Another Mariotti Thread

[KWs OK for Me]

I'm not quite sure if any one else is going to post this article. But, it might actually be the first good, possibly even well thought out article of Mariotti's that I have read, well we'll just say in a while. One also thinks that maybe Jay reads this message board, a lot of similar ideas, especially towards the end. So for one day I think we can back off for a little bit and just appreciate that he actually had something positive to say concerning our Pale Hose.

 

Williams Now Nothing Short of a GM Gem

 

Williams now nothing short of a GM gem

 

December 15, 2005

 

BY JAY MARIOTTI SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

 

 

Somewhere between the Todd Ritchie debacle, a near-riot at SoxFest and a World Series championship, Kenny Williams became Ken Williams. And somewhere between the day he chased an angry Frank Thomas around an Arizona parking lot and the night he held a silver trophy like a baby, he became an awesome general manager.

 

Or a mad scientist, take your pick.

 

I know identity theft is a problem in this country, but in a mere 12 months, a formerly reckless and error-prone executive has morphed magnificently into John Schuerholz. When most champion GMs would be taking the winter off and getting chubby on the banquet circuit, Williams continues to stun his peers as the South Side No-Quit Man. After his brassy trade for Jim Thome, I proposed an Oprah appearance for him. After the re-signing of Paul Konerko, I expected a sandwich to be named in his honor. Then came the deal for supersub Rob Mackowiak, which prompted me to ponder a stadium change: U.S. Cellular Field at Ken Williams Park. Around that time, he told us to put our notepads and cameras away, that he was done tweaking his roster.

 

He lied.

 

Like a man who has seen a burst of light after years in baseball hell, Kenny/Ken isn't content with one ring. He is going for two rings, three rings, the entire hand. His latest trade, for talented but underachieving Javier Vazquez, wasn't executed to give the White Sox a sixth starting pitcher. Obviously, Williams has something much bigger in mind, and if you say it's crazy to think about Miguel Tejada in Soxstripes, you have to understand the Evel Knievel mind-set of the man in charge: Nothing is crazy.

 

Judging by the continued shrieks in Soxdom, some think the succession of deals is too cold-blooded only weeks after the champagne dried. We still can see the cigar smoke of El Duque, occasionally known as Orlando Hernandez, whose relief work in Fenway Park is the stuff of legend. He's off to Arizona in the Vazquez deal, as is reliever Luis Vizcaino and minor-league sensation Chris Young. Frank Thomas left last week, of course, in his unfortunate huff. Aaron Rowand is being ripped on Philadelphia talk radio for wearing Bears jerseys. Geoff Blum, Game 3 hero, vanished quietly. Carl Everett, the gay-basher who doesn't believe dinosaurs roamed the earth, was excused. So was Damaso Marte, bringing the total of World Series departees to a whopping seven.

 

Consider the possibilities

 

But much as fans would love to embrace the warm-and-fuzzy vibe forever, this is why team pictures are taken each season. That was 2005. To win again in 2006, changes must be made. And yes, Williams is said to be broaching the possibility of stealing Tejada from Baltimore, a mighty addition that would create a King Kong lineup -- Tejada at No. 3, Konerko at No. 4, Thome at No. 5 and Jermaine Dye at No. 6 -- to accompany a killer rotation. The company line behind the Vazquez pickup is something that normally rots my gut: The front office is protecting itself against skyrocketing pitching contracts and the likelihood that Jon Garland, who becomes a free agent next offseason and is due about $8 million in arbitration, will demand more than A.J. Burnett's five-year, $55 milllion payoff. But Garland, despite a terrific first half and a lights-out effort in the American League Championship Series, is no certainty to pan out as an outstanding long-term pitcher. So, the rationale goes, the Sox might as well get something for Garland now rather than lose him later.

 

All of which has prompted a flurry of trade buzz surrounding Garland and rotation mate Jose Contreras, also entering his final contract season. Loony as it may seem to break up one of the great postseason rotations of all time, I'll say it again: I'm out of the Williams-is-nuts business. He is using Vazquez's presence as negotiating leverage against Garland and Contreras, who have been offered extensions but apparently have yet to budge. Rather than be held hostage by free agency, as the club was by Konerko, Williams is being proactive in ways we haven't seen in his profession. Acting like the Donald Trump of the Hot Stove League, he is two steps ahead of everyone else, daring Garland and Contreras to sign or deal with the possible consequences.

 

"I don't have any desire to break up the rotation that helped us to a championship,'' Williams said. "That said, both Jose and Jon have been given a chance to stay beyond the 2006 season. We will try not to be put in the position, as we were with Konerko, where we're at the mercy of the market. We'll try to stay ahead of the curve.''

 

But unlike other general managers -- and contrary to the Sox' modus operandi for years -- Williams isn't content simply to dump Garland to save money. He is going for the jugular, eyeing a blockbuster deal that can establish his team as a championship favorite for a few years. If the Orioles succumb to Tejada's mysterious trade request and place him on the market, the Sox could counter with a package including Garland and shortstop Juan Uribe, last seen diving into the stands in Houston. Were this team to end up with Tejada, it will not bother me in the least if Garland, still in his mid-20s, goes on to a Cy Young season or two. Williams will have turned a crisis into a solution, the mark of any premier sports boss.

 

Yes, you have to mess

 

Another talked-about option, if the Orioles retain Tejada, is shipping Garland and Joe Crede to Texas for power-hitting third baseman Hank Blalock and center fielder Brad Wilkerson. Any deal involving Garland or Contreras would elevate Vazquez as the fourth starter and hot shot Brandon McCarthy as the fifth starter, which could make the rotation a bit weaker. I don't care. If the Sox have a much stronger offense to complement a slightly inferior pitching staff, the equation still spells repeat.

 

Again, I can hear the shrieks of mortified Sox fans asking, "Why mess with success?'' Look, you've won your championship for the first time in 88 years. The pressure is off. Why not have some fun, take some chances, wear the lampshade and dance? As word of the Vazquez trade was making the rounds Wednesday, the Cubs were having a news conference to introduce Juan Pierre, their lone impact signing of the offseason. Their embattled GM, Jim Hendry, has made an inquiry about Tejada, but unless Mark Prior or Carlos Zambrano is inserted into an offer, the Cubs are in no position to match a Sox package. Imagine if Williams were to trump Hendry and steal Tejada, the best offensive shortstop in the game, after the Sox trumped the Cubs for the first World Series parade in a Chicago lifetime.

 

Hendry and Andy MacPhail would have to resign on the spot. Think I'm kidding?

 

Even if Williams makes no blockbuster deal, having Vazquez as an insurance policy is brilliant thinking. The Sox had incredible health luck with their starters last season, and with Mark Buehrle and Freddy Garcia pitching in Bud Selig's contrived World Baseball Classic, they can't have enough reinforcements. But after watching Williams make a flurry of moves in one month, why wouldn't he make another?

 

"We're not looking to break up anything,'' he said. "We're looking to add to the equation. We're looking to get better and to get better for a longer period of time.''

 

All you wanted was one World Series title before you died.

 

Now, dare I say, you might be getting a dynasty.

[Sox It To Em]

High-five Mariotti for finally telling it like it is. Great article.

[YASNY]

High-five Mariotti for finally telling it like it is. Great article.

 

It was a good column. But, this is just a reflection of which way the wind is blowing today in the world of jay mariotti.

Edited December 15, 2005 by YASNY

[Wedge]

Now, dare I say, you might be getting a dynasty.

 

Damn straight!

[YASNY]

Damn straight!

 

Damn mariotti anyway. That's the kiss of death!

[timotime]

It was a good column.  But, this is just a reflection of which way the wind is blowing today in the world of jay mariotti.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

mariotti is a snake. he spits on his finger and holds it up in the wind to see which point of view to take. i still hate that bastard.

[sec159row2]

he must be on vacation and one of his intern's penned this one...

[MurcieOne]

whats that famous quote about blind squirells and nuts? oh yeah... even they find one every once in a while.

 

A broken clock is right twice a day... ya know...

[southsider2k5]

Good... bad... indifferent... I don't know why you all waste your time reading his crap. Its people like you who keep Kotex-boy employed. Put down the Sun Times and find a decent newspaper to read.

[MurcieOne]

Good... bad... indifferent... I don't know why you all waste your time reading his crap.  Its people like you who keep Kotex-boy employed.  Put down the Sun Times and find a decent newspaper to read.

 

READ THE GAZETTE.... I cover the hawks for that paper...

 

its like reading the porkchop chronicles... only about hockey... cause the hawks are well the porkchop's of the NHL.

[drowninginflame]

good article, but he's still a bag of douche

[MurcieOne]

good article, but he's still a bag of douche

 

I like that you decided to go with bag of douche instead of douche bag... i enjoy the variation... good call

[ottawa_sox]

READ THE GAZETTE.... I cover the hawks for that paper...

 

its like reading the porkchop chronicles... only about hockey... cause the hawks are well the porkchop's of the NHL.

 

I'm a closet Hawk fan ....... and I like porkchops. What's the full name of the paper? Does it have a website?

[Irishsox1]

This is all a set up for Moronetti. Now that the White Sox have won the World Series, he will build them up to unatainable heights and when they fail to reach his goals or they get rid of a player he liked, then the hatchet job comes out. For christs sake, the guy still writes about the Bulls being broken up 7 years later and after they won 6 championships! Also on June 7th, 2005 Moronetti wrote that as long as Jerry Reinsdorf ownes the White Sox, then they will never win a World Series. Moronetti has absolutly no credability left in Chicago and should leave town.

[GoSox05]

Isnt it wierd when writers start talking about the sox being a dynasty? This time last year i was excited that we might make the playoffs.

 

I think Kenny Williams sold his soul to the devil and in return he was given the ability to make kick ass trades that make other Gm's look like idiots.

[YASNY]

Isnt it wierd when writers start talking about the sox being a dynasty?  This time last year i was excited that we might make the playoffs. 

 

I think Kenny Williams sold his soul to the devil and in return he was given the ability to make kick ass trades that make other Gm's look like idiots.

 

Hey! What ever it takes!

[kevin57]

Given that guy's track record, his praise of KW and the Sox is worrisome.

Also, you have to note his digs at Sox fans. Wouldn't be a Mariotti Sox column without "dissing" us.

[RibbieRubarb]

And the first game Vasquez loses and Tejada goes 0-4 with 4Ks, Jay will be calling for Kenny head.

 

Don't bother with that windsock...read something more productive with your time.

[nvxplorer]

I just finished reading the article at the Sun-Times website, and I came right over here to see if anyone else had the same reaction. It was surreal, actually. I clicked the article from the Sox page, but while doing other things as I was reading, I completely forgot who wrote it. As I approached the end of the article, I noticed Mariotti’s signature, and I was dumbfounded. Mariotti either had the piece ghost written, or he’s a bonafide schizophrenic. I could get used to reading him if he sticks to this style. No cutesy rhetoric, no childish insults; just intelligent, sensible commentary. I’ll even excuse his fantasy of Juan Pierre bringing a pennant to the North Side.

Edited December 15, 2005 by nvxplorer

[nitetrain8601]

Brilliant.

[Middle Buffalo]

I think Kenny Williams sold his soul to the devil and in return he was given the ability to make kick ass trades that make other Gm's look like idiots.

Except, of course, Billy Beane.

[southsider2k5]

READ THE GAZETTE.... I cover the hawks for that paper...

 

its like reading the porkchop chronicles... only about hockey... cause the hawks are well the porkchop's of the NHL.

 

yeah but even the Hawks score occasionally

 

[/rimshhot]

[whitesoxfan101]

Don't worry guys. The first sign of trouble next season, Marriotti will be the guy writing the column about how the Sox were too liberal this offseason and should not have broken up the World Champion team.

[SoxFan562004]

I wouldn't be suprised if he writes an article next week bashing KW and the Sox

[The Ginger Kid]

Except, of course, Billy Beane.

 

And don't forget Mark Shapiro -- the brilliant executive of the year who can't even re-sign his best pitcher or a closer and instead will have Bob Wickman anchoring the bullpen. Sweet.

 

Moronotti's a tool but he's right on this one.

 

The Yankee's late 90s early 00 dynasty was done with constant re-tooling every year. Heroes like Jim Leyritz were replaced but a core remained. I'm not ready to make any bold predictions, especially in a division as competetive as the central, but the Sox could clearly be set up for a similar run.

 

Or they could be the '85 Bears.