Sox Machine: Chicago White Sox blog

That was the easy part

The Sox picked up the options for Mark Buehrle, Jermaine Dye and Tadahito Iguchi.  No surprises there.

What happens next will be the much tougher decision.

Buehrle, as we've already gone over, is probably the second-most likely pitcher to be traded next to Freddy Garcia, and the gap between them closed in the final month of the season.  There's really not much more to say, as any yet-to-be-discovered health issues, and the offers Kenny Williams receives will dictate who goes.

Dye and Iguchi pose more interesting conundrums.  Both are over 30, both received less money than expected to sign with the Sox before the 2005 season, which probably means that both will be seeking significant pay raises.

Making matters more complicated, the Sox have no prospects ready to step in at both positions in 2008.

Williams lucked into both players the first time around, with Dye rejecting heftier offers from Texas and Arizona to settle with the Sox, and Iguchi coming back to accept Williams' offer that at first seemed like a low-ball.  We can thank Kaz Matsui for the latter one, I think.

Whether that means the front office and these players have increased goodwill or increased the desire to demand inflated offers remains to be seen. 

(By "inflated," I mean "more than last year, and higher than the Sox's initial offer." And this is all assuming Dye and/or Iguchi are solely concerned with cashing in, which they deserve if they so choose.)

Jermaine will be 33 this year, 34 when starting a new contract.  If he's healthy and has a year in between his 2005 and 2006, that kind of track record has earned $12-15 million per in previous years -- Magglio Ordonez-Gary Sheffield-Vladimir Guerrero territory. 

If the Sox match the base in that range, they will have around $32 million tied up in past-their-prime sluggers in 2008 and 2009, which puts them on the verge of being the Yankees without the ability to buy a Bobby Abreu midseason. 

On the other hand, the Sox have no up-and-coming slugging outfielders on the horizon.  Brian Anderson and Ryan Sweeney have 20-homer potential if they're lucky, and Aaron Cunningham was only in the Sally League last year.  Joe Crede's contract will also be a question mark, Josh Fields may or may not be another Joe Borchard, and who knows about Juan Uribe.  So if Dye has three 30+ homer seasons and hits in the .280/.350 range, can they pass up that right-handed production?

Iguchi's cheaper, but barring a breakout season, he is what he is -- a second-tier second baseman.  He might be able to touch 25 homers, because there is some room for improvement, but he's had two identical sub-.800 OPS seasons and is not getting any younger. 

I'd say a reasonable start for Iguchi would be in the three-year, $15 million range.  If the demands reach $20 million for three years, do the Sox bail?  They have no second basemen ready to fill in, and the state of the AL at that position (Jose Lopez was an All-Star) indicates that it won't be easy to replace him.  If Iguchi didn't boomerang back to the Sox's offer, Willie Harris was the in-house option at second, and it would've been hard to do better.

On the other hand, the Sox went for Dye because Magglio was demanding too much money, and figured they could save themselves $8 million-plus for slightly less production.  The outfield seems like an easier place to find a productive stopgap.

As of now, here's who Dye and Iguchi will be competing against if they happened to test the free-agent market in 2008:

Dye:  Ichiro, Adam Dunn, Milton Bradley, Bobby Abreu.  Andruw Jones, Torii Hunter, Vernon Wells are CFs.

Iguchi:  Iguchi is the top "pure" second baseman on the market, but Michael Young and David Eckstein may be due for position changes.  Mark Grudzielanek has a $4 million option in Kansas City.

Dye will have some competition, but Iguchi may stand to have some leverage if these situations hold up.

Right now, I have little idea which way the Sox should go, but the Joe Crede surgery situation, whichever way it goes, will have some bearing on the future of these two.

Soxtober? It's up to you

Back in 1994, my friend Kevin dressed up as a White Sox for Halloween.

He wore a Sox hat, street clothes, and carried around a sign saying "ON STRIKE!" 

I kicked myself for not having thought of it. 

At any rate, if I still dressed up for Halloween, I'd probably steal the spirit of his idea.  Here are some costume possibilities for White Sox past and present, and feel free to add your own or improve on ones I have. 

Brandon McCarthy – Stilts and a neck brace.

Jim Thome – Engage in long, friendly conversations with every single house you visit.  You’ll end up with five pieces of candy, but the good press will be even sweeter.

Rob Mackowiak – Always take two steps in the wrong direction before running to catch up to your friends.

Freddy Garcia – No bag necessary -- just eat the candy as you go.

Bobby Jenks – Ditto.

Dustin Hermanson – Easy. (see right)

Jay Mariotti – Easier.

Aaron Rowand – Run into every glass door and/or picture window.  Blood capsules won’t be necessary if you want it enough.

Hawk Harrelson – Wear a mesh hat and carry around a ventriloquist dummy that occasionally says, “I love it when you analyze.”

Juan Uribe – Stay in the house, but have a friend sit outside and fire paintballs at people who walk too close to your car.

Sandy Alomar Jr. – Make sure you’re at least 18, and go by yourself.  When people ask you, “Aren’t you a little old for trick or treating?” you can say “among other things.”

Sean Tracey – Bring eggs, throw them at houses, miss terribly.

A.J. Pierzynski – If you don't mind getting punched in the face dozens of times over the course of the evening.

Joey Cora – Help children cross the streets, but only look at one lane of traffic before making your call.  The rest is God’s work.

Harold Baines – Ring the doorbell.  When somebody answers, don’t say “trick or treat.”  Just hold out the bag.  If they shut the door, nod solemnly and move on.

Ed Farmer – If you’re staying at home to man the door, wear a polo shirt, black jeans and white sneakers.  When you answer the door, explain the kids’ costumes to nobody in particular.  “We have a dinosaur.  Looks like a Tyrannosaurus Rex.  The head has what appears to be scales, but look at his legs – green tights.  I don’t know if I’ve seen dinosaurs with green tights in the Field Museum.  I have the treat, but where's the trick?  You're not fooling anybody.”  Hand out religious pamphlets instead of candy.

Carl Everett -- Chase said "dinosaurs" away.

Albert Belle -- Chase said "dinosaurs" with car.

Good as Gould

Because the Giants played at the same time as the Bears, I only watched the 41-10 pasting of the 49ers on NFL.com's Gamecast.  That was nearly as exciting, because the arrows kept moving in the same direction.  A little bit of red going one way, and a lot of blue heading in the other direction.

At the end of the first half, the drive summaries showed that the shortest non-touchdown drive was 27 yards.  Sweet sassy molassy.

The Bear I'm perhaps most impressed with is Robbie Gould, who is now 20-for-20 in field goal attempts this season.  It's refreshing, since the kicker position has been in flux nearly as much as quarterback since Mike McCaskey cut Kevin Butler, and then Carlos Huerta shortly after that. 

I could name Jeff Jaeger, Paul Edinger and Doug Brien off the top of my head;  I forgot about Chris Boniol and Brian Gowins.

Dropping Paul Edinger could've been a disaster, because while he had a bad year, he was more reliable than anybody else they've employed in the last 10 years, and halfway-decent kickers don't grow on trees.  Ask Brien.

Last year, Edinger had his best year since 2003, but the Vikings replaced him with Ryan Longwell, and I don't know where Edinger is now.  I do know that Gould has been far better, and the Bears lucked into finding him, an undrafted free agent.

If I had to pick a White Sox equivalent of this Gould rush (har), I'd have to say it's when the Sox claimed Herbert Perry off waivers from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2000. 

The Rays, stocked with great hitters like they always are, had no use for Perry, and the Sox claimed him and eventually planted him at third.  While Tampa stuck with Vinny Castilla, who put up an astoundingly craptacular line of  .221/.254/.308, the Sox picked up Perry for nothing, planted him at third and watched him become a key component to the AL Central winners. 

Before Perry established himself on the hot corner, the Sox were rotating in that place Greg Norton, Craig Wilson (remember him?), and ... Paul Konerko!  Paulie actually played six games at third before shifting to first, and Perry helped him stay there, thank goodness.  The Milkman hit .308/.356/.483 in 109 games and played a solid third base as well.  His OPS and OPS+ were equal with the 2006 version of Joe Crede, if you can believe it. 

(Crede first appeared in the big leagues in as a September call-up that year, where he posted a higher batting average than on-base percentage.  A sign of things to come.)

Perry stuck with the Sox another year, where he was serviceable if not spectacular, and then fell off the baseball radar a few years later.  If Gould finishes this year anything like he's started it, he will have already outproduced Perry.  It's just harder to find a scrap-heap pickup in baseball that 1) makes an immediate impact, and 2) keeps it up for more than a mere hot streak.

So unless anybody else has a better idea, Gould is the new Milkman.  The resemblence is closer to that one than the other Perry.

Only 111 days 'til pitchers and catchers

So the bulk of David Eckstein's World Series batting average is inflated by five -- count 'em, five -- Tiger errors, and he wins a Chevy Corvette.  Jermaine Dye bats a cool .438 and legitimately knocks in the Series-winning run last year, and he wins a Chevy SSR.

If Jermaine's prize was the same one I saw in the parking lot at Tucson Electric Park, then he got ripped off, big-time.  Then again, considering the other cars Google tells me Jermaine has, I don't know why he'd be driving that one.  Unless...

It's tough to let go of the "World Champs" title after holding it for 366 days.  Especially when the team that takes it over wins the Series in that ugly of a fashion.  Not that the Tigers deserved to win it by any means, I just wish the whole thing could be a do-over.

Now what?  Do I have to stop wearing my World Series hat?  'Cause right now it's the only Sox hat that fits my head perfectly.  I'm working on breaking in a 1931 cap, but it's still not there yet, and it's made of heavier material.

On a bright note, while the Sox didn't make the playoffs this year, Sox fans at least were able to gain two pieces of dirt against the teams that finished ahead of ours.

1. The Twins have lost six playoff games in a row.
2. Tigers pitchers can't make 40-foot throws, and their entire roster is receiving payments from Eckstein.
   

I'm not much of a trash talker, but should I ever encounter douchebag bandwagoners, at least I'll have no problem hitting sore spots.

I don't know...third base (coach)!

According to the Sun-Times, which says according to The Score 670, Joey Cora will move to the bench to replace Tim Raines, with Razor Shines moving up from Charlotte's managerial position to take over third base coaching duties.  The Sox have yet to confirm this.

On a sadder note in the same article, Man Soo Lee is returning to South Korea.

Well, it's good for Man Soo, since he gets to go back to his homeland and all, but it's bad for American baseball.  As I've said before, the guy is a joy to watch.  It's almost like he loves baseball fans more than baseball itself, and this picture is about as good of proof as any. 

At any rate, I wonder when will be the next time fans get this attached to a bullpen catcher. 

The third-base coach situation, on the other hand, is a bit more complex to assess.  It sure felt like Cora sent a lot of runners to their doom this year, but a quick scan of State of the Sox doesn't exactly support that.  That feeling is probably compounded by Cora having more outfield assists at home plate than Scott Podsednik, Brian Anderson and Jermaine Dye combined.  That imbalance can throw a perpsective off.

Also, I can recall an above-average amount of head-scratching decisions around third base not necessarily linked to Cora.  Three times in the 12 games I saw this year (I depicted two of them in a previous post, and I snapped a picture of the third time, too), Sox runners got hung up between third and home on grounders to the infield.  There were a couple more times runners got hung up between second and third.  And remember when Ross Gload didn't tag correctly in the 19-inning game against Boston? 

That may not be Cora's fault in the least, but there was a lot of weird stuff going on over there. 

Cora wasn't (or isn't, if this report is incorrect) horrible on the whole.  He had a lot of problems gauging Paul Konerko's "speed", but most of his mistakes were due to perfect throws.  But it might be a good time for some fresh blood over there, and I can't say I know that much about Shines to know if he'll be a plus or a minus.  We'll see.

On a related note, the Chicago Tribune reports that Raines is a candidate to serve as the next hitting coach for the New York Yankees.  I don't think the Yankees need all that much help hitting, so if I wish him "good luck," it's only with regards to him landing the job.

One sloppy effort deserves another

Game 4 of the 2005 was a crisp, tight game in perfect conditions.  Game 4 of the 2006 World Series was sloppy in every which way.  Nevertheless, it still counts, and the Sox are one day away from having to surrender the title of "world champs."

Here's hoping the Tigers at least take Game 5 so I can get to Cooperstown one more time to see the Sox's World Series memorabilia before it disappears from the display. 

As tomorrow's an early starter, here's a couple of links to throw out there:

SI.com -- Jon Heyman says Alex Rodriguez is off the block, but the White Sox made a very strong effort to try to get him.  That much we kind of knew, although Heyman reinforces the notion.  Here's something I had no clue about, however:

Williams has shown interest before in Rodriguez as a free agent, and the superstar with the $252 million contract also has a close relationship with White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf.

Anybody know how that happened?

Tiburones de La Guaira -- The Arizona Fall League's site is in English, but this page is worth bookmarking, especially now that Brian Anderson's in town.

Chicago Tribune -- A scathing indictment of the Blackhawks by Bob Foltman, including this tremendous piece of writing:

As the clock wound down on the embarrassing defeat, the already small crowd steadily filed out of the United Center on Wednesday, no doubt thinking of all the other things they could have spent their hard-earned money on besides what they had just witnessed.

One fan, exiting the 300 level, wasn't content with just booing or whistling.

"Never again," he shouted, over and over. "Never again will you get my money."

Happy anniversary

This date last year, at 1:19 a.m. CST, Mark Buehrle got Adam Everett to pop out to close out a 14-inning, 7-5 victory to give the Chicago White Sox a 3-0 lead in the World Series.

Twenty-one hours and 42 minutes later, Juan Uribe fired a rocket to Paul Konerko at first base, beating Orlando Palmeiro by a fraction of a step for the Sox's first world championship in 88 years.



It was the only time in World Series history that a team recorded two victories on the calendar day, and I'm trying to imagine how there could possibly be a better one for a White Sox fan.

To snap a longer drought, I'd have to live to 112 to see it.  Given that games run longer and longer, there's no chance of winning three games in a day.  How can another Sox team top a solo homer in the 14th inning by a guy in his only World Series at-bat, followed by a 1-0 victory that ended with one of the greatest bursts of individual defense the game's ever seen?  I suppose there could be a perfect game followed by a 13-run comeback entirely fueled by home runs by Scott Podsednik IV, but I doubt it.

My clearest memories may be the sounds of John Rooney, and not because I have selected clips of his on my iPod.  Neither Ed Farmer nor Chris Singleton could match the pace and melody of his call of Geoff Blum's homer -- "A home run for Blum!"  Or the way his voice cracked ever so slightly when Paul Konerko caught the 27th out of Game 4 -- "Out! Out!  A White Sox winner, and a world championship!"

October 26 started off with momentous tension.  The tightrope-walking by the Sox bullpen, the deflating, brilliant double play by Morgan Ensberg preceding Blum's at-bat, Ezequiel Astacio's mysterious and disgusting boils, Blum throwing a kiss to his family.  Astacio's loss of control that eventually led to a RBI walk by Chris Widger acted like a chaser to hard shot after hard shot of drama.  Of course, the Sox couldn't resist throwing back one more when Uribe booted a routine grounder that would've ended the game.

It ended with the 2005 White Sox's version of fireworks.  A single, a bunt, a productive out, a single, followed by the most emotion Jermaine Dye has ever shown on the field -- a clap of the hands, followed by a contained-yet-vigorous fist pump.  Uribe made up for his Game 3 and then some -- two hard-charging, gun-slinging outs sandwiching a heroic effort, as he hurtled himself into the stands for Out No. 2. 

(As much as I criticize Joe Buck, the way he called Uribe's crowd catch was tremendous.  He announced the scene, and then let Joe Crede and Scott Podsednik declare the result with their shouting and pointing before cutting back in.)

So, can it be topped?  I doubt it.  Of course, I suppose there's a chance I could have a son who cracks the Sox's 25-man roster and enters the game out of the bullpen for the first time.  That would take over the No. 1 slot.  Unless the Sox still can't develop relievers, and he gets rocked and walks three guys without completing an inning and I have to cut him from my fantasy team.  Not to put too much pressure on my imaginary kid. 

At any rate, I hope this doesn't become as redundant as the celebrations for the Bears' only championship team have become, but I think this is a little different.  Nobody ever had to make excuses for being a Bears fan, but Sox fans were able to stop explaining themselves at 11:01 p.m.  That's worth remembering.

I could change my mind in 2025, however, if we see Blum, he of the out-of-control golden locks, now paunchy and sporting a horseshoe 'do and talking about Group 4 for the 4,000th time. 

But for now, it's a day to celebrate (White Sox fans, celebrate).  I'll re-evaluate things next year.

Out of focus

Watching two teams who the White Sox defeated handily in season series vying for the World Series is difficult.  Watching it take place in St. Louis, which is pound-for-pound my least favorite city in which I've spent a measurable amount of time, is also hard.

On top of that, I just got back from listening to John Berendt (author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) speak at the local university, which turned from inspiring to disheartening in the matter of 10 minutes.  He talked about writing styles and voices, and I was following him, thinking, "There's something I can take away from this."  But over the course of the evening, when he reveals that he went to Harvard, edited the Lampoon, got a job right out of college at Esquire, wrote for that and New York Magazine for 20 years, moved to one place, wrote a record-setting best-seller, moved to another place, wrote another best-seller...

He was an entertaining, humble speaker, but that didn't stop me from loathing him.

This isn't writer's block, as I have a lot in mind for the offseason, and am working out some sort of plan with which to attack it.  Let's just call it a stockpile of bad vibes, so let's combat it with a handful of links.

timesunion.com -- Some commentary on FOX's playoff broadcasts in my work blog.  Thanks to the pharmaceutical industry for allowing me to write "weak stream" and "decrease of semen" in an acceptable context.

Chicago Sun-Times -- We've already gone over the Alex Rodriguez possibilities, so in that sense, this Joe Cowley article doesn't present anything new.  However, I enjoyed the lede about Kenny Williams.

Baseball America -- The list of minor-league free agents.  On the list are old friends like Jeff Bajenaru, Kelly Wunsch, and the immortal Vic Darensbourg.  Guys who might be worth a shot -- J.R. House (C, Houston) and Dustan Mohr (OF, Detroit).

Baseball America -- Reliever Dewon Day is the Arizona Fall League's Sleeper of the Week.  Day put up good numbers in Winston-Salem, but considering he was 25 while he was doing it, I didn't think much of it. The description of his repertoire and background will put him on my radar.

ZiPped again

It was a long shot to begin with, but some bad news out of the nation's capital:

Two other candidates [for the Washington Nationals' managerial opening] -- Houston bench coach Cecil Cooper and Chicago White Sox third base coach Joey Cora -- were informed last week that they would not be finalists for the job. Because of the secrecy of the Nationals' search, it's possible there are other candidates who have not been publicly identified.

Damn. 

--------------------

Over at Baseball Think Factory, Dan Szymborski has posted his 2007 ZiPS projections for the White Sox.  Here's a link to his 2006 ZIPS projections, and it's interesting to see how they've adjusted after the 2006 season.  The projections look pretty solid for the starting rotation, given that every starter underperformed their ZiPS in 2006, but there are some interesting things going on with the position players.

Tadahito Iguchi, on one hand, is a player ZiPS has pegged relatively well, even as a rookie out of Japan:

Tadahito Iguchi	AB	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2005 ZiPS	480	12	62	.281	.363	.427	.800
2005 Season	511	15	71	.278	.342	.438	.780
2006 ZiPS	506	15	67	.283	.349	.441	.790
2006 Season	555	18	67	.281	.352	.422	.774

But here are some players that make projections tough last year: 

Jim Thome	AB	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2006 ZiPS	428	35	90	.241	.375	.539	.914
2006 Season	490	42	109	.288	.416	.598	1.014
2007 ZiPS	434	34	101	.270	.407	.558	.965

Even with his second half struggles, it could've been worse.

Jermaine Dye	AB	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2006 ZiPS	495	26	79	.265	.330	.483	.813
2006 Season	539	44	120	.315	.385	.622	1.007
2007 ZiPS	526	34	110	.293	.359	.546	.905

Holy middle ground, Batman.

Paul Konerko	AB	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2006 ZiPS	555	35	101	.274	.363	.505	.868
2006 Season	566	35	113	.313	.381	.551	.932
2007 ZiPS	555	37	115	.288	.372	.535	.907

It's interesting that Konerko is projected to just about match his excellent 2006 campaign, considering he has old-player skills.  Then again, he's further removed from the disastrous 2003 season.

Joe Crede	AB	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2006 ZiPS	497	21	72	.256	.311	.437	.748
2006 Season	544	30	94	.283	.323	.506	.829
2007 ZiPS	494	26	87	.267	.317	.480	.797

I'd say the 2007 projection is Crede with a bad back.

Now here's the most fun one:

Matt Thornton	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
2006 ZiPS	82	77	58	10	74	70	6.37
2006 Season	54	46	20	5	21	49	3.33
2007 ZiPS	54	50	31	9	30	51	5.17

I think Thorndog broke it.

There are some other interesting lines, like Ross Gload (.481 slugging!), Josh Fields (surprisingly average looking), Ryan Sweeney batting 40 points higher than Brian Anderson, and so forth, but the playing time is so sketchy it's far more of a shot in the dark than it already is.

Winning, attitudes

One storyline I'm hearing early and often this postseason is that Ivan Rodriguez is some sort of super-winner.  He led the Marlins to their unlikely championship, then helped to engineer the Great Tiger Turnaround. 

Not to single out Phil Rogers, because the TV guys are talking about it a lot more, but his recent column just about sums up the argument: 

Though he has moved around more than some other great players, he has established a pattern that reflects nicely on him.  His teams win.  Texas has been to the playoffs three times in its history, all of which came during the 12 seasons the homegrown I-Rod was the regular catcher.  Florida won the World Series in 2003, the only year Rodriguez played there. The Tigers have made the journey from 119 losses to the World Series during Rodriguez's three years with the team.

Everything stated there is absolutely true.  Rodriguez makes teams better -- he's above-average offensively, and far above-average defensively.  I'm sure his presence makes it easier for pitchers to work with runners on, because he does the holding. 

But here's what's interesting: Compared to that noted cancer, slacker and ne'er-do-well A.J. Pierzynski, we could nickname Rodriguez "Losing Catcher."  In the two years Pierzynski's teams were perceived to be underachievers, they won 91 and 90 games. 

Here's how they stack up (starting with their first full season):

16 yrs. Regular season: 1,269-1,257 (.502) Postseason:  19-17	6 yrs. Regular season: 549-422 (.565) Postseason: 16-10

This isn't saying Pierzynski's a comparable player.  He's not going to Cooperstown like Rodriguez is, and is nowhere near equal in terms of offense, defense, or foot speed.  Well, A.J.'s a better hitter than Rodriguez now, but he's also five years younger, which is like a difference of eight or nine in catcher years.

However, it's easy to declare any player a "Winner" regardless of position when they have great players around them.  Rodriguez and Pierzynski both won their rings with pitching staffs having career years, and Rodriguez is on the verge of earning another one via the same route.  They didn't win when their pitchers couldn't deliver, and that's about the long and short of it.

Two of a kind

Watching Anthony Reyes in his past two starts, tonight against the Tigers and in the NLCS against the Mets, he's reminded me plenty of Brandon McCarthy. 

His repertoire was just about the same as Black Mac's -- a four-seam fastball, a curveball, a change-up that got him in trouble.  His also throws about the same speed as Brandon, although his velocity looked down tonight.  He was in Freddy Garcia range in Game 1, as opposed to when he was touching 94 during his one-hit loss against the Sox in late June.  Perhaps the cold had something to do with it.  They both wear their socks the same height, although Reyes' have the kick-ass stripes.

Reyes' results were also similar to McCarthy's outings.  Against the Mets, both runs Reyes allowed were solo homers.  Against the Tigers tonight, he gave up a home run to Craig Monroe, and the Tigers had 16 flyouts to only three groundouts. 

But looking deeper into Reyes' track record, and the similarities to Black Mac are quite astounding.  In 2006, even though Reyes started 17 games to McCarthy's two, they pitched nearly the same amount of innings.  Their peripherals compare as such:

	IP	H	HR	BB	K
Reyes	85.1	84	17	34	72
McCarthy	84.2	77	17	33	69

That's kind of something, isn't it?  But go back to what they did in High-A, Double-A and Triple-A ball, and it still looks similar:

	IP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	K/9
Reyes	239.2	7.81	0.79	2.03	10.36
McCarthy	197.1	7.20	0.95	1.87	9.99

Keep in mind that McCarthy was a year younger than Reyes at each level, and that when you look at the minor-league park factors comparing the stadiums at Charlotte and Memphis, St. Louis' Triple-A affiliate, Charlotte is a far better ballpark for hitters.  That would explain some of the difference in homers allowed, and also in the hit column (less room for outfielders to cover).

Reyes is a popular name in trade rumors, or trade wishes if message boards are any indication, with Mark Buehrle being the obvious starter to ship in St. Louis' direction.  Obviously it's not close to an even trade straight-up, but I can't imagine Reyes and McCarthy being in the same rotation -- especially considering U.S. Cellular Field is a far better offensive park than the new Busch Stadium.

One thing that is worth noting about Reyes is that he's trying to incorporate a two-seam fastball to go along with his four-seamer.  It's a work in progress, but I'd like to see McCarthy trying the same thing.  He doesn't have to be Jon Garland with it, but it would help to reduce his gopher ball rate.

Seventh hell

I thought I had witnessed the greatest postseason play I'd ever see last year when Juan Uribe dove into the stands in the bottom of the ninth in Game 4 of the World Series to record the second out of the inning.

I was wrong.



Nothing against Juan, but Endy Chavez's home-run robbing catch-turned-double play was nothing short of miraculous.  Given the context (tie game, Game 7), the degree of difficulty (extremely hard), the timing/execution (perfect), and the end result (not only an out, but an inning-ending double play), I think that one's going to hold the title of Greatest Catch I've Ever Seen In Real-Time for a little while.

Watching last night's game makes me glad I've never had to experience a do-or-die game as a Sox fan.  Between New York and St. Louis, I couldn't care less when it came to who won -- and even then, my palms were sweaty. 

The last Game 7 in any sport where I had a dog in the fight was when the Bulls went the distance with the Pacers in 1998, but basketball's an entirely different experience.  When Michael Jordan's on your side, chances are you're going to win.  On the other hand, Albert Pujols is the closest thing to Jordan in baseball right now -- basketball-playing Jordan, not baseball-playing Jordan -- and the Mets made him a non-factor.  At that point in baseball, it's nearly a purely random event.

Perhaps when we look back at the 2005 White Sox, we should be most thankful that they didn't jerk us around.  It's one thing to go to Game 7 having won championships in five of the last seven years; it's another one entirely to be within spitting distance of snapping an 86-year-losing streak, only to see the chance disappear with one swing of the bat.

It's gotta suck to be a Mets fan right now, especially one who's 20 years old.

Flop, steal, or fair deal?

Following up on yesterday's post, I would venture to say that the Alex Cintron-for-Jeff Bajenaru trade was Kenny Williams' best of the entire season, and it's not particularly close. 

Not only did Kenny acquire a useful player for somebody who seems unable to contribute at the major-league level, but I generally have no qualms about the way Cintron was used.  Ozzie Guillen let Juan Uribe play during his two good months, and used Cintron liberally the rest of the way. 

The only times I could complain were when Cintron started at DH, and that happened twice this year.  He went 1-for-8 in the role and stranded eight runners.

Kenny made eight trades in all this season, and while I'll go through them all later in the day, I figured we could get a head start on the discussion.  Here's the slate of moves Williams made this season:

• Alex Cintron for Jeff Bajenaru
  
• Jim Thome for Aaron Rowand, Gio Gonzalez and Daniel Haigwood
• Matt Thornton for Joe Borchard
• Rob Mackowiak for Damaso Marte
• Javier Vazquez for Chris Young, Orlando Hernandez and Luis Vizcaino
• Sandy Alomar Jr. for B.J. LaMura
• Mike MacDougal for Tyler Lumsden and Daniel Cortes
• David Riske for Javier Lopez

When you factor in 1) what we received, 2) what we gave up, and 3) how well Ozzie used them, how would you rank these deals?

Whoa, Bajenaru!

Kenny Williams says he believes in Juan Uribe's innocence enough that he's not looking for a new shortstop, but part of the reason why he can afford to wait is the presence of Alex Cintron.

To get Cintron away from the Arizona Diamondbacks, it cost Jeff Bajenaru.  Looking at his minor-league stats, Bajenaru was worth nothing.  Simple algebra tells us that Williams got Cintron for nothing, and reality backs that up.  Lost in the shuffle of the postseason and the Uribe shooting incident is that Bajenaru cleared waivers and elected to become a free agent last Saturday.

We knew the story on Bajenaru -- great minor-league numbers, terrible major-league numbers, and the kind of often-middling stuff that would make you understand why there was such a gap. 

In 2006, Bajenaru took a big step back at both levels:

Minors	G	IP	H	ER	BB	K	W-L	SV	ERA
2005	61	70.1	45	11	29	83	4-6	19	1.41
2006	52	80	79	40	40	72	4-3	7	4.50

Majors	G	IP	H	ER	BB	K	W-L	SV	ERA
2005	4	4.1	4	3	0	3	0-0	0	6.23
2006	1	1	4	4	0	0	0-1	0	36.00

Bajenaru did Bajenaru things in his only big-league appearance in 2006 -- he threw 20 pitches, and 15 were for strikes.  That's good.  The problem was, he gave up four hits, and three of them left the yard.  Two days later, he was optioned to the minors, and now he's floating around the big leagues.

The Sox could have him back if they wanted to now, though seeing him in a White Sox uniform would mean very bad things.  If I were Kenny, I might be tempted to try to stick him back in Charlotte, if only to hammer the point home that I acquired a decent utility infielder for absolutely nothing.  Williams is slightly more mature than I am, though.

At any rate, now that he's teamless, Bajenaru should have time to update his website.  Here's a to-do list for him:

• Pick a team.  He has Arizona colors and White Sox pictures.
• Update his stats.  As you can see above, we can see why he'd be reluctant.
• Get more help from Him.  In the "spirituality" section, Bajenaru credits Jesus for helping him heal from arm surgery -- praying in front of everybody at Starbucks did the trick.  They say Christ can't hit a curveball, but maybe He knows how to throw one. 
  

Then again, if Christ were a pitcher, I imagine His success would lie in rubbing down the ball.  We've heard what He can do with dirt and spit.

So how the hell did that happen?

The best thing about the Bears' miracle 24-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals is that it has all the positive effects of a loss without a tally in that column.

Rex Grossman looked as confused as Jonathan Quinn, the Bears defensive line underperformed against a mediocre Cardinals line, the secondary didn't play well, plenty of missed tackles, no running game, six turnovers -- sounds like an embarrassment to me. 

I bet Lovie Smith is already treating it like a loss.  Let's hope the fans take a cue as well.

I've already seen enough footage of the 1985 Bears this season, which is amazing considering the season isn't even halfway over yet.  They've beaten a bunch of nobodies, save the Seahawks game, and their quarterback is somebody who's never started three games in a row before this season.  Tonight, Rex looked the part.

Not that I'm saying there isn't plenty to like.  For instance, this is the first time since the '80s where I can remember the Bears having a surplus of above-average pass rushers.  Mark Anderson already looks better than the guys the Bears have paid 10 times as much over the past 15 years.  There's plenty of atleticism and a solid coaching staff.  This team could contend for a Super Bowl.

They just haven't done anything yet.  And they didn't do anything in this game worth bragging about -- they needed an All-Pro kicker to miss a routine field goal in a dome to beat a 1-4 team starting a rookie quarterback. 

I think this team is good, and I'll leave it at that until they win a playoff game.  When they show they can maintain a plan in an elimination game on both sides off the ball, then I'll start getting my hopes up.

This is why baseball holds the top spot in my heart, because it invites much easier dialogue.  The season moves at a more relaxed pace, and there's 10 times less hype on a day-to-day basis, because each game is 10 times less imporant.  That's fine with me, although I can understand why the 162-game schedule turns people off.  At the same time, the NFL season moves like a baseball game -- maybe 10-15 minutes of prime action if you combine the highlights, and then the rest of the week is spent standing and waiting. 

At any rate, it'll be interesting to see how the loudest Bears fan treat this.  Chances are we'll either be hearing 1) the Bears are a team of destiny, and the rest of the league should watch out, or 2) Brian Griese should start getting ready, but maybe the most horrible win imaginable will provide some rare middle ground.  With two weeks of talking and speculation before another should-win game, moderation may be hard to arrange.

Sox Machine Season in Review: The Offseason

Back when Dave Barry wrote outstanding humor columns, which were turned into a mediocre TV show, instead of merely decent books, which were then turned into mediocre films, year-in-reviews became a regular feature of his. 

But since he's given that up, I figure I can step in and ape the method myself.  While he packaged every month into one gigantic column, I figure I'll spread the season out a bit.  Today's will cover the offseason -- or at least the section of the offseason that happened after this site was launched --  and I'll get to April in a couple weeks or so.  It's a long winter.

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Dec. 2 – An unselfish Paul Konerko shows how much playing in Chicago means to him when he bypasses the opportunity to buy whatever one can’t buy with $60 million, but can buy with $65 million. 

Dec. 8 – The White Sox sign Pittsburgh utilityman Rob Mackowiak to play center field half the time.  Mackowiak makes the trip by driving towards Philadelphia first, then doubling back and arriving a day late.

Dec. 21 – The Sox clubhouse loses a pair of gigantic black panties, and something of less value as well.

Dec. 29 – Jon Garland signs a three-year, $29 million contract, bypasses “what’s in the box.”  (Wise choice; it was a new dinette set.)

Jan. 8 – Mark Buehrle declines to pitch in the World Baseball Classic, citing the desire to condition on normal schedule for upcoming season.  His left arm fails to receive the memo, and pitches in WBC anyway.

Jan. 12 – White Sox announce hiring of Chris Singleton to replace John Rooney.

Jan. 13 – Ed Farmer gets upset after Singleton fails to ask Farmer how he slept, says partnership will "never work."

Jan. 25 – Frank Thomas becomes Oakland’s problem.

Jan. 31 – After undergoing physical therapy for his ailing back, Dustin Hermanson declares himself fit for the upcoming season.

Feb. 2 – Ozzie declines to attend the White House ceremony, cites annoying smell of sulfur.

Feb. 5 – After a three-day struggle and the help of a complex system of pulleys, Dustin Hermanson finishes tying his shoes, only to realize he forgot to put on his pants first.

Feb. 11 – Kenny Williams buys himself time, breaks Chris Young’s wrist. 

Feb. 13 – White Sox visit White House; Juan Uribe checks handguns at security gate, nobody thinks twice about it.

Feb. 16 – Ozzie Guillen criticizes Alex Rodriguez’s inability to make up his mind; Brian Anderson thinks about bringing this to Ozzie’s attention six months later, but ultimately declines.

Feb. 22 – Carl Everett says his Mariners are a better offensive squad than the White Sox.  They’re so good, says Everett, that he vows to not hit because it’d simply be too much firepower.

Feb. 27 – Kenny Williams calls Frank Thomas an “idiot” and “selfish” among other things during 45-minute rant.  Assembled reporters charge him $210 for the “hour.”

March 6 – The Sox open Spring Training with six consecutive losses; Ozzie Guillen praises bullpen for already being in midseason form.

March 8 – Kenny Williams trades Jeff Bajenaru to Arizona for infielder Alex Cintron.  Since the two teams share the same Spring Training facility, Williams picks up the 210-lb. Cintron himself and saves approximately $920 on overnight shipping.

March 9 – I arrive in Tucson.

March 11 – Tucson freezes over.

March 11 – I watch Matt Thornton start a game for the Mariners and perform miserably, presumably to make me look like an ass when I write off his presence later on.

March 12 – Dustin Hermanson looks worse walking off the field than Herm Schneider.

March 18 – Hawk Harrelson and Darrin Jackson start their own blog, giving Hawk a new reason to not talk during big losses.

March 20 – The Mariners add another Sox outfielder who won’t hit for them after they trade Matt Thornton to Chicago for Joe Borchard.

March 27 – Boone Logan makes White Sox roster.  That’s the joke.

March 30 – Pablo Ozuna hits wind-aided homer during the last week of Spring Training; I write, “Ozuna likely won't come close to hitting another one this season, so at least let him enjoy it.”

The $252 million questions

The Chicago Tribune speculated wildly about it, the New York Daily News reported about it, and Juan Uribe's possible criminal activity presses the issue: Could the White Sox land Alex Rodriguez?


From the White Sox's side, I don't know why not.  The Sox have under-30 arms, a possible replacement for A-Rod in New York and a place to play him.  Money's always an issue, but any team that can take Rodriguez will need a hefty sack of cash from the Yankees anyway, so the Sox aren't necessarily on uneven ground there.

The bigger question to me is, why would Rodriguez want to play on the South Side?  It's a huge issue, since he has a no-trade clause, and that answer is less clear. 

I see only one clear benefit for Rodriguez to join the Sox, and that's to move back to his natural position of shortstop if he so chooses.  But I've watched Rodriguez plenty over the last year and a half, since I have YES and all, and the only way he can play that position is if he goes on the Ivan Rodriguez Crash Diet. 

He bulked up before the 2006 season, and it's affected his mobility greatly in the field.  He's lost some of his first step, his hands are by no means sure, and he doesn't look confident making throws -- and it shows in the error column, which doubled from 2005 to 2006.  If he's that bad at third, there's no way he plays short unless the pitchers can live with most grounders to the left side going for singles.  Joe Crede gloves circles around him, no doubt about it.

Otherwise, I see four obstacles stopping A-Rod from OKing any deal to the South Side:

1) Ozzie Guillen.  Would Ozzie want to manage a "hypocrite"?  Would Rodriguez want to play for another manager who badmouthed him to Sports Illustrated?  This is a small issue, but an issue nevertheless.  Add in the way Scott Boras stonewalled Jerry Reinsdorf from negotiations when A-Rod was a free agent in 2000-01, and there could be a few lingering grudges.

2) He needs a ring.  The Yankees have won nine consecutive AL East pennants and have played in October 12 years in a row, while the White Sox, in their entire 105-year history, have never made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. 

Rodriguez is on the wrong side of 30, albeit barely, and he's already in the place that gives him the best shot of winning his first World Series.  I'm not sure why he'd want to diminish his own chances.

3) It's not New York.  If Rodriguez is as image-conscious as everybody says, declaring asylum in Chicago won't help one bit.  If he leads the Sox to a division pennant, then hits .500 in the playoffs with 11 game-winning RBI as the Sox win their second World Series in three years, it will be attributed to the softer pressure Rodriguez faces. 

His induction into the Hall of Fame is already assured -- it's his legacy he's working on.  He's failed in New York, and the only way to erase that is to win in New York.  Running away from the problem is only going to make things worse in that department.

4) Midway International Airport.  If recent events are any indication, Rodriguez isn't going to be a fan of flying in and out of an airport with dangerously short runways itself. 

This and that

Well, it looks like I'm rooting for the Detroit Tigers in the World Series.  Given the way they're playing, I'd be happy to do so.  There are a lot of things in common with last year's White Sox team -- starters having career performances, a bullpen where everybody's contributing, a lineup where everybody can get the big hit, a manager that has all the right answers, a detrimental Perez...

I normally root against Detroit everything -- Red Wings, Pistons, Lions -- but I think I can get behind this team.  They're playing a fun brand of baseball, the crowd's really into it, and it'd be nice to say the AL Central has the last two World Champions. 

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Album recommendation:  "Putting The Days to Bed" by The Long Winters.  I'm on a pop music kick as of late, at least while I bide time until the new Who album comes out.  The Long Winters sound something like Built to Spill with tighter songwriting, and the lyrics remind me of Barenaked Ladies a little.  I also picked up "Dog Problems" by The Format, which I'm listening to right now, but The Long Winters album is going to be a rotation regular.

Jet's new album ain't bad either; good enough to beat the sophomore jinx.  Let me know if there's anything I should be listening to.  There's a Borders within walking distance, and I'm trying to rack up Rewards.

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I went for a ride around Vermont today, and there's a photo gallery up in case anybody cares. 

The falling Raines

The White Sox have opted to not renew Tim Raines' contract. 

If I had a guess, Sandy Alomar seems like the logical choice to replace him, because some quotes during his acquistion seemed to indicate that would be in the plans.  But obviously, Alomar wasn't a factor when Raines' contract wasn't renewed with those of the rest of the staff, including Greg Walker, Harold Baines, Don Cooper, Joey Cora and Art Kusnyer.

Back in May when these deals were reached, the team said that the decision was up to Raines, with the original story saying, "Only bench coach Tim Raines has not reached terms of a new contract yet, and the team said he will wait to evaluate his situation until the end of the season."

It turns out the decision wasn't up to Raines.  The Sox pulled the plug on this situation, and the whole situation is bizarre.

It has to, on some level, be related to Harold Baines' flip-flopping on his thoughts about his coaching career.  Before the season, Baines said he'd be done with coaching after his contract was up.  All of a sudden, he's coaching first base in Tucson while Raines took over bench coach duties.  Then Harold signs the three-year deal in May.  And now Raines isn't returning in any capacity.  What's up with that?

Maybe under Harold's stoic facade is a scheming, double-crossing saboteur?  Doubtful.  I'm sure this is more between Ozzie and Rock, but I'm not certain to what degree.

I'm also not certain about the effect will have on this team, but I'm highly skeptical that this will be for the better.  At least when Scott Podsednik was healthy, the Sox were a very effective base-stealing team when Raines coached first; not so much with Harold manning the box.  That's not to say it's causation; heck, any degree of correlation can't really be established.  I'm just sayin'.

Also, there are the minor points that Raines is by far the most accomplished major-leaguer on the staff, as well as the most energetic.  In terms of charisma, I'd say the Sox aides rank in this order: 

Raines --> Cooper --> Walker --> Cora --> Kusnyer --> Gatorade cooler --> batting donut --> Harold

Alomar would probably fit somewhere in between Walker and Kusnyer, I'm guessing, but he hasn't shown he's any sort of go-getter either. 

I don't know if this means anything.  Maybe Ozzie thought he could find a better bench coach than Raines, which is possible considering Raines didn't move to the bench by choice.  At the same time, I'm still confused as to why Raines was moved off first in the first place.  Perhaps some salty quotes from Raines to a reporter will get Ozzie to explain more fully. 

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE:  Joe Cowley's article says Ozzie wasn't thrilled with Raines' work ethic, though it doesn't go into greater detail.  However, this paragraph stood out to me:

While Guillen never said why Raines was not given an extension, sources indicated he was not thrilled with Raines' work ethic all the time, even though it had improved over this last season.

With the Sox down a coach, Baines could return to bench duties, which would leave Guillen needing a first-base coach.

But I thought Baines -- wait, wasn't Raines -- my head hurts.

Jose, you should see...

When it comes to ex-Sox in the playoffs, attention has largely been paid to the American League.  And why not?  Detroit has a true product of the White Sox farm system, one on whom many Sox fans hung their hopes.  Meanwhile, Oakland's lineup features one of the greatest giants to ever grace the right side of the Comiskey infield.

But this October isn't all about Jason Grilli and D'Angelo Jiminez. 

In comparison to those text-messaging buddies, Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez, Jose Valentin has flown under the radar.  His career was left for dead by most fans after his dreadful 2005 campaign with the Dodgers -- and I was solidly in this group, after watching him in the Caribbean World Series -- but he's rebounded to have a fine season as the second baseman for the New York Mets.

My enthusiasm for Frank and Maggs is tempered, somewhat and significantly, respectively, by the circumstances of their departures.  But I have no bile whatsoever for Valentin, who was about as solid a ballplayer as you can ask for, in all aspects of the game.

And he perhaps had the most grounds for complaint out of the three of them because the great tinkerer, Jerry Manuel, dicked around with him more than any other player.  A lot was made of his 36 errors at short in 2000, but his bat, range and ability to turn two should've trumped that.  No matter what, it certainly wasn't bad enough to be replaced by Royce Clayton; absolutely certainly not bad enough to not get his job back when Clayton was hitting .115 through the first two months of 2001.

Valentin didn't bitch though.  He played third, center, and finally short again in 2003.  By then, his ability to hit lefties had deteriorated and Manuel and Ozzie Guillen couldn't find a way to compensate.  Then he couldn't even hit righties in 2004, and Juan Uribe eventually took over. 

But even with his struggles, Valentin was good for 25 homers a year.  And while purely anecdotal, he might be the smartest baserunner in the Sox history I can remember.  He never matched his basestealing from 2000 (19-for-21), but I remember him being great at taking the extra base and smart slides.

It's a shame he couldn't have stuck around through 2005, because he deserved a ring as much as anybody.  After all, he was one of the few who actually showed up during the 2000 ALDS.  Sometimes the guys the Sox bring back confuse me -- I never thought of Joey Cora or Greg Walker as tutor material -- but I think Valentin is a guy who would look good on the Sox's bench or field whenever he's done playing. 

He just made a nice defensive play for the second-to-last out of NLCS Game 1, so that might be a while.

Vote early, vote offense

Now on whitesox.com, you can vote for the play of the year.  Not surprisingly, the most recent play up for selection happened on June 22, when the Sox were 48-25 and tied for first place. 

Sigh. 

At any rate, the memorable defensive gems are there -- Tadahito Iguchi's spinning throw, Joe Crede's five-part sliding catch by the tarp, Jermaine Dye's over-the-head lunging catch, the triple play against the Twins on Mother's Day. 

But I think in a season where the Sox's offense was more noteworthy than the pitching or defense, it would've been nice to feature an