Retooling the 2008 (Real Life) White Sox

[Padres]

I am an unabashed believer in GM Kenny Williams. Already a fan of his, bringing home the World Series trophy in 2005 endeared him to me - and countless others - for a long, long time. Moreover I find him to be refreshingly open and honest as far as baseball executives go.

Nevertheless 2007 was painful to behold and he will have to work hard to bring back some of the southside (not quite as) faithful. The White Sox are in a tough division with Detroit and Cleveland up top, Minnesota loaded with pitching and KC improving - particularly with their young position players. What follows will be thoughts on his efforts to retool the 2008 - and beyond - Chicago White Sox.

[Mets]

You know more deals are coming, but the rotation, as it stands, is downright scary now.

Buerhle
Vasquez
Contreras
Danks
Gonzalez

There's still hope.

[Padres]

Earlier this month Kenny resigned Juan Uribe, i.e., the "torpedo" for $4.5 million.

Right off the bat I really disliked this signing because it seemed like one of those deja vu "stuck in the mud" type of deals. Admittedly when Renteria moved to the Tigers the SS market shrunk to seemingly "little to nothing" at the major league level ... an over-priced Tejeda with declining skills and stats; an over-priced Eckstein with his nagging injury history; etc. Clearly the White Sox have no prospect in their pipe-line who can play major league SS for at least three years [barring drafting a top level SS in the next draft]!

Uribe is the KING of low OBP with his "swing-from-the-heels" approach; he apparently refuses to learn to bunt; he now has an ever-increasing weight problem combined with a lack of over-all conditioning; and he demonstrates the all too frequent occasional baserunning blunder. He is, by and large, a good fielder ... particularly moving towards his right and getting after fly balls in left field and foul territory ... and he has a rocket of an arm.

Eventually I settled into the fact that this signing was more a combination of the status of available talent at the position and the sad lack of depth of infield prospects in the White Sox organization then an attempt to step forward ... and I reminded myself that most off season deals should not be viewed in a vacuum.

It also means that my iprofundo! teashirt is still applicable when I return to Chicago next April. Then I will probably leave it in Honduras ...

[Rangers]

You know more deals are coming, but the rotation, as it stands, is downright scary now.

Buerhle
Vasquez
Contreras
Danks
Gonzalez

There's still hope.

When you say scary, do you mean scary good or scary bad?

[Padres]

You know more deals are coming, but the rotation, as it stands, is downright scary now.

Buerhle
Vasquez
Contreras
Danks
Gonzalez

There's still hope.

Yep - there are more deals coming. Yesterday the White Sox traded SP Jon Garland to the Angels for SS Orlando Cabrera. I like this deal a lot! I'd rather seen Conteras get traded but I'm not surprised that Garland was the one traded. Garland is a pitcher, who in my opinion, has reached his peak. I am particularly grateful for his performance on the 2005 team and I believe he will remain a bonafide major league innings eating SP for years to come. He has a role but he is 4/5 SP in talent and the White Sox have a few of those type of pitchers in the prospect pipeline.

Cabrera represents an immediate upgrade for the White Sox getting on base while likely batting in the 2 hole, stealing some bases and providing quality defense. The Cheat at the South Side Sox wrote one way the trade can be looked at:

Digging a little deeper, the deal appears to be Jon Garland for Orlando Cabrera, $4-6MM in added payroll flexibility (I haven't heard a dollar amount yet), and (as long as Cabrera stays healthy) an extra 2009 draft pick (between 16-75). That's not a bad little haul in what originally looks like a 1-for-1 swap. The added flexibility appears to be $4.5 million.

Another possibility is that the trade is Garland for Cabrera, cash and a one-year exclusive bargaining window. This is more typical of how Kenny Williams does business, in part, because of how poorly the White Sox have drafted. The organization is attempting to make some changes in scouting and player development that may, in the long run, alter those results in a positive manner. But since the White Sox do not have a viable SS prospect in the pipeline for the next 3 years or so, I believe they will resign Cabrera.

And what happens to the "torpedo"? My hunch is that he will be playing for the Rays next year.

[Orioles]

Count me among those thrilled to see them give Gio a shot at the rotation (if that's their plan). Hopefully the people at DMB think so at least, so Gonzalez will project enough IP to make him my #5.

[Padres]

Today the White Sox purchased the contracts of RHP Jack Egbert, RHP Lucas Harrell, RHP Adam Russell and C Cole Armstrong.

The White Sox also designated outfielder Scott Podsednik for assignment.

It is defintely time to bid a fond farewell to Pods ... appreciate his efforts on the 2005 team but his value to the team is now null. He brings little that Jerry Owens doesn't offer: low OBP, no power, speed to burn - and Owens is cheaper.

Egbert and Russell were to be expected. Both should see time in the major leagues in 2008 with Egbert starting and Russell in the pen.

Harrell and Armstrong surprise me and I'm not sure they will survive the roster turnover that should continue with more trades. I really thought they would add Fernando Hernandez instead of Harrell and they may now lose Hernandez via the rule V draft.

The subtraction was good and necessary. The additions of Egbert and Russell were also. I am puzzled and a bit dismayed by the addition of Harrell or Armstrong over Fernando Hernandez.

[Padres]

Torii Hunter did not sign with the White Sox and Scott Linebrink did.

Hunter signed with the Angels for 5 years ... some reports indicate $80,000,000 and some report $90,000,000. The Angels helped themselves and Sarge, Jr. should be preparing to move to another team - again. While I would have liked to see Hunter in CF for the White Sox, they could not honestly afford to pay him that much that long. At this point in time, I still think Coco Crisp ends up playing CF for the Pale Hose next year.

As to Linebrink ... that is a long contract for a non-closer on the wrong side of 30 with declining numbers who is moving from a pitcher friendly park for most of his career to the Cell and the ALC. The $4.5 million for next year is not that much over market - but the length of the contract puzzles me. Since Linebrink was a type A free agent the White Sox also lose a 2nd round draft pick in 2008. With the Mike MacDougal ficasco still spewing terrible results, one has to wonder just what the hell Kenny is thinking. I really will have to have at this move more closely later - and pray that my gut feeling that the White Sox are now going to trade Bobby Jenks for Melky Cabrera is just wrong!

But today is a day to be thankful. In the pretend world of the IBC there resides real people whom I have enjoyed playing with. Happy Thanksgiving to you all. I truly hope you find some time today to ponder the many joys we have in our lives living in this country and the many blesings we share!