Carlos Correa signs 13-year deal (!) with San Francisco Giants

Carlos Correa

The San Francisco Giants swung and missed in their attempt to sign Aaron Judge, who was the biggest free agent on the market this offseason.

Give the Giants credit. They dusted themselves off and took a big swing at the second-biggest free agent available. This time, they converted, reeling in All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa with a 13-year, $350 million contract.

Thirteen years!

Correa is 28 years old, a superstar in the prime of his career. I don't doubt for one second that Correa is going to be tremendously productive during the front half of that contract. The back half? We'll see. The deal takes him through his age-40 season. He might not be so good by then, but if the Giants win the World Series while Correa is still an elite player, I'm sure they can live with it.

The thing about Correa is, he was a free agent last offseason, too. He signed with the Minnesota Twins for three years, $105 million -- with an opt out after each season. After one season with Minnesota, he opted out and bet on himself. Now, he's cashed in big.

I've heard that Correa was looking for a 10-year deal last year. The Cubs were among the teams interested, but ultimately, nobody was willing to give him that length of contract. Had a team offered him that, they'd probably have Correa under contract for nine more years at this point.

Instead, he went back on the open market and got himself 13 years, after two other prominent shortstops signed for 11 years -- Trea Turner in Philadelphia and Xander Bogaerts in San Diego.

It just goes to show that the price for these elite players only tends to go up. Some of these teams that are waiting for the price to come down to levels they are "comfortable" with, that's just a failing strategy.

Now, Dansby Swanson is the top remaining shortstop on the market. He's a good player, but he's not a franchise changer like Correa or Turner.

However, I won't be surprised if some team gives Swanson the contract that Correa should have gotten last season.

2 White Sox players finish atop American League leaderboard

Tim Anderson

I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge Tim Anderson and Jose Abreu for making White Sox history this season.

Anderson, who hit .240 during the 2018 season, pretty much shocked the baseball world by winning the 2019 American League batting title. He finished the year at .335, comfortably ahead of the New York Yankees' DJ LeMahieu, who batted .327.

There are only two other players in Sox history who have won a batting title, Luke Appling (1936, 1943) and Frank Thomas (1997), so Anderson is joining select company.

Abreu, meanwhile, totaled a career-high 123 RBIs to lead the American League. Kansas City's Jorge Soler and Boston's Xander Bogaerts finished second with 117 RBIs each.

This marks the first time a Sox player has led the AL in RBIs since Dick Allen did it in 1972. In other words, it has happened in my lifetime (which spans 43 years).

I've heard some fans grump that they don't care about "these individual accomplishments," and while I agree that team success is more important, and while I agree that the losing on the South Side of Chicago has grown tiresome, I also have an appreciation for baseball history and White Sox history when I see it.

We don't see Sox hitters lead the league in significant categories too often, so I see no harm in extending congratulations to Anderson and Abreu for the seasons they had at the plate.

White Sox representatives help American League win All-Star Game

White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito entered Tuesday's All-Star Game in the fourth inning and immediately walked Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman on four pitches.

None of the four pitches were anywhere close to being a strike, and Giolito's 3-0 pitch was so high it almost sailed over catcher Gary Sanchez's head.

I nervously shifted a little bit in my seat as I watched on TV. The American League was clinging to a 1-0 lead at the time, and as a fan, I never want a Sox pitcher to be the reason the AL loses the game.

Fortunately, Giolito made a nice recovery. He struck out Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Cody Bellinger, who is the best player in the National League this season, on a 2-2 changeup for the first out. Four pitches later, Giolito was out of the inning.

He induced a grounder to third base off the bat of Colorado's Nolan Arenado for the second out. Pittsburgh first baseman Josh Bell then grounded out to second, stranding Freeman at second base.

Giolito threw only 13 pitches. He preserved the 1-0 lead, and the AL went on to beat the National League, 4-3, for its seventh straight victory in the midsummer classic. The AL has won 19 of the past 23 games -- a string of dominance reminiscent of what the NL did when I was a kid.

Sox catcher James McCann also contributed to the victory, singling in his only at-bat in the seventh inning. The hit to right-center moved Oakland third baseman Matt Chapman, who had walked, from first to third with nobody out. Chapman eventually scored when Xander Bogaerts grounded into a double play. That was part of a two-run inning that gave the AL a 4-1 edge.

The NL got two in the eighth on a two-out, two-run single by the New York Mets' Pete Alonso, but New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the ninth to wrap up the AL win.

What about Jose Abreu, you ask? Well, he grounded into a double play in his only at-bat in the bottom of the eighth, but at least he hit it hard (103 mph exit velocity) -- right at NL shortstop Paul DeJong.

So, it wasn't a perfect night for Sox representatives, but it was a good night. Giolito and McCann contributed, and the AL won. I'll take it.

White Sox ace Chris Sale becomes first 12-game winner in majors

Chris Sale

White Sox ace Chris Sale became the major leagues' first 12-game winner Tuesday night, as he tossed seven innings of one-run ball to lift the South Siders to a 3-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Sale (12-2) allowed just four hits and one walk. He equaled his season high in strikeouts with nine.

Rookie shortstop Tim Anderson staked Sale to an early lead by hitting the first pitch of the game from Boston starter Clay Buchholz over the Green Monster for his first career home run. The Sox added one more in the first inning when Adam Eaton doubled and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Melky Cabrera.

The Sox remained ahead 2-0 until the third inning when Boston scored its lone run on two singles and a sacrifice fly by Mookie Betts. The Red Sox loaded the bases after that, as Dustin Pedroia singled and Xander Bogaerts walked. But Sale escaped any further trouble by striking out Hanley Ramirez on a nasty slider.

Boston never threatened against Sale the rest of the night.

Todd Frazier connected for his 20th home run of the season in the fourth inning to put the Sox ahead 3-1 and complete the scoring. Nate Jones and David Robertson combined for two innings of shutout relief, with Robertson earning a four-out save -- his 18th of the year.

The Sox (35-36) have won two games in a row for the just the second time in June, and with the team playing in Boston, ESPN is predictably starting the rumors about how the Sox need to trade Sale to the Red Sox.

Sale is probably the best pitcher in the American League, and he is signed to a team-friendly deal through the 2019 season. His production and his contract make him one of the most valuable players in baseball. I have no doubt the Red Sox would covet him for their rotation. What team wouldn't?

But here's the thing that really pisses me off about these "trade Sale" articles: The authors always make it sound as if Sale can be had for a package of prospects who are currently toiling at Double-A or Triple-A.

I don't think so, friends.

The White Sox should not trade the best pitcher in the league unless they are getting at least one major league position player in return. The ESPN author of this Red Sox article touts the three "young, inexpensive" stars on the Boston roster -- Bogaerts, Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr

My message to "Red Sox Nation" and ESPN is this: If you want the best pitcher in the American League on your roster, it's going to cost you one of either Betts or Bradley Jr. Highly regarded prospects aren't enough.

The White Sox are not anybody's farm team, and you're not acquiring a potential Cy Young winner for nothing more than a package of ifs and maybes, because after all, prospects are nothing more than ifs and maybes. There are plenty of teams out there that could use Sale, and I'll bet you one of them will be willing to send along a player or players who are already big-league caliber.

Any club that acquires Sale is getting three and a half years of an All-Star pitcher in his prime at cost-controlled price. I'm sorry, but that's worth more than Double-A players. 

Ill-timed walk costly for Carlos Rodon vs. Red Sox

Carlos Rodon

We know how the national media slobbers all over Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz. No doubt, the ESPN guys were excited by the game-changing, two-run homer Ortiz hit off Carlos Rodon in the fifth inning of Wednesday's 5-2 Boston win over the White Sox.

The home run turned a 2-1 Chicago advantage into a 3-2 Boston lead. The Red Sox finished the game off from there.

But from a White Sox perspective, I'm not so concerned about the home run Ortiz hit. Rodon served up a fat fastball, and he knows it. But the real sin Rodon committed in that inning was allowing Ortiz to get to the plate in the first place.

Rodon retired the first two hitters easily in that fifth inning, but then he issued a four-pitch, two-out walk to Xander Bogaerts. That's inexcusable with Ortiz on deck. In a one-run game, you go right at Bogaerts. If he hits his way on -- and he might because he's a good hitter -- so be it. But you can't afford to just give him first base and allow Ortiz to hit with a man on. Rodon was asking for it, and Ortiz made him pay.

If Rodon retires Bogaerts, the inning is over. The 2-1 White Sox lead stays intact. Ortiz leads off the next inning, and even if he hits one to the moon, the best he can do is tie the game. That's what you want when you're playing Boston -- you want to keep yourself out of situations where Ortiz can beat you. Rodon failed to do that, and he got beat.

Just overall, Rodon needs to work on limiting his walks. He's averaging 3.8 walks per nine innings through his first six starts this year. He's issued a team-high 14 walks in 33 innings, and his 1.394 WHIP is too high for a pitcher with his talent. The Sox are 2-4 in Rodon's starts. He'll start winning games when he stops giving away so many free bases to the opponent.