Surely the Tigers should get on this.

The headline would be better if it read:

[White] Sox set to sign Orlando [Hudson].

Better not call Kenny Williams a pimp

Actually it's not a "curious move" at all. Given that a) current 3b Brent Morel is headed to the DL with back pain, and that b) KW has always had a Hudson fetish, and also almost always gets "his man".

My guess is that they leave Beckham at 2b (he's showing signs of perhaps being a solid regular this year) and try and implement Hudson at 3b until Morel's back feels better.

I find it a bit curious, absent the "KW gets his man" angle. I don't know much about the White Sox, but isn't Lillibridge hitting fairly well in a super-utility role? Can he not fake 3B for a while? Didn't Viciedo come up at the hot corner? He couldn't do it any more? Didn't Beckham himself play some 3B? Wouldn't that make more sense? Hudson's never had a good arm, even for a 2B, has he?

EDIT: And re-reading the comments, shouldn't the Twins be interested as well? They're currently starting Jamey Carroll AND Alexi Casilla on a daily basis. I guess they wouldn't want to foot the $6m, as bad as they are.

I seem to recall hearing Hudson did not mesh well with the rest of the Twins clubhouse which is odd since he's considered such a great clubhouse guy. Besides, the Twins have already been eliminated from contention so there's no point unless you think Hudson is toast and can help you clinch the #1 pick for 2013.

I find it a bit curious, absent the "KW gets his man" angle. I don't know much about the White Sox, but isn't Lillibridge hitting fairly well in a super-utility role? Can he not fake 3B for a while? Didn't Viciedo come up at the hot corner? He couldn't do it any more? Didn't Beckham himself play some 3B? Wouldn't that make more sense? Hudson's never had a good arm, even for a 2B, has he?

Lillibridge hit well enough in 2011 (.258/.340/.505) but he's off to a rough start this year (OPS+ of 5). Lilli's 2011 was probably an outlier as he never hit that well in the minors. He's useful because he can play five positions relatively well, but he's not a starter. Plus, he never played 3B in the minors and has only 9 games at 3B in the majors.

Viciedo just doesn't have the defensive chops for third. It'd be like putting Konerko at 3B.

I'm not sure what they're going to do with Hudson. Beckham's a legitimate Gold Glove-quality second baseman so I don't want to see him moved. Hudson's probably an upgrade over Eduardo Escobar but I'm not sure if Hudson can play 3B or SS. If he can play third he's a nice pick up until Morel heals & learns to hit major league pitching.

But, again, what are the Tigers waiting for? If you've ever played 2B for a beer-league softball team the Tigers should be giving you a tryout much less if you were not long ago a decent ML 2B.

For those that don't know, Tiger 2Bs in 2012: 169/243/262. And, although I don't know how much of this was at 2B or other positions, the guys who've mainly played 2B for the Tigers are a combined -9 runs on defense too. Raburn and Santiago have so far been worth -1.4 WAR. O-Dog this year has been a terrible 211/260/317 and 63 OPS+ but he was in the mid-90s 2010-11. He's been at least replacement level this year and was +1 last year.

Beckham's a legitimate Gold Glove-quality second baseman so I don't want to see him moved.

Is he? He looks like a competent second baseman, but he doesn't look all that special to my eyes. Neither Total Zone or UZR like him that much -- TZ has him at 9 runs below average for his career, UZR has him at slightly less than a run above average. I could accept (though I don't think) that he's above average, but he's not an elite defensive player. And this bring up the problem of his hitting 206/276/328. That's a 65 OPS+, which would mark his third consecutive year of decline if he keeps it up. Oh, and he's arb eligible after the season.

More generally, the Sox thus far have had sub-replacement production at 2B, SS, and 3B, and replacement level from LF and RF. I'm content with Viciedo (he has an upside) and they're stuck with Rios, but they need to fix the infield. If Hudson can be replacement level at 3B then he's a big upgrade. And, realistically, he's not worse than Beckham at 2B.

Oh, and he's arb eligible after the season.

Well, look on the bright side. He's not liable to get all that expensive.

Honestly, regarding Beckham's defense, I'm going completely on what I see of him; I haven't even looked at his defensive stats. He's got a great arm & range, and rarely makes a bonehead mistake or error (unlike, say, Alexei).

His hitting is still a huge problem, though he is having a solid May so far (.250/.313/.431). Beckham's bat wouldn't be a problem if the Sox shortstop, third baseman, left and right fielder didn't have OPS+ of 38, 17, 88, & 89.

The Sox would be off the hook for the remaining $5.85 million on Hudson’s salary, minus the pro-rated minimum of $480,000, once he clears waivers…

Isn't that "on the hook"? I would expect the Padres to be "off the hook" in this situation.

TVE -

The Padres pay all but the pro-rated league minimum, which is what the White Sox are paying.

He meant "off the hook" as in, e.g., "for shizzle."

The Padres pay all but the pro-rated league minimum, which is what the White Sox are paying.

It's still a strange use of the phrase. Generally, one only uses "off the hook" when the party was previously "on the hook," which was never the case with the White Sox.

ODog played 3B his first three years in the minors, prior to 2001. He was moved to 2B in AA partly because the Jays also had Eric Hinske coming up at 3B. Baseball America in the 2002 Prospect handbook listed Hudson as 2B/3B, and said he could be moved back if Hinske proved unable to defensively handle the hot corner.
And the move suited the ODog: in 2001 he really blossomed as a hitter, got sent to the Arizona Fall league where he ripped it up, and played for Team USA in the World Cup.
(I'm not saying the White Sox are making a good move here, I'm just pointing out that Hudson has played some 3B in his life.)

The Padres are "off the hook" in the sense that ODog is not "playing" for them anymore.