Source: White Sox Close To Signing Omar Vizquel

The only bad thing about the White Sox adding Jake Peavy to the team last July is that he was the team's biggest "free-agent signing" of this offseason.  Which means that for someone like me, who loves to come up with ideas and pretend he's running the team during the winter, it's going to be a boring offseason when it comes to the team I love.

There aren't going to be any major deals pulled off by the Sox this winter, instead we'll hear news about trades like the one that sent Chris Getz and Mark Teahen to Kansas City for Mark Teahen -- get your World Series tickets now! -- and other minor free agent signings.

Signings like the one Fox's Ken Rosenthal is reporting is close to being finished.  According to Rosenthal the White Sox are about to sign veteran shortstop Omar Vizquel to a one-year deal.

The White Sox are close to signing free-agent shortstop Omar Vizquel to a one-year contract, according to a major-league source.


Vizquel, 42, will serve largely as a backup to shortstop Alexei Ramirez, but also can spell second baseman Gordon Beckham and third baseman Mark Teahen.


He spent last season with the Rangers in a similar role, appearing in 27 games at short, 20 at third and 16 at second.


The move will unite Vizquel, perhaps the greatest shortstop from Venezuela, with his countryman, White Sox manager — and former shortstop — Ozzie Guillen.

Let me just say right now that I have no problem what so ever with this deal if it turns out to be true.  Now I'm not exactly excited by the fact that the Sox are about to sign a 42-year old shortstop -- maybe if it was 1995 -- but this is still a good move for the team.

Omar Vizquel is not the same player he used to be -- which, in my estimation, was the greatest defensive shortstop I ever saw play -- but he can be very useful, and not just in the handful of games he'll actually play.  Adding someone like Vizquel can only help an infield defense that wasn't exactly amazing last season.

He will make Alexei Ramirez, Gordon Beckham and Mark Teahen better players with their glove.  Plus, he can also teach them how to hunt anacondas, which is always a useful tool to have in your belt because you never know when one of those giant bastards is going to pop up.