Trade Spotlight (Update on Sydney White)

Hardball Dynasty's

Sidney White

Following up on the prior Trade Spotlight, Sidney White has a new home in Seattle, and it is suiting him just fine. 25 games into S6, White is hitting .315/.371/.562 while playing 3B for the Mariners. To land White, the Mariners gave up Cristobal Vizcaino, Jolbert Acevedo, and Antonio Maeda.

White, along with the recently acquired Taylor Mullin and Harry Alonso, has the potential to help Seattle field a top offensive team, even while playing home games in the pitcher's haven of Safeco Field. Only time will tell whether that is enough to help the Mariners rebound from a disappointing S5 and revert back to the S4 form that netted them a 101-61 record.

Trade Spotlight (Sydney White, Minnesota Twins)

Name: Sydney White
OVR: 81
Age: 29
B/T: L/R
Position: 3B/RF

Last season: .300/.355/.508/.863, 25 HR in 453 AB.
ML Career: .284/.342/.463/.805, 233 XBH in 2410 AB.
Contract: Arbitration-Eligible, seeking $7.3M.

Comments: Sydney is being pushed out of Minnesota by the emergence of 3B Virgil Mendoza and RF Hiram Bang. Though Sydney has been a .300+ hitter in 3 of his 5 ML seasons, Virgil is a superstar-in-the-making who cannot be denied and Bang has proven to excel as a Twin. One of the most interesting things about Sydney is that he is continuing to improve, despite being over 27. From the start of Season 5 to the start of Season 6, he picked up 1 point in health (now 83), one point in makeup (now 94), and one point in vRH (now 85), while not having a single rating drop!

Looking For: Youth. The main reason Sydney is being shopped is the money he is asking for. While he is a very good player, Minnesota does not want to spend $7.3M on a utility guy/backup 3B. The contract demands do, however, drive down his value somewhat, and so the Twins are only hoping to land a future ML setup guy or future ML utility player (top glove and power preferred, splits not expected but a bonus).

Best Suited For: (1) A Top Contender who wants that one more bat to help make the push over the top, especially vs. RH pitchers or (2) A rebuilding team that has cap room to spare. Sydney can either be shopped again at the trade deadline, when a Top Contender needs that one extra piece and may be willing to overpay or, with a 81 OVR, he would almost certainly be a Type A when he goes FA, and he'd bring in good draft picks as compensation to help with the rebuilding process.

Trade chat or offer up if interested, but move quickly because the Twins would like to work something out prior to the arbitration hearings.