Still no Peavy
First of all, his name is Clayton Richard. There is no ‘s’ at the end of his name. I know that’s hard to fathom, but if you pay attention you might be able to pick up on the details like players’ last names.
Second, yes, he has done ok with the Padres, and that’s a lot better than Jose Contreras can say for us. Contreras is a ticking time bomb on the mound, and quite frankly a rotation with Richard instead of Contreras at this point would give us one of the best in the American League, considering how Garcia did in his last start. Hell, I would even take Poreda over Contreras, and so would any other human being.
Third, the four players we moved in the Peavy deal are all young and injury free. The ceiling for a player like Poreda is sky high, and at his age he still has years to put it all together. Quite frankly, Jake Peavy might make a couple of starts, or even a few, this year for the Sox. He might even be good. However, there is just as much of a chance that he won’t be ready physically or mentally to be thrown into the fire of a division race when he hasn’t pitched for a contending team in months (or years). Furthermore, what if he gets injured in the future? Jerry and Kenny will have to eat $18 million in payroll. Meanwhile, the four players we traded work for minimum wage.
Lastly, and most importantly, it is important to retain a bit of skepticism when evaluating your team. Indeed, that is the right we have as fans. By blindly approving of trades every time we forfeit our right as fans with opinions that matter. Likewise, saying that for a trade a GM “gave up a lot” does not mean it won’t be a good trade. It doesn’t even mean that I wouldn’t have done it as a GM. I was simply looking at the deal from a different perspective than what was being offered at the time. I look forward to seeing a former Cy Young Winner pitch on the South Side. But then again I have already seen that, and his name is Bartolo Colon.
Ok, so I was kinda kidding there. But point being, while I am plenty excited about Peavy taking the hill for us, I will still wonder what Don Cooper could have done with Richard and Poreda.
p.s.
I was right about Matt Thornton. He simply cannot handle pressure situations, and last night was another example. If anything, he should have been traded. Since 2006, he has blown more saves than Bobby Jenks, and Bobby Jenks is the full-time closer. What does that tell you about Thornton?
Williams gives up a lot for Peavy
While both the Tigers and Twins have set themselves up to make a run at the division title, Kenny Williams and the White Sox have potentially sacrificed this season and possibly several others by pulling the trigger on a trade that could very easily backfire.
The Twins addressed their no. 1 need by trading for Orlando Cabrera, who is an immediate offensive upgrade and should thrive in this last throws of the Metrodome. The Tigers immediately improved their inconsistent rotation by acquiring Jared Washburn.
Both of these moves will help their respective teams this season.
The White Sox gave up four prospects, two of whom have contributed significantly at the big league level this season, to snag Jake Peavy – who is currently injured. It is not known for sure even if he will be able to pitch for the Sox this season.
For Peavy, Williams surrenders Clayton Richard, without whose efforts the South Siders would be lost this season. With dinosaurs Contreras and Colon being absent from the big leagues for huge chunks of time this season (whether for injury or poor performance) it can be argued that Richard has single-handedly kept the Sox competetive.
Williams also forfeits 2007 first round pick Aaron Poreda, who with a high 90′s moving fastball has the chance to be an all-star in the major leagues. Both Poreda and Richard have the chance to be top-to-middle end of the rotation guys. Both lefties could have contributed down the stretch to a possible White Sox run at the pennant, but instead are now part of San Diego’s rebuilding plan.
Matt Thornton blows it
If the White Sox want to have hope for a promising future they better stop trading away their talented prospects and start trading players who increasingly have not been able to get the job down for the big league team. They can start with Matt Thornton.
With the game tied at 4, two outs, and a man on third against the Twins Thornton proceeds to go 2-0 on Joe Mauer and then throws a fastball right down the middle. Mauer, the best hitter in baseball, promptly smacked that pitch back up the middle to plate the go ahead run.
It appeared that Ozzie gave Thornton the option of pitching to either Mauer or Morneau. He went with Mauer. When you go 2-0 on Mauer with the game on the line and first base open, you swallow your pride and put him on first – where he can’t beat you. I don’t care if you throw 105, Joe Mauer will beat you on any pitch right down the middle.
This was not A.J.’s fault, as he called for the pitch inside. Thornton, appearing incompetent, missed his spot in the worst place you possibly can. I no longer trust him on the mound in any important situation. He needs to go.
Coincidence abound in home win
Just as the broadcast team was getting through the trivia question: “who is the only Sox player to hit 3 home runs in a game twice?” Paul Konerko was en route to accomplishing the feat for the first time in his career.
This coming mere hours after it was revealed that the Sox had traded highly touted first base prospect Brandon Allen to the Diamondbacks and Tony Pena (no, not the first base coach or the Royals shortstop).
The real news here: Paul Konerko will be on the South Side at least until the conclusion of the contract he signed during the 2006 off-season. Allen will play in the Bigs, and his departure can only mean that the White Sox management will not be parting with Konerko for another few years, if ever, because there is simply no one else ready to play first base for the long haul.
Konerko promptly responded to this latent show of confidence from Kenny Williams by hitting three homers and driving in seven.
Also, you gotta love the “hell yes” call from Hawk.
Hell yes.
Sure the winning streak was good, but
In a 162 game season, a team is only as good as its 4th and 5th starters, and if you think Clayton Richard is an acceptable option in the rotation at this point, you are nuts.
It is a joke that Josh Hamilton made the All-Star team. It is just as big of a joke that Jermaine Dye did not. Perhaps Jermaine would be more popular throughout the country if he missed an entire season in drug rehab.
Carlos Quentin is due to return soon, and it will be interesting to see how Ozzie and Kenny handle the situation. A Quentin-Pods-Dye outfield would be one of the best in the game, at least offensively. More importantly it would be an immediate upgrade for a team that is back in third place but still contending for the division.
Back to within a stone’s throw of .500
Getz
steals home, Danks and Linebrink combine for the shutout, and Sox win,
Good day. Tough luck, Zambrano. Hang in there though; after all, the
American League is a lot tougher than the NL, and I’m sure if you go on
hitting batters with wanton success you will do just fine.
With Hawk Harrelson pushing the envelope this season with his liberal use of “hell yes!” and “bush” he is probably trying to elicit the Comcast and WGN executives to reprimand him, so Hawk can in turn accuse them of having a pro-Cubs bias.
Meanwhile, Steve Stone is really coming around. I was worried, and I think Hawk was too, that Stone was a Cubs fan at heart. However, he has been very pro-Sox as of late, and the nail in the coffin in his conversion to Sox fandom will be if he starts contributing to the Yes! home run call.
This is the first time the Sox have been within a game of .500 since the start of their disastrous 13 game homestand a couple of weeks ago. This time around we will be trying to reach .500 on the road, where we are 10-4 in our last 14 games. An encouraging sign to say the least. Surpassing .500 in any denomination will undoubtedly mean that the Sox are back in it and will be buyers rather than sellers in an AL Central where the Tigers have failed to run away and hide in first.
Today’s friendly insults
Some joker was quoted on mlb.com that the worst team in baseball came into town and took two out of three from the Yankees. I don’t know what brand of baseball that person watches, but the Chicago White Sox are the worst team in baseball, and they are currently playing at the Great American Ballpark.
Sox radio analyst Darrin Jackson said today during the game that Chicago’s costly errors looked like minor league ball. He was wrong. The White Sox look like Little Leaguers. All indications are that this will not change any time soon.
On the 35th day, God decided that he wanted to make all other baseball teams look good, so he created the Chicago White Sox.
Scott Podsednik is so good at baseball that he is not recognized by his teammates or coaches. Sometimes the equipment manager gives him the wrong uniform, thinking he must be a member of the visiting team.
Alexei Ramirez is not that good, which is why he plays shortstop and bats second for the White Sox.
The only way Ozzie Guillen can convince Jim Thome to suit up for a game is if he tells him that the ‘Chicago’ on the away jersey actually stands for the ‘Chicago Cubs’.
The other pitchers don’t speak to Bobby Jenks for a week if he actually converts a save opportunity.
Paul Konerko had to be reminded that he plays for the Sox when he got off to a good start this season.
Since I’ve been writing this the Sox have tied the game at 5, so I’ll stop for the time being and come back if they lose.
Crosstown Classic – game 1
There are a few things we know for sure and a couple things we can speculate about after game one of the Crosstown Classic at Wrigley.
First, Scott Podsednik is the best ‘baseball player’ on this team. While other sluggers might have more fanfare and other younger players certainly have more hype, no player has done more for this team day in and day out with the exception of maybe team captain Paul Konerko.
Scotty Pods is batting over .300, steals bases fairly consistently, AND can bunt. In short, who can do everything that no one else on the team can do, with the exception of Joey Cora, who eventually is the bench coach. He can also throw accurately from left field, and all of these skills were on display and key in the series opening win against the Cubs.
Second, John Danks is third best baseball player on this team, after Mark Buehrle. Danks gace the effort of the year so far on the mound, twice styming the North Siders after they had two on and no out two distinct times – including a first-and-third in the fourth. As ‘Hawk’ says, he will ‘battle your behind off’, and as we saw today, can handle the bat well for a pitcher. In fact, he probably belongs in a national league uniform – but I am not complaining that he is here on the South Side.
Third, Ozzie Guillen is a good manager. If you watched the Crosstown Classic and you have half a brain, you surely noticed this.
Finally, what can we speculate after the opener of this series? Well, the White Sox are certainly looking more like buyers after the 4-1 win. If the execution they showed Wednesday against the Cubs can turn into a habit in the next few weeks, they will be looking to add rather than subtract. In my opinion, this would be better for the team in the long run, as it would preclude trying to trade veterans such as Dye, Konerko, Thome, and Jenks – who are the heart and soul of this team.
Getting ready for The Series
First of all as a White Sox fan let me say that the Cubs are favored in this series for just reason. While both Chicago teams have underachieved this season, perhaps no team in baseball has dropped the ball like the White Sox, who have been unable to take advantage of a weak start from the rest of the teams in the AL Central.
I fully expect the Cubs to win this first series at Wrigley, but would not be surprised if the Sox play well since they have been overachieving on the road as of late. They certainly have a lot to play for, with the intracity rivalry a given, but as Ozzie Guillen will tell you, this is a chance for the Sox to pick up three games on a slumping team, which would bring them within one game of .500.
Emotions and expectations will be running high for South Side veterans such as A.J. and Konerko, but it will likely be the players who are younger and newer to this series who might be able to make the difference for the White Sox.
There’s no question that players like Getz, Nix, Beckam, and Anderson will be pivotal in this match-up at Wrigley. Along with Podsednik, these are the contact hitters for the Sox, and they will be needed to get on base, move the runner over, and every now and again swipe a bag in the national league ballpark.
If last weekend’s series in Wisconsin was any indication, these players should be ready to thrive under similar conditions at Wrigley. Pods, Getz, and Nix are are putting together plus at-bats, while Beckam delivered his first four Major League runs batted in.
These players will all be key to get on base and put the pressure on a good Cubs’ pitching staff and decent defense. Solo home runs from the middle of the order simply will not get in done and will surely lead to a Cubs’ series win.
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