Grade the Off-Season

[Loaiza21]

If the off-season moves are done for the Chicago White Sox, how do you rate Ken Williams performance at GM? I'm still hoping we can land Iguchi, but if things ended with the Pierzynski signing I'd still be pretty happy with what we have going for us. Here's a rundown of what has happened since the end of the season if you need a refresher:

 

January 6, 2005

Agreed to terms on a one-year contract with catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who had been with the San Francisco Giants.

 

December 23, 2004

Agreed to terms on a two-year contract with pitcher Orlando Hernandez, who had been with the New York Yankees.

 

December 22, 2004

Re-signed catcher Ben Davis to a one-year contract; signed pitchers Ryan Meaux and Eduardo Villacis to minor-league contracts.

 

December 17, 2004

Claimed pitcher Bobby Jenks off waivers from the Anaheim Angels; designated pitcher Eduardo Villacis for assignment; agreed to terms with outfielder Timo Perez on a one-year, one million dollar contract.

 

December 17, 2004

Re-signed second baseman Juan Uribe to a three-year contract with a club option for 2008.

 

December 14, 2004

Designated pitcher Ryan Meaux for assignment.

 

December 14, 2004

Acquired outfielder Scott Podsednik, pitcher Luis Vizcaino and a player to be named from the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Carlos Lee; waived pitcher Dan Wright.

 

December 10, 2004

Signed free agent outfielder Jermaine Dye, who had been with the Oakland Athletics, to a two-year contract with a club option for 2007.

 

December 8, 2004

Signed free agent pitcher Dustin Hermanson, who had been with the San Francisco Giants, to a two-year contract with a club option for 2007.

 

November 24, 2004

Signed pitcher Kevin Walker to a one-year contract.

 

November 20, 2004

Re-signed pitcher Jon Garland to a one-year contract; purchased the contracts of pitchers Kris Honel and Matt Smith and infielder Pedro Lopez from Birmingham of the Southern League (AA) and pitchers Sean Tracey and Paulino Reynoso and infielder Casey Rogowski from Winston-Salem of the Carolina League (A).

 

October 28, 2004

Announced that designated hitter Frank Thomas and outfielder Carl Everett have exercised player options for the 2005 season; exercised the 2005 option on pitcher Shingo Takatsu; declined the 2005 option on catcher Sandy Alomar Jr.

[greasywheels121]

I still think we get some kind of IFer. KW's really come through on the plan he had early in the offseason, I really love how this team just looks more balanced. We have 5 SPs now, we have speed, and we have power. I'm really psyched for the season to start.

 

I give the offseason an A.

[Chisoxfn]

I still think they have one more move left and thats getting a middle infielder whether its Iguchi/Cora/Cairo.

 

But by the looks of this, on paper this is going to be a far superior team to the one the Sox put out there at the start of last season.

[KevHead0881]

Although I think we still have a 2nd baseman coming, I still feel comfortable giving this offseason an A. Filling holes in the staff, bullpen, catcher, the basepaths, defense and the departure of Maggs seemed like a heavy load at the beginning of the offseason. But, from what I can see, we've basically done that.

 

Does this translate into a division winner? Who knows. But at least in my mind, Kenny has done his job. Now lets hope the players do theirs.

[Gene Honda Civic]

Pierzynski -- A+ -- It will be the best deal of the off-season, for any team

Jenks -- A -- No risk, High reward-type deal

Garland -- B -- good value for a guy who's going to give you tons of innings

El Duque -- B- -- Really old, hasn't pitched much in last 3 year, but adressed main need.

Dye -- B- -- Filled hole in right, better defensively than maggs. Could approach 30/100 in USCF

Uribe -- C -- could be too early to sign him, he hasn't proved much, other than he's inconsistent. Could be a great deal though, who knows?

Vizcaino, Pods, PTBNL -- C- -- Didn't get value for Lee, Pods not likely to even approach 2003 production

Hermanson -- C- -- Only gets this high of a grade because he is an insurance policy on the 5th starters spot.

Davis -- D+ -- Don't see the need to pay for him, given either the AJ signing, or having a cheaper option in Burke

Timo -- F -- Why?

 

Rowand -- Inc. --

2nd Base -- Inc/F -- at the very least there needs to be some sort of platoon set-up.

[SoxFan562004]

Gave a B, because there was no B+.... A is easily attained with one more veteran infielder... doesn't have to be the Japanese dude or a "wow" addition... just a solid platoon player to push Willie some...

[JoshPR]

Gave it a B, It would be an A if we would got a top line starter. Duque ain't a bad Signing but i would have loved a top guy. Of course it was hard to get one. I guess i'm not an easy A giver

[CSF]

I gave them an A. KW pretty much said this team was going to be overhauled, and he managed to do so without giving up too much talent (C. Lee). Plus it looks like he got good character guys who will give this team an identity. This should be a fun year.

[DonkeyKongerko]

On the KW grading scale, this offseason has to be an A. All but one of the glaring needs have been addressed in some manner this offseason. Some long-time problem areas like 5th starter and catcher also seem to have been addressed finally. I believe we are building a more balanced and competitive team 70~75 million can buy with the best pitching staff assembled in a decade on the South Side.

[lvjeremylv]

Pierzynski -- A+ -- It will be the best deal of the off-season, for any team

 

Better than the Yankees getting the best pitcher in baseball? :rolly

[southsider2k5]

Better than the Yankees getting the best pitcher in baseball? :rolly

 

 

And they are going to pay him a guarenteed $48 million plus $9 million more to AZ, plus Vazquez and 3 other players, including two top prosects.

 

Total cost for the White Sox. $2.25 million.

[EvilJester99]

I give this offseason thus far a B+ and if they can get Iguchi I will say A- for the fact that Kenny has addressed pretty much every hole the Sox had.

[lvjeremylv]

And they are going to pay him a guarenteed $48 million plus $9 million more to AZ, plus Vazquez and 3 other players, including two top prosects.

 

Total cost for the White Sox.  $2.25 million.

 

He didn't say best deal for the money. He said best deal.

 

And what the Yankees will make in extra revenue for their likey World Series win in 2005 will more than pay for that $48M + $9M + scrub prospects.

[shakes]

I gave it a B. I'm happy we finally have 5 starters. Would have been an A, but El Duque's health and Pods comeback ????

 

Still very happy and excited to see the new look Sox.

[southsider2k5]

He didn't say best deal for the money.  He said best deal. 

 

And what the Yankees will make in extra revenue for their likey World Series win in 2005 will more than pay for that $48M + $9M + scrub prospects.

 

If you want to be nitpicky, Cheat's exact word was best "deal", which inferrs a bargin. The Yankees paid through the nose for Randy Johnson. The Sox got AJP for about 1/25th of the money, let alone the #2 starter, and two big name prospects that got given up.

[lvjeremylv]

I give this offseason thus far a B+ and if they can get Iguchi I will say A- for the fact that Kenny has addressed pretty much every hole the Sox had.

I'd probably give him an A- right now, even without Iguchi, but I agree with Kenny pretty much addressing our gaps. The only one really not touched on is our lack of a DOMINANT starter, but realistically, there's only a handful of those in baseball, so unless we wanted to trade the farm for someone like RJ, it wasn't going to happen.

 

So yeah, very good off-season for the Sox. Hopefully they'll learn that if they can put a couple off-seasons like this together in a row, they'll actually be playing baseball in late October instead of golf. What a concept!

[lvjeremylv]

If you want to be nitpicky, Cheat's exact word was best "deal", which inferrs a bargin.  The Yankees paid through the nose for Randy Johnson.  The Sox got AJP for about 1/25th of the money, let alone the #2 starter, and two big name prospects that got given up.

Pitchers like Randy Johnson don't grow on trees, and to acquire him, the Yankees gave up a lot. But, like I said, what they gave up will more than be returned to them when he helps bring them yet another championship. Hell, he might even help bring them 2, and if he does, all that extra revenue will be used by Steinbrenner to beef up his payroll even more.

 

I predict the Yankees' payroll will hit $300M before the Sox hits $100M. Not a bold prediction, really, but a funny one.

[Hatchetman]

A if he gets a 2B.

B otherwise.

[southsider2k5]

Pitchers like Randy Johnson don't grow on trees, and to acquire him, the Yankees gave up a lot.  But, like I said, what they gave up will more than be returned to them when he helps bring them yet another championship.  Hell, he might even help bring them 2, and if he does, all that extra revenue will be used by Steinbrenner to beef up his payroll even more. 

 

I predict the Yankees payroll will hit $300M before the Sox hits $100M.  Not a bold prediction, really, but a funny one.

 

I'd sure bet on your prediction coming true. The only way that changes is if this squad catches lightning in a bottle goes far in the playoffs, and we get the season ticket base from the 12K range where it is now, up to 20-25K.

[YASNY]

Let's step back and give this offseason another look.

 

We've added Podsednik, Vizcaino, Hermanson, Piersynski, El Duque

We've lost Ordonez, Valentin and Lee

 

Considering we knew Magglio was gone and Valentin wouldn't be back, then it's just Lee for all the additions.

 

However, if you look at opening day '04 vs current roster things look a lot different.

 

We have lost:

 

Olivo - The player most consider the best youngster on the ML roster

Reed - The player most considered our best prospect

Loaiza - A 21 game winner we thought would anchor the rotation.

Ordonez - The player most considered our best every day player

Lee -- Second to Ordonez

Valentin - A mediocre all around ballplayer the last couple of years.

 

We've added:

 

Garcia -- A solid, not great, starting pitcher.

Hermanson -- should be a decent addition to bullpen. Emphasis on "should"

Vizcaino -- expect more out of him than Hermanson

Podsednik -- A big question mark with speed.

Contreras -- can be anything from Danny Wright to Cy Young winner. Who knows?

Hernandez -- Good pitcher. How much will he pitch?

Piersynski -- All Star catcher, clubhouse cancer or something in between.

Dye -- Should be ok, IF he can stay in the line up.

 

All in all, I can't give KW more than a C. There are a ton of question marks there and not one STUD player added. Magglio has been a stud for a few years, until he went down. Lee very well might be even more of a stud than he has been. This coming season can be a very good, exciting season. But there is potential there for the season to totally suck.

[Hatchetman]

  This coming season can be a very good, exciting season.  But there is potential there for the season to totally suck.

 

better than the same old s*** in my opinion.

[lvjeremylv]

better than the same old s*** in my opinion.

Great phrasing of it - that's exactly how I feel.

 

The Sox tried the same old bulls*** for 4 years with no success. Finally KW is realizing that if he wants the Sox to have a shot at competing, he'll have to do something different. So far, I love it. How it plays out remains to be seen, but like poorme said, at least this is something different, and IMO very exciting. This is as pumped for an opening day as I've been since 2001 (the year after we made the playoffs and has aspirations of doing it again).

[southsider17]

Let's step back and give this offseason another look.

 

We've added Podsednik, Vizcaino, Hermanson, Piersynski, El Duque

We've lost Ordonez, Valentin and Lee

 

Considering we knew Magglio was gone and Valentin wouldn't be back, then it's just Lee for all the additions.

 

However, if you look at opening day '04 vs current roster things look a lot different.

 

We have lost:

 

Olivo - The player most consider the best youngster on the ML roster

Reed - The player most considered our best prospect

Loaiza - A 21 game winner we thought would anchor the rotation.

Ordonez -  The player most considered our best every day player

Lee --  Second to Ordonez

Valentin - A mediocre all around ballplayer the last couple of years.

 

We've added:

 

Garcia -- A solid, not great, starting pitcher. 

Hermanson -- should be a decent addition to bullpen.  Emphasis on "should"

Vizcaino -- expect more out of him than Hermanson

Podsednik -- A big question mark with speed.

Contreras -- can be anything from Danny Wright to Cy Young winner. Who knows?

Hernandez -- Good pitcher.  How much will he pitch?

Piersynski -- All Star catcher, clubhouse cancer or something in between.

Dye -- Should be ok, IF he can stay in the line up.

 

All in all, I can't give KW more than a C.  There are a ton of question marks there and not one STUD player added.  Magglio has been a stud for a few years, until he went down.  Lee very well might be even more of a stud than he has been.  This coming season can be a very good, exciting season.  But there is potential there for the season to totally suck.

 

Excellent post YASNY. I gave him a "B" mainly on the El Duque and AJ signings. All the other moves are question marks (could be great ..... could suck ).

 

There are alot of question marks on this team. It could go deep into October if everything goes right or if Crede, Harris, Pods, Uribe and Contreras don't meet expectations then it could be a disaster. But it is a more balanced team than previous teams and with improved defense and, more importantly, pitching depth (if not excellence), I am getting optimistic. I just hope we haven't lost too much offense.

[captain video]

Current grade --- "B-", I'd say about an 84% so he's really close to a solid "B".

If we land Iguchi at second, I give KW a "B+". (88%) As I have said in other posts, we started this off season looking to add a pitcher like JVazquez or the Unit and ended up with ELDuque. Kenny is trying to sell us that he is a #3 starter, but I'm not sure I buy that. I do think ElDuque is a good signing, I'd rather have him at 4 mil than to over pay for Clement at 8 million plus and not have AJ. We also,IMHO, still need another starting pitcher. I'm sure KW will sign someone late as an invite to Spring Training, "just-in-case" we need him. I like the upside of Cotts and I do not feel BMac will perform like Diaz, Rausch, etc. when finally given the chance, but we need that veteran should someone go down. Once second base and security starter is filled --- KW gets an "A".(95%) And to think we did all of this with "Sox-friendly" money.

[Texsox]

Part of what happened could not be blamed or credited to KW, the injury and not signing Maggs. I can't give credit for KW dodging that bullet.

 

Once again we are going into the season with more than a couple question marks

 

Frank's Health?

New Players at catcher, left, and right?

40% new rotation?

Zero continue?

Catcher - Pitcher chemistry (the most important chemistry IMHAOIO)

 

We are better balanced this year. I just see a huge ? in the 3-4-5 spots in the line-up and that worries me. Maggs - Frank - Lee was very solid with 3 All-Star caliber players.