The Jim Thome saga is over. He’s headed to Minnesota. I had made multiple posts on why the Chicago White Sox would have been wise to bring back the left handed hitter but alas he won’t be coming back.
In Minnesota he’ll have to battle for at-bats but could get the bulk of playing time at DH based on what happens in the outfield with Delmon Young.
Thome, who turns 40 later this season, hit .249/.366/.481 last year with 23 homers. He was traded to the Dodgers late in the year where he played primarily as a pinch hitter.
The Twins were known to have interest in Thome but the slugger was perhaps hoping for a reunion with the White Sox that never came to be. It was a back and forth to whether the White Sox were truly interested in Thome with the latest comments coming from manager Ozzie Guillen that it would be hard to find the big man at-bats and that the team would have no problems bringing him back in spring training if their current trio of DH candidates didn’t work out.
Those comments were all Thome and the Twins needed to make this official.
We likely won’t have to wait long to see if the White Sox made the right decision on Thome.
