Two Weeks’ Notice

There have been times during Jose Contreras’ first three starts when he has looked like a serviceable Major League Veteran. All three of those times have been during pre-game warm-ups. Contreras cannot locate his fastball, throws his forkball entire yards short of the plate routinely, and does not have even a remote sense of control. He flat-out looks like he does not know how to pitch.
Given the competitive nature of this division – it will easily be one of the toughest in baseball – the White Sox cannot afford to wait for the big Cuban to come around. By the time he does, it will be late July, and GM Kenny Williams will have started trading away all the good players to teams in contention.
If I were Williams, I would give Contreras two more weeks to see if he can return to some semblance of the form he showed on his way to setting a franchise record with 17 consecutive victories from ’05 to ’06. If this doesn’t happen – and all indications are that it won’t – Williams will not be terribly hard pressed to find a possible solution.
Right-hander Jack Egbert has consistently been named one of the best prospects in the farm system, and is now with the big league club. Lance Broadway and Aaron Poreda were both first-round picks and have all kinds of talent. Lefty Clayton Richard has struggled out of the ‘pen, and moving him into the rotation may be what he needs to turn things around.
Make no mistake about it, pitching will make the difference in this division and the eventual winner will need production out of all five starters. The Sox have already dipped into their farm system for starters at second and third, and there is no reason not to do so again for the rotation.