Chisoxfn Posted October 16, 2002 Share Posted October 16, 2002 2003 Staff could bring October Thunder By Jeff Kruszweski It's Easier to Read if you juts click on the link above. As the red Japanese thunder sticks rocked Edison Park in Anaheim, I could only wonder how the Angels are headed to the World Series to square off against the Giants. Certainly their offense is on fire, but by the Angels upgrading their pitching last offseason, it gave the team the stability and constancy it needed. By adding veterans Kevin Appier and Aaron Sele, the Angels gave the staff veteran experience that took pressure off budding star Jarrod Washburn and helped Ramon Ortiz move down in the rotation as the number four. Inning-eater Kevin Appier allowed their bullpen to stay rested and and tough all year on opponents and now they are in their first World Series in franchise history. The White Sox need to find a way to be consistent next year when it comes to starting pitching. The Sox already have a Jarrod Washburn in Mark Buerhle, but other then Mark, our two through five slots are a question mark. Yes, even Jon Garland is still a question mark folks. But there are ways to help Garland become a better pitcher. In a White Sox fan's perfect world Kenny Williams goes out and signs Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux to bully our way into the playoffs next year, but we all know that those two men will never put on the black and white. There are other free agents that could help the White Sox next year. Robert Person (Phillies), Brian Moehler (Reds, you all remember him from Detroit), Paul Byrd (Royals), Shawn Estes (Reds), Pedro Astacio (Mets) and Jamie Moyer (Mariners), are all free agents. Signing one of these pitchers is a must, but by obtaining two the White Sox will bolster their staff and become the favorites to win the central next season. So, off this list I'm gonna go with Kenny Williams signing the young and energetic Robert Person, who is a strikeout pitcher, and lefty Jaime Moyer, who will bring the team a veteran leader and proven winner. He knows how to get outs and also gives the Sox a second quality lefty in the rotation. Why is this important? Well, the Minnesota Twins are a far worse team against lefties and beating them is the key. Both these men are obtainable at about five million dollars a year, two year contracts. So now we are looking at Mark Buerhle, Robert Person, Jamie Moyer, Jon Garland, and Todd Ritchie as our staff for 2003. Free agent Jamie Moyer went 13-8 with a 3.32 ERA for the Mariners in 2002 We cannot give up on Todd Ritchie just yet. He is a solid veteran who really just had bad luck this past season and if healthy we will get 200-plus innings out of him. Person and Moyer will allow him to take over the fourth or fifth spot in the rotation, where he will be much better at then as number two like last season. Jon Garland had a decent year bringing his ERA to 4.58 with a strong second half. He has a great upside and a lot of potential to become a solid starter. Remember, he is only 23 years old. The development of Garland will vastly speed up by adding Moyer and Person as Jon can pitch down in the rotation. Hopefully at this spot we will see the pitcher that fired a one-hitter in Fenway earlier this season. You may ask, "where does Danny Wright fit in with our two key additions to our staff?" Well, with Moyer and Person aboard, Wright can fill the role of long relief/spot starter as Sean Lowe did so well in 2000. If the Sox are only able to bring in one free agent pitcher this offseason then of course the fifth slot is Wright's to lose. I am just afraid of Wright's inconsistency and inexperience. Now, let us face reality. What if the White Sox do not sign any free agent pitchers, which honestly, is the likelier scenario. So now our pitching staff is built from what we already have. Buehrle, Garland, Wright, Ritchie and a battle for the fifth spot. Let me rule out two men right away for the fifth spot, the first one being Jim Parque. Need I say more? He is no longer major league quality and is a cancer to this team when around. It is time to give him his outright release and say good-bye. The man barely throws 80 miles an hour. Secondly, Jon Rauch is simply not ready for the bigs. He is 6-11 and has an above average curve ball, but if you are going out there with no movement at all on your 91-mile and hour fastball, you will get hit, um, hit hard. So, by the Sox not going after Moyer and Person, we now have three candidates to choose from. First there is Gary Glover whose ERA was slightly over five last year and really never took advantage of the opportunity to start games. The Sox are fooling themselves if they honestly see him fit enough to be in the rotation. He is minor league material and at best a long relief type guy for the Sox in 2003. Next, the most likely candidate is Rocky Biddle. Hawk Harrelson loves the good old "Rockmeister", but then again Hawk tried to make Carlton Fisk a left fielder when he (Hawk Harrelson) was our general manager in 1986. Rocky has great movement on his fastball and a nice slider. He has shown flashes of consistency, the key word there being flashes. Unfortunately Rocky has a history of injuries and needs to stay healthy. If he can double his innings from 2002 and maintain his 2002 ERA we are looking at a number five guy who pitches 160 plus innings with an ERA just above four. This could net Rocky 12-15 wins with the Sox offense. Rocky Biddle could very well become a viable option in the Sox 2003 rotation Finally the third candidate is none other then the six million dollar closer, Keith Foulke. Can Foulke duplicate what we saw done when Boston's Derek Lowe went from closer to starter last season? With our luck, no, he will not, but then again Boston hasn't exactly been too lucky when it comes to the playoffs either. Personally I would keep Foulke as the closer. He should be working on a slider and a curve ball this offseason to go with his heat and great change-up. This will bring him back to the dominant closer we saw in 2000 and 2001. Keith started some games back when he was with the San Francisco Giants and he would love the opportunity to do it with the White Sox. But for the White Sox sake, it is a huge gamble and Rocky Biddle edges him out if healthy. It all goes back to acquiring Moyer and Person; by doing so we do not have this problem. So there you have it. Two Scenarios. The first making us immediate contenders, while the second, and unfortunately the more likely of the two, shows the current outlook: 1.Mark Buehrle 2.Robert Person 3.Jamie Moyer 4.Jon Garland 5.Todd Ritchie 1.Mark Buehrle 2.Jon Garland 3.Danny Wright 4.Todd Ritchie 5.Rocky Biddle The current staff just will not cut it and will allow the Minnesota Twins to win their second straight division title. So take the extra money that will come from the raise in ticket prices (announced Thursday, October 10th) and get Moyer and Person. It takes pressure of the young Jon Garland and veteran Todd Ritchie and allows Keith Foulke to close again, thus deepening our bullpen with Damaso Marte and Antonio Osuna sliding down to be set-up men. It will show the players that management wants to win and it will bring renewed confidence to the South Side. In turn we may win the division back from the up start Twins, and who knows, maybe those Japanese Thunder Sticks you see in the 2003 World Series will be silver and black. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjmarte Posted October 16, 2002 Share Posted October 16, 2002 Originally posted by Chisoxfn2003 Staff could bring October Thunder By Jeff Kruszweski It's Easier to Read if you juts click on the link above. If the link worked it might be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted October 16, 2002 Author Share Posted October 16, 2002 I think the main site is down. Theirs been something wrong with that server(Its hosted seperately from the board) and it goes out for about a minute every hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjmarte Posted October 16, 2002 Share Posted October 16, 2002 I can get to soxnet, just not that page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molto Posted October 16, 2002 Share Posted October 16, 2002 main site isn't down, that is the wrong link you spelled kruszewski wrong http://www.soxnet.net/kruszewski/article-10.16.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soxfan420 Posted October 16, 2002 Share Posted October 16, 2002 great article and we better pick up 2 top quality starters and resign buerle and konerko and i would lock up crede too while he is cheap, since we invoked thomas contract, raised ticket prices, making money from cutting payroll this year we better do atleast some of those things we need to do, not to mention the money from the trades Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted October 16, 2002 Author Share Posted October 16, 2002 I liked the article a lot too. Big reason I liked it is they are the only other person to really compare the Sox to the Angels something I've been telling Mario for quite some time. Last offseason I raved saying Washburn was just like Buerhle. They are different pitchers in a sense, but both battle despite not having that unbelievable stuff. Personally I don't see our team being much different other then the fact we have a better offense, imo. Theirs is good, but ours can be better, if they get smarter on the basepaths. Pitching is the key, they went out and got Sele and Appier. Neither of those guys is an ace, but they are inning eaters and veterans and if you notice their other pitchers got better, Ramon Ortiz and Jarrod Washburn. Plus, guys like John Lackey were able to step in with ease not getting a boatload of pressure. I liked the idea of getting Robert Person and my new approach is to sign Person and Reynolds. If Shane doesn't come around then we can dl him and eventually deal him to dump salary. Pitchers like him will always have value, imo. Person is a guy I really like though. He has a good fastball, good stuff, and looks like he's on the verge of really putting things together. Both of them could provide innings, have experience and are good pitchers. None are aces, but both would easily be able to come in and handle the pressure of being a #2 or #3 and it would be a good way to allow the Sox to ease someone like Rauch into the rotation when they find him ready for it. Rotation Buerhle Reynolds Person Garland Wright That seems pretty good to me and would allow the Sox to use Ritchie out of the pen and possibly move someone like Ritchie or Biddle or leave them their as backup but both could be moved near the deadline to improve the team in other areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg775 Posted October 16, 2002 Share Posted October 16, 2002 Great article. I think you are right. But is Person that good? I like the idea of trying Moyer. If Byrd wasn't a one-year wonder he would eat up a lot of innings like Todd was supposed to. Unless of course Byrd sucked next year. Another tough call. But I'd sign Moyer and go with our guys. LETS SIGN MOYER and let him be the next starter to be jinxed by the Soxx. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soxfan420 Posted October 16, 2002 Share Posted October 16, 2002 Originally posted by Chisoxfn. Both of them could provide innings, have experience and are good pitchers. None are aces, but both would easily be able to come in and handle the pressure of being a #2 or #3 and it would be a good way to allow the Sox to ease someone like Rauch into the rotation when they find him ready for it. Rotation Buerhle Reynolds Person Garland Wright I agree with signing those players, but I think Wright and Rauch maybe Ritchi battle for the final spot in spring training. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted October 17, 2002 Author Share Posted October 17, 2002 Right now I think we shouldn't rush Rauch so it don't hurt him to spend a little time in the minors. Then when it comes to Ritchie and Wright I look and say who earned it and so far Wright's earned it. He got better as the season went on and if we already have a couple vets in the staff we can afford having Wright. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soxfan420 Posted October 17, 2002 Share Posted October 17, 2002 i think rauch might be ready Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted October 17, 2002 Author Share Posted October 17, 2002 I tend to agree with you, but I also don't think a little more time will hurt him and from what I have heard KW say it sounds to me like he will likely start the season in AAA. Well KW hasn't really said it, but if we add another pitcher and give Ritchie a shot, then I just don't see how Rauch makes it onto the roster. If he can get his velocity up another 2-3 mph then he'll be set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDF Posted October 18, 2002 Share Posted October 18, 2002 great articles on the front page. nice work esp on the season in review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.