This week's contestant on Free Agent Friday is the first domestic product we have featured.  That player is Scott Podsednik.  Scotty Pods was picked up off the scrap heap by the Sox early last season and he had a great impact with the Sox.  But because of what his status was at the time, the Sox were only willing to take a 1-year waiver on Podsednik, now he's a free agent, and the Sox have a big decision to make.

Podsednik hit a solid .304, while racking up 25 doubles, 30 stolen bases, and scoring 75 runs.  He did all of this in 135 games, none of which coming before May 1st.  Podsednik is a career .277 hitter and his speed numbers have been down over the past 4 years as he used to be a 40+ SB guy, while now you are looking at probably 20-30, if you're lucky.  His versatility in the outfield is nice to have, but unfortunately, he's really not good at any of the outfield positions.

Pods made $500,000 last season and made slightly more ($750K) the year before.  However last season's "remergence" has him thinking at least in the millions area.  The $1 million plus contract is not the issue that the Sox are having with re-signing Podsednik though.  The problem is that Scott wants a multi-year deal, and as a 33 year old lead-off hitter who's success has not been horribly consistent, the Sox may not be willing to complete that deal.

I think Podsednik fits in nicely with the White Sox, and he always has.  But I just can't see the Sox going multi-year on this guy.  With Danks, Mitchell, and more waiting in the wings to take that spot, the Sox aren't about to hold their highly rated prospects back to allow time for Podsednik's skills to continue to decline.  That is not to say that a deal will not get done though.  I really can't see any team giving this guy a multi-year deal, so it's going to come down to how much he can make in just 1 year.  And I think the Sox will be right in the middle of the bidding, and they certainly have the upper hand based on Podsednik's history with the organization.  Scott likes the White Sox organization, the White Sox organization likes Scott, but the terms are not matching up at the moment.  If I were to guess though, I think they will match at some point, just place your bet on a more costly 1-year deal over a 2-year bargain.

Chance Scott Podsednik is on the White Sox in 2010 - 70%

Photo compliments of i.a.cnn.net/si/

UPDATE - About 4 minutes after I finished this post, I read on a SunTimes blog that the negotiations between the Sox and Podsednik have taken "two steps backwards" and that Kenny is beginning to look elsewhere for a leadoff hitter.

I'll adjust my percentage to 50% after seeing this news.

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