Out of nowhere, the Sox signed Danks to a five year, $65MM extension. This move comes as a shock as it was rumored that Danks was being shopped at the winter meetings at Dallas. It was smart of the White Sox to sign Danks while his value was low after having a down 2011 in which the young southpaw went 8-12 with a 4.37 ERA.
The White Sox will control Danks through the end of the 2017 season. Having Danks will anchor the rotation with the departure of Mark Buehrle to Florida this off-season and Peavy becoming a free agent after the upcoming season.
It had been said earlier in the off-season that Danks and the Sox were “nowhere close” to signing an extension, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports even predicted that Danks “would go”. It just goes to show you that you never know what GM Kenny Williams will do.
This move leaves questions: Are the Sox done rebuilding? Will the Sox deal Floyd, Quentin or Thornton? Will the Sox content next season? The fact of the matter is that the AL Central is still very winnable, and the Sox have as a good as chance as the other four teams. In an off-season of many questions, the Sox continue to scratch heads.
