White Sox Claim Alex Rios on Waivers

The White Sox will take on outfielder Alex Rios, and the remaining guaranteed $59.7 million on his contract (which runs through 2014), for the stretch run after successfully claiming him off of waivers from the Blue Jays, according to multiple reports.

Chicago will not send a player to Toronto in exchange for Rios, making the deal a straight salary dump.

Because of the money involved, it's a fascinating transaction.

White Sox GM Kenny Williams has taken on a staggering amount of salary in the last two weeks -- first by swooping for Jake Peavy, who is owed $52 million over the next three seasons, and now by adding Rios.

Both players can help Chicago during the stretch run of this season. Peavy, currently on the disabled list, is an ace and former Cy Young winner. Rios has struggled this year, hitting .264 with a .744 OPS, but, just 28, is capable of better, and could be particularly useful to Ozzie Guillen if he can play center field regularly.

Rios has played 106 games in center during his career -- eight this season -- and the White Sox have gotten almost nothing out of that position, with Chicago center fielders hitting .224 in 2009.

Still, such gaudy financial commitments suggest Williams was not simply thinking about the three-way logjam atop the AL Central this year when he made these moves. Peavy further solidifies an excellent rotation that also features Mark Buehrle and John Danks. Rios could be the right fielder of the future on the South Side with the 35-year-old Jermaine Dye potentially a free agent after the season.

As for the Blue Jays, this is the type of salary relief general manager J.P. Ricciardi was looking for when he dangled ace right-hander Roy Halladay in trade talks that consumed the entire month of July.

Rios is just one of the bad contracts Ricciardi has saddled Toronto with in recent seasons, limiting the team's flexibility as it tries to compete in the cutthroat AL East.

Though the Jays have made some noise about regrouping and contending with Halladay next season, much of that talk seems hollow now. Highly-touted youngster Travis Snider could potentially fill the offensive void next season, and Toronto could use Rios' money elsewhere in hopes of making a run, but it feels more like the beginning of a tear-down-and-rebuild process.

"From the standpoint of a financial dump, that's not the message we're trying to send," Ricciardi told reporters. "It enables us to have more financial flexibility.

"I think what's happened since we did the contract is the game has changed in so many ways economically in the last year."

Perhaps, with the financial burden lightened, the Jays really can make a run at the Yankees and Red Sox next year. At the least, it's not out of the realm of possibility.

Just don't be surprised if Halladay -- and any other expensive assets Toronto has on its books -- wind up back on the trading block this winter.

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Oakland Rajai Davis steals second base against Baltimore Orioles Brian Roberts in the ninth inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland, Monday, August 10, 2009. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun/MCT)

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