White Sox got by far the better end of this trade.

When the White Sox signed 43-year old switch hitting 2B/SS/3B Omar Vizquel they thought they wouldn’t need to use him a whole lot. He was brought in to pretty much mentor 2B Gordon Beckham and SS Alexei Ramirez. But when starting 3B Mark Teahan went down with a broken finger Vizquel found himself getting a lot of starts at 3B and he has been holding his own there. Vizquel has played in 33 games for the White Sox so far this season and he is 28 of 108 (.259 avg, .656 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 1 homer, 14 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. It will be interesting to see how the Hall of Fame voters handle Vizquel five years after he retires. He likely won’t get to 3,000 hits as he currently has 2,732. Vizquel also has 391 stolen bases and 11 Gold Gloves. His career resembles that of Ozzie Smith who made the Hall in his first year on the ballot.

33-year old righty reliever J.J. Putz had a rough time with the Mets last season but you wouldn’t know it by watching him right now. Putz has pitched in 22 games (0 starts) for the Pale Hose so far this season and he is 1-2 with a 2.38 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP. He has only given up 16 hits in 22 2/3 innings this season while whiffing 29 batters and only walking 4. A lot of other teams have been scouting Putz but with the White Sox’ sudden surge they likely won’t be looking to move him any time soon.