Foxsport.com Offseason Grades

[S720]

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5198892

Our White Sox is the only team that gets an A grade, while Cubs owns a D-!

 

Few things that I really disagree with Perry. First, his preference of trading Podsednik to the Phillies instead of Rowand is obnoxious. Two problems with his argument: a) Perhaps the Phillies do not want Podsednik. B) If we trade Podsednik, who is going to bat leadoff for us?

 

And the loss of Frank Thomas wasn't even mention!

 

Other than that, I gotta give it to Kenny Williams to pull off such wonderful moves this offseason.

[BigSqwert]

I kind of like being under the radar like last year. The team that makes the best moves each year (according to the experts) ususally doesn't wind up being the best team. But I won't complain about the moves we've made so far.

[AddisonStSox]

Anyone else forget about Jim Friggin' Thome?

 

He's going to be a blast. I can't wait to watch him put on the Silver and Black and watch him over the course of an entire season.

 

 

Also, the White Sox's off-season is far from over. It's awfully difficult to grade something that isn't completed in its entirety.

[fathom]

Last year we were reported as having the worst offseason by several publications and look how that turned out.

 

Anyone who thought the Sox had a bad offseason last year was nuts (at the time). Besides the Lee/Pods trade, the White Sox made very smart moves by filling the holes they had (RF, catcher, 2b, 5th starter). In a sport where there seems to be a million rumors about what players a team is looking at, KW did a great job of making the smart choice of getting the best available catcher and 2nd baseman at the positions where he didn't have high caliber players at.

[KevHead0881]

Anyone else forget about Jim Friggin' Thome?

 

He's going to be a blast.  I can't wait to watch him put on the Silver and Black and watch him over the course of an entire season.

Also, the White Sox's off-season is far from over.  It's awfully difficult to grade something that isn't completed in its entirety.

 

You said it Addy! Outside of watching that banner being raised on Opening Night and a repeat of our title, the thing I'm most looking forward to seeing in '06 is a healthy Jim Thome launching bombs into the right field seats. Even with the Indians, he was always one of my favorite non-Sox.

 

Of course, the health risk is there, but if he's as healthy as everybody says he is, I have little doubt that we'll be seeing a typical Jim Thome season.

[spataro51]

i don;t get how he can say that the sox should of traded podsednik instead of rowand.........thats crazy!! scotty is the reason our offense gets started, why would we trade a guy that can steal 60 bases?

[TheHawkaroo]

Another problem I have with this is the Indians getting a C+. I would give them a D or at most a C-. Basically their offseason was losing Wickman and replacing him with Byrd and overpaying for an over-the-hill closer. I don't understand how they improved at all.

[SoxFan1]

Honestly, it still hasn't sunk in that Thome is on the White Sox. Until I see him come to home plate in a white pinstriped uni repping the Sox logo, I just can't believe it.

 

EDIT: To add, how is Outfield depth our only need? It is not a need at all. We have a plethora of OF'ers. Our primary need is bullpen help at this point.

Edited December 28, 2005 by SoxFan1

[WCSox]

i don;t get how he can say that the sox should of traded podsednik instead of rowand.........

 

Because the author is an idiot.

[chitownsportsfan]

It would have been cool if we had given up Pods instead of Rowand. I'm not sure why everyone loves Pods so much, he's an above average LF and an average hitter with good speed. He wasn't even that good at stealing bases, coming well below a 75% success rate that makes such endeavors worthwhile. The good news is that Scott's career avg of successful stolen bases is .79. I excect a healthy Pods will exceed that in 2006.

 

That being said, I'm sure the Phillies didn't want Pods--they wanted Rowand to play CF. It's not that I don't love Pods, it's just that he isn't as important to the team as some of you seem to think. His most valuable asset might be that he makes only $700,000 a year.

 

I point you here:

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/graphs.aspx?playe...age=7&type=full

 

If you look carefully, you notice that Scott's two best seasons his BABIP was well over the league avg of .300 (.340 in 2005!). Now, what could be the reason for this? Well, it could be that he's hitting more ground balls and taking advantage of his speed. His GB/FB ratio in 2005 was 2.07! This is nearly .50 points ahead of his career avg! Even in 2003, when he posted a BABIP of over .330, his GB/FB was only 1.38. In 2004, Scott's BABIP was back under .300, and his GB/FB was 1.46. Yuck. In short, Scott was lucky in 2003 when he posted his only season of OPS over .800.

 

In 2005, Pods had a .351 OBP, which for a "leadoff hitter" is pretty average. His OBP is largely dependent on his BABIP (which depends on his GB/FB ratio and an element of luck) and not on taking walks, which kinda sucks because it means it's hard to project just what the hell is OBP will be next year.

 

Another key stat for "leadoff hitters" is the ability to work the picher. Scott does this pretty well He saw 3.9 P/PA in 2005. That puts Scott firmly in the upper quarter of the league average.

 

So, is Scott an above average player that the Sox are happy to pay 700,000 a year for? Yes, is Scott the "key" to the Sox offense? Not at all.

 

The Hardball Times calculates that a team full of Scott Podsedniks would have been good for 4.07 runs a game in 2005. Thats what an OPS of under .700 gets you.

 

I agree it's silly of the writer to suggest the Sox should have traded Pods instead of Rowand, such a deal would have been laughed at by the Phillies, and rightfully so.

[White Sox Josh]

I think that the AL Central will be the best division again in the AL. The Red Sox have downgraded and the Yankees IMHO aren't that great (they overpayed for Damon). The Blue Jays have improved but again overpayed for a lot of talent. The Indians will be a threat again and the Twins have quietly improved with Castillo.

[GoodAsGould]

Anyone who thought the Sox had a bad offseason last year was nuts (at the time).  Besides the Lee/Pods trade, the White Sox made very smart moves by filling the holes they had (RF, catcher, 2b, 5th starter).  In a sport where there seems to be a million rumors about what players a team is looking at, KW did a great job of making the smart choice of getting the best available catcher and 2nd baseman at the positions where he didn't have high caliber players at.

 

Actually the way people looked at it was we lost Magglio/CarlosLee prob our 2 best hitters and replaced them with Pods who just hit .242 and Dye who hasnt been healthy forevr. We got a catcher who was a big clubhouse cancer in San Fran not exactly a hot commodity, an unproven 2B from Japan especially after Kaz Matsui turned out to be a super bust, and our rotation had 2 solid guys, a 12 win Garland, and 2 big ??? pitchers. Not 2 mention Frank wasnt going to be ready for awhile and no one thought he would last anyways. And than our bullpen other than Shingo was a bunch of possible scrubs who havent really had much success.

[Heads22]

I think that the AL Central will be the best division again in the AL.  The Red Sox have downgraded and the Yankees IMHO aren't that great (they overpayed for Damon).  The Blue Jays have improved but again overpayed for a lot of talent.  The Indians will be a threat again and the Twins have quietly improved with Castillo.

 

 

Ehh, I tend to think there's a dropoff from 1-2 to 3, and a bigger one from 3 to 4-5.

[JoeBatterz]

I point you here:

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/graphs.aspx?playe...age=7&type=full

 

In 2005, Pods had a .351 OBP, which for a "leadoff hitter" is pretty average.  His

 

I keep finding cool links here.