In his first season of arbitration eligibility, Bobby Jenks will be paid 10 times more than last season, but he remains one of Baseball's best bargains because of his age.
Jenks, 27, avoided arbitration by signing a one-year, $5.6 million contract compared to last year's $550,000, but he still fits in with the White Sox's new frugality. Closers are among the hardest commodities to find in Baseball. Just ask Central Division rival Cleveland, which will be paying ex-Cub Kerry Wood $20.5 million over the next two years. Of course, Wood was a free agent and Jenks has three years left before reaching that status, so he comes cheap, or relatively so.
That is fine with the Sox, whose payroll is only about $92 million for 16 players. That means they should reach their goal of starting the season under $100 million.
Jenks was the last Sox player eligible for arbitration, meaning most of their remaining signees will earn less than $1 million each.
So far, he has been the Sox's must cost-effective find, claimed off waivers from the Angels in 2004 but saving 87.9 percent of his career opportunities, fifth best in the American League in the last four seasons.
Last season Jenks recorded 30 saves -- the first Sox pitcher with that total or more for three straight seasons -- and a 2.63 ERA, although his strikeouts and pitch velocity have dropped dramatically. Three years ago, he fanned 80 batters in 692/3 innings, then 56 in 65 innings and last year only 38 in 61 2/3 innings. That may be part of the reason his name cropped up in trade rumors earlier this winter, perhaps as motivation for him to get into better shape.
dvandyck@tribune.com
