Yesterday, the Internet cruelly reminded me that Chris Carpenter — a pitcher! — had six RBI in the Cardinals’ win, the entire total Alex Rios has had in his time with the White Sox. This is, by all accounts, pretty sad. But as we know, Rois has been downright awful since Kenny Williams claimed him on waivers; Sox fans have just been told to be patient, and that an offseason and a fresh start in Spring Training will do wonders for him. It’s a wait till next year sort of thing.

So in an effort to see what’s going on with Rios I went to the numbers since he’s joined the Sox. Batting average? .175. On-base percentage? An incredibly low .208. OPS? .486. Jesus. Now, one thing to keep in mind here is that Rios didn’t come over at the trade deadline, he came over on waivers later, so he’s had 145 plate appearances in 39 games. Sure, that’s a decent sample size, but not quite as much as if he came over at the deadline. As Fan Graphs noted around his 100th plate appearance, his numbers with the Sox aren’t anything to get worked up about yet. (Thought his entire season probably is.)

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The White Sox lost again last night. That now makes nine out of their last ten. So, with their playoffs hopes all but dead, is there really any reason to bring up Jake Peavy this season, seeing that he became injured during his rehab stint? And it’s an injury to his throwing elbow, not something you should really mess around with?

Tell us the answer, Ozzie Guillen. Via the Trib:

“Believe me, if we fall more and I don’t think deep inside my heart and my guts that we have a chance, I will tell [general manager Ken Williams and pitching coach Don Cooper] to just shut him down and wait for next year,” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “I am honest with myself. It’s funny, because you can tell the fans anything you want. But when you go to sleep and think about how good you are or how bad you are, you’re not lying.”

Considering Guillen’s never been a guy to overstate his team’s chances, one would think Peavy won’t see the hill this season for the White Sox. And while the common man’s view of the Sox this season is that Kenny Williams is a bumbling idiot for trading for a guy at the deadline while the Sox were in the hunt that won’t pitch an inning this year, and picking up Alex Rios’ bad contract on waivers, only to seemingly abandon the reason he picked those guys up in the first place by trading Jim Thome and Jose Contreras, that’s simply not the case.

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Today over at Bulls Confidential, Doug Thomas argues this:

So my argument that spending huge money on Peavy proves Reinsdorf loves the Sox more than the Bulls wasn’t too moving to a lot of you. Different sports, different rules, Peavy’s awesome, Gordon stinks etc, etc.

How about spending 59.7 million dollars on Alex Rios? Are you going to tell me this guy is also better in his sport than Ben Gordon is in his? I’m not sure I’m buying it. Dude’s batting .264 with a .317 on base percentage. I’m not a huge baseball fan, but even I know that’s mediocre.

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I’m not even sure if Rios makes the Sox better this year, and if so, it came at a massive price. Maybe he replaces Dye in the future, but would you go out pay a guy batting .264 60 million to replace Dye?

However you break it down, when it comes to the Bulls, management is always talking about financial constraints and feasibility. The Sox saw no problem adding 100+ million in salary for two guys having down years, one of which couldn’t even play at the time of trade.

Thomas’ main argument here is this: Reinsdorf tends to spend more money, more frequently on the White Sox, a team that has a smaller profit margin year in and year out than the Bulls. This runs counter-intuitively to what one would assume: in theory, your business running on a leaner profit margin should be spending less than the one that’s profiting more. But Reinsdorf is on record as saying he gravitates more towards baseball and the White Sox in his fandom; he would trade all six Bulls titles for the World Series trophy. As such, Bulls fans might be a little irked by all this. (But what if you like the White Sox and the Bulls?)

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There were some rumblings about this over the weekend, and last night it became official: Alex Rios is now a member of the Chicago White Sox via a waiver claim. But with him comes around a $62 million pricey salary, which goes all the way through 2014.

He’s having a down year, as his slash line of .264/.317 /.427 is below his career averages. He crowds the outfield and the lineup. His career on-base percentage is .335. Some were confused by the move. I don’t blame them.

But for all the negatives and the salary risk, there’s plenty for the Sox to gain from this. Let me count the ways:

• Kenny Williams said the Sox were looking to acquire him at the trade deadline. Instead, the Sox gave up nothing. Alex Rios is 28 years old and in his prime.
• For all the unexpected good Scott Podsednik has brought this year, his last two weeks haven’t been as hot. His fielding has been suspect all season. Rios automatically comes in as the best glove in the outfield. By far. His career defensive numbers are very good. (Though, his UZR this year is nothing special.) Podsednik was nothing but a band-aid this season. Don’t expect him to be back next year now that Rios is on the team.
• Options are good. Carlos Quentin’s health has been shaky this year. Jermaine Dye needs days off. An outfield of Quentin/Dye/Rios/Podsednik is better than one featuring Quentin/Dye/Podsednik/Dewayne Wise. It just is.
• This frees up the Sox this offseason. The big three of Jermaine Dye (mutual $12 million dollar option after this season with a $1 million buyout attached), Jim Thome (free agent after this season) and Paul Konerko (free agent after 2010 season) have an inevitable breakup coming soon. Over on our Sox blog, Alex breaks down who is likely to stay and go. If the Sox part ways with either Dye or Thome, that frees up some salary to ease the pain of the Rios and Jake Peavy deals. It also makes room for Rios.

This wasn’t a blockbuster move by any means, but getting a guy you want for nothing, one that can steal bases, field his position well and can hit for decent power is never a bad thing.