On a late night where everyone has been gathered around the Winter Meetings campfire waiting for the White Sox to complete a rumored deal for Jeff Samardzija, the Pale Hose went and pulled a fast one. Bob Nightengale is reporting that the Chicago White Sox will sign David Robertson to a four-year deal.
The Chicago #Whitesox have just signed closer David Robertson to a 4 year deal in excess of $40 million.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 9, 2014
For all the Yankees fans hoping Robertson would stay in the Bronx, they can at least take solace in the fact that he’ll still be wearing pinstripes.
The exact figure that Robertson will be signing for is not yet known, but Nightengale is reporting it as being over $40 million (UPDATE: the final figure is $46 million). As good as Robertson has been, that is a lot of money for a reliever. Compare that to another somewhat recent big money closer deal for Jonathan Papelbon who signed for four years, $50 million and it gives you an idea of the kind of territory they are in. It should also give you an idea of just how untradeable the contract will be if it starts to go bad for the South Siders.
That being said, this is a win now move for GM Rick Hahn who has already added Adam LaRoche and Zach Duke this offseason. Robertson serves as a very expensive fix to a very big problem for the Chicago, their bullpen, which was one of the worst in baseball in 2014. Whether this move and the rumored Shark deal are enough to leap all the way from 73 wins in 2014 to the top of the AL Central remains to be seen.
