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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.

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Say what you want about Jim Thome. Say every-time he goes tot he plate he’ll be swinging for 600 or that he can leg any double into a single but don’t say the other options at DH are any better in Chicago.

The White Sox appeared to be ready to enter the season with some sort of platoon at DH revolving around everyday players Paul Konerko, Carlos Quentin as well as Andruw Jones and Mark Kotsay.

Of course the idea of a reunion with Jim Thome has always been there and finally it appears the two sides may be moving towards one even though the White Sox denied interest as recently as two days ago.

Thome would best be used against right handed pitching only. Last year he hit .262/.383/.498 against right handers while he hit just .209/.314/.429 against lefties.

Over the past four season Thome has played in 546 games and has posted a .265/.390/.539 line all while hitting 134 homers with 372 RBI. Never-mind he only appeared in 124 games last season, that was in large part to the lack of a position to put Thome at for a National League club. With that being said it’s obvious Thomes numbers were to take a drop last season but it’s worth noting Thome still averaged a home run ever 4.6 games while a member of the White Sox, a number that is up just a tad from his 4.3 in 2008 when he hit 34 homers.

Obviously the man can still swing it.

The knock against Thome is his lack of speed. None of the aforementioned players have any speed to speak of either.

While Konerko and Quentin figure to have everyday positions the players who would be most effected by the White Sox signing Thome are Jones and Kotsay. Kotsay originally was brought back to serve as a backup at first base, while Jones was the early choice for DH. Jones could be used to play the corner outfield spots to allow Carlos Quentin a day off or in case Juan Pierre struggles.

Mark Kotsay isn’t the type of player who you guarantee 500 at-bats to. Kotsay hasn’t had double digit steals since 2002 and has never hit more then 15 homers in a season. Andruw Jones may have been a nice first half story last year and while he did hit 17 homers he finished with a dismal .214/.323/.459 line which hardly screams reason to get at-bats until he proves otherwise. Any scenario that would garner Omar Vizquel at-bats will ultimately weaken the offense and unless the organization changes it’s opinion of Tyler Flowers that wouldn’t figure to be a bunch of offense coming from the DH spot.

Simply put Thome’s numbers from last season far exceeded the current options on the White Sox for DH. It’s time a deal gets done just don’t let him play against lefties and there will be no problems.

The White Sox have tried to compare their plans for the DH role to those of the Los Angeles Angels. The problem is the Angels have 10 players who can produce, the White Sox do not. All of those players would be in the Angels lineup at some position on any given day. The White Sox would use the DH to give days off from the field and in turn put in a weaker player who normally would be used in a bench role.

Say what you want but the talent level is not the same between the two teams. No matter how you say it or try to write it down the White Sox gather no additional team speed no matter who they put in the DH role so they might as well go with the guy who can hit the ball best and against right handers that means signing Jim Thome is a no-brainer.

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Last season prior to the trade deadline the Chicago White Sox traded away DH Jim Thome. While the trade didn’t exactly make headlines like it would have five years ago, it signaled them waiving a white flag in the divisional race.

At 39 years of age Thome is running out of time to win a ring. With the rotation the White Sox have built up and a decent overall offense they offer as good of a chance as any team does of making the World Series next season. Mind you that means any team that plays outside of Boston or New York.

Prior to last season Thome stated he planned to play two more seasons, which at the time was puzzling because Thome had one year left on his deal he originally signed with Philadelphia. I wondered what type of market there would be for an aging DH who can’t play a position. Well that market seems to be as ripe as any though Thome is limited to the teams in the American League for those same reasons. There’s no shortage of teams that look better when you put the name Jim Thome next to the letters DH and in Chicago it may be even better looking for the team and the player.

Following the 2002 season Thome left the Cleveland Indians for the Philadelphia Philles who offered Thome a large contract as they were moving into a new ballpark.  Thome hit 47 homers in his first season with the Phillies to tie for the NL lead and then 42 the next. Injuries struck and coupled with the growth of Ryan Howard it was time for Thome to move on. He was traded to the White Sox and over the next four seasons fortified a lineup that already had big power ability.

Over the past four season Thome has played in 546 games and has posted a .265/.390/.539 line all while hitting 134 homers with 372 RBI. Never-mind he only appeared in 124 games last season, that was in large part to the lack of a position to put Thome at for a National League club. With that being said it’s obvious Thomes numbers were to take a drop last season but it’s worth noting Thome still averaged a home run ever 4.6 games while a member of the White Sox, a number that is up just a tad from his 4.3 in 2008 when he hit 34 homers.

Obviously the man can still swing it.

Does that mean there’s a spot for him on the White Sox? Following his trade last season the White Sox played Scott Podsednik in the DH role the majority of the time. Looking over at the White Sox roster you have to feel that the team is comfortable moving Carlos Quentin back to left field for 2010 and while it’s unclear what the team will do with center and right Alex Rios figures to occupy one of them while the resigned Mark Kotsay figure to act as a fourth outfielder/defensive sub at first base behind Paul Konerko.

You can quickly look at the rest of the team and see there’s nobody who really could provide the production at DH that Jim Thome could. Mark Kotsay isn’t Jim Thome, playing Quentin at DH only cries for another outfielder to be signed, and while I’m as high on Tyler Flowers he’s going to need a bit more seasoning before he puts up those minor league numbers at the major league level.

When Thome hit his 500th career home run it was with the White Sox, he passed Ernie Banks not too long later and while he’s 36 short of 600 there’s still some excitement that he could reach that number this season as he had hit 42, 35, 34 in his last three full seasons with the White Sox and last season was on pace for another 30-plus campaign.

You’d also be hard pressed to find many in Chicago who wouldn’t welcome Jim Thome back. He’s humble and productive and is a great presence in the community and the dugout. He’s also still searching for that ring.

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