This news is about as welcome as a fatal chest wound for many White Sox fans, who have grown tired of Viciedo's wild swings, poor plate discipline and lousy defense in the outfield.
The 25-year-old is coming off his worst season in the major leagues, in which he posted a .231/.281/.405 slash line. All three of those figures are career worsts. Viciedo did total 21 home runs and 58 RBIs, but he also struck out more times (122) than he had hits (121).
It's hard to see how Viciedo fits into the plan for the 2015 White Sox. The outfield is set with Melky Cabrera in left field, Adam Eaton in center and Avisail Garcia in right. There's no room at designated hitter, either, with Jose Abreu and Adam LaRoche set to split duties between first base and DH.
Viciedo at this point looks like an overpriced, one-dimensional (to put it charitably) bench player. Accordingly, you would think general manager Rick Hahn will be motivated to try to get Viciedo off his projected 25-man roster.
You also would think the $4.4 million contract would be an impediment to trying to deal Viciedo, but the more I think about it, maybe this will actually help Hahn in his efforts to make a trade. Now that Viciedo's contract for next year is in place, any potential trade partner now knows what the cost will be to acquire this player for the 2015 season. Up until Monday's announcement, any acquiring team would have to worry about Viciedo potentially taking them to arbitration, a process that is notorious for favoring players -- especially when Scott Boras is that player's agent, which is the case with Viciedo.
With cost certainty, maybe it's easier to make a deal. If you're a White Sox fan who wants Viciedo gone, at least you can hope that's the case.
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