The Master Builder

Draft and develop—that's the best way to put together a contender, right? Someone forgot to tell White Sox G.M. Kenny Williams: His team had a 2½-game lead in the AL Central after 100 games with an every-day lineup constructed mainly through savvy trades, waiver pickups and free-agent signings. (To wit: Williams's June 24 trade for third baseman Kevin Youkilis, who has bumped his OPS from .692 in Boston to .882 in Chicago.) Using WAR data, Fangraphs.com estimates the dollar value of a player's production—and by that measure many of Williams's pickups have already outperformed or nearly matched their 2012 salaries.

[The following text appears within a diagram. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual diagram.]

CF

ALEJANDRO DE AZA

ACQUIRED Waivers, 2009

2012 PERFORMANCE $10.7 million

2012 SALARY $495,000

LF

DAYAN VICIEDO

ACQUIRED Amateur free agent, 2008

2012 PERFORMANCE $2.2 million

2012 SALARY $2.5 million

RF

ALEX RIOS

ACQUIRED Waivers, 2009

2012 PERFORMANCE $11.7 million

2012 SALARY $12 million

SS

ALEXEI RAMIREZ

ACQUIRED Amateur free agent, 2008

2012 PERFORMANCE $4.4 million

2012 SALARY $5 million

2B

GORDON BECKHAM

ACQUIRED 1st round pick, 2008

2012 PERFORMANCE $700,000

2012 SALARY $520,000

3B

KEVIN YOUKILIS

ACQUIRED Trade with Red Sox, 2012

2012 PERFORMANCE* $4.6 million

2012 SALARY* $1.1 million

1B

PAUL KONERKO

ACQUIRED Trade with Reds, 1998

2012 PERFORMANCE $11.9 million

2012 SALARY $12 million

C

A.J. PIERZYNSKI

ACQUIRED Free agent, 2005

2012 PERFORMANCE $10.8 million

2012 SALARY $6 million

DH

ADAM DUNN

ACQUIRED Free agent, 2010

2012 PERFORMANCE $9.5 million

2012 SALARY $14 million

* REFLECTS PERFORMANCE FOR AND AMOUNT OF 2012 SALARY PAID BY THE WHITE SOX

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ILLUSTRATION

Illustration by CHRIS ALLEN