Reuters UPDATE: Chicago just announced the Hudson signing and, as expected, placed Morel on the disabled list.
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It’s not official yet, but manager Robin Ventura confirmed what Peter Gammons of MLB.com reported over the weekend: Orlando Hudson is signing with the White Sox after being released by the Padres.
And not only that, with third baseman Brent Morel likely headed to the disabled list with a back injury Hudson is expected to see regular starts at third base, where he’s never played in 11 seasons. In fact, the 34-year-old Hudson has never played an inning anywhere other than second base.
San Diego is on the hook for the remaining $6 million or so on Hudson’s two-year, $11.5 million contract, so it’s a low-risk move for Chicago. Hudson hit just .238 with a .657 OPS in 154 total games for the Padres, but was a solid all-around player for the Twins as recently as 2010 and won’t have to hit much to be an upgrade over Morel offensively.
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- b7p19 - May 21, 2012 at 12:02 PM
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Look, I love O-dog as much as the next guy, but this has to be said. The White Sox have actually managed to make him LESS USEFUL by moving him to third. Touche.
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- icanspeel - May 21, 2012 at 1:32 PM
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I’ve said it before, but maybe a change of scenery (position) will help the o-dog, but there is also a reason the Padres dumped him
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- tmohr - May 21, 2012 at 4:30 PM
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The Sox have Conor Jackson and Dallas McPherson at AAA, yet felt the need to sign Hudson?
Kenny Williams must be playing 11-dimensional chess or something here.
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- Jeremiah Graves - May 22, 2012 at 5:38 PM
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Didn’t Beckham come up as a 3B? Why not move him back to the hot corner–at least he has experience there–and put O-Dog at 2B?!
The White Sox confuse the hell outta me.
First all the flip-flopping with the bullpen and now this?!
How long until O-Dog is closing out games on the South Side?!
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- jfegan - May 22, 2012 at 5:46 PM
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Hudson played 3B in the minor leagues, which is as much experience as Johnson and Jackson have at the position. McPherson isn’t a major league-quality hitter and was never lauded for his defense, and Beckham is an actual starter they care about rather than a fill-in, so they don’t want to jerk him around just because Morel hit the DL.
But no, Kenny Williams isn’t shuffling these sub-replacement level players in the way we’d like, so he clearly just ate a mountain of peyote.
