The White Sox being mediocre and taxpayer-funded isn’t weird; it’s part of life. LaRoche being a bad hitter who threw a diva fit over his weird home-schooling demands is very weird.

we all wanted them to make a big splash into free agency this past winter, myself included, but there are a lot of perils going this route. we don’t know how this free agent class will play out, but look at the top contracts given out last year:

scherzer – 7yr/$210 – looks like it may be a good deal if he keeps pitching like he did last year.
lester – 6yr/$155 – totally overpay; can’t wait for the cubbies to enjoy this contract in the next year or 2.
sandoval – 5yr/$95 – what exactly was boston thinking? did they include meal stipends at old country buffet?
ramirez – 4yr/$88 – while he can hit, he’s a mangler in the field; i personally wouldn’t want to pay a dh $22m per year.
martin – 5yr/$82 – did ok last year, but i don’t think this contract will age well.
shields – 4yr/$75 – while not terrible, the sox seem to find guys who can be a 3/4 for a lot less.
tomas – 6yr/$68 – thank god we got the other cuban for $68m.
martinez – 4 yr/$68 – mulligan for last year due to his injuries. even if he bounces back this year, what about the last 2 years?
cruz – 4yr/$57 – great year last year, but if the sox don’t sign known cheaters, i’m ok with that.
santana – 4 yr/$55M – see shields. plus he got popped for cheating.

do i need to bring up the melky and laroche contracts? ack. they ended up with frazier and lawrie this offseason by trading what appears to be either AAAA type players or guys that have limited ceilings. time will tell on this front, but i think this has been a pretty impressive job by hahn even if we have been utterly frustrated by the lack of signing that marquee name.