False Alarm Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 kenny's a shark. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/columnists/askba.html With the recent trade of highly touted prospect Chris Young to the Diamondbacks for Javier Vazquez, I was wondering if any team has dealt away more prospects than the White Sox over the last five years. Could you do a Top 10 list for the prospects the Sox have traded away? Scott Reimers Springfield, Ill. Kenny Williams became White Sox general manager in October 2000, just when we began work on our first Prospect Handbook. By my count, Williams has traded 21 players who have appeared on Top 30 Prospects lists in the Handbook, and that doesn't include six others who had lost their prospect status by playing too much in the majors by the time they were dealt (Rocky Biddle, Matt Ginter, Gary Glover, Jeff Liefer, Miguel Olivo, Josh Paul). I didn't take the time to check every club, but that total has to be one of the highest, if not the highest, in baseball. Williams was Chicago's farm director before becoming GM, so you might think he would have been more attached to his prospects than most of his counterparts. But Williams explained the reasons for his willingness to part with young talent before the 2005 season: "Two words: nineteen seventeen. How many more generations of fans are going to have to wait? I don't want to wait." Obviously, Williams and the White Sox got the job done last year, ending an 88-year drought between World Series championships. Below is my Top 10 list of traded White Sox prospects, which peters out quickly into question marks and middle relievers. 1. Chris Young, of (December 2005 to Arizona for Javier Vazquez) Often compared to Mike Cameron, should be better 2. Jeremy Reed, of (June 2004 to Seattle for Freddy Garcia) Better than advertised defensively, and his bat will come around 3. Gio Gonzalez, lhp (November 2005 to Philadelphia for Jim Thome) Polished lefty was top pitching prospect in bat-heavy system before deal 4. Josh Fogg, of (December 2001 to Pittsburgh for Todd Ritchie) Nothing special, but eats innings at back end of rotation 5. Mike Morse, ss (Garcia) Cooled off after blazing big league start, then got suspended for steroids 6. Daniel Haigwood, lhp (Thome) 43-1 in high school and 32-11 in pro ball, though stuff isn't as good as numbers 7. Matt Guerrier, rhp (March 2002 to Pittsburgh for Damaso Marte) Emerged in Twins bullpen last year after getting claimed off waivers 8. Gary Majewski, rhp (July 2004 to Montreal for Carl Everett) Also traded in March 2001 for Antonio Osuna, reacquired that July for James Baldwin 9. Josh Rupe, rhp (July 2003 to Texas for Carl Everett) Looked good in September, has above-average stuff but needs more consistency 10. Franklin Francisco, rhp (Everett/Texas) Promising 2004 big league debut ended with chair-tossing incident, had TJ surgery in 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 QUOTE(False Alarm @ Jan 13, 2006 -> 08:16 AM) kenny's a shark. The more time goes by, the more I'm starting to agree with you...a couple years ago, people were underpaying for pitching, speed, and defense. KW built his team on that. Now, people are overpaying for pitching and for prospects, and KW is trading away pitching and prospects to get better bats. He just keeps seeming to move ahead of the trends in order to find value. Right now, no team wants to trade prospects because they "Could" develop into something (take a look at the Angels or Dodgers for Example). KW is trading prospects when the value of prospects is very high, and he's using that to build his team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heads22 Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Seems a little topheavy on recent prospects, but that's not really a surprise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MnSoxFan Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jan 13, 2006 -> 05:22 PM) Seems a little topheavy on recent prospects, but that's not really a surprise. That would be cause most of the earlier prospects he traded did not pan out, despite how promising they were, ie Royce Ring, Joe Valentine and on and on. So in a few years when guys like Gio and Haigwood either make it or not, this list would be interesting to look at. Give me a solid proven major leaguer over a prospect most of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsideirish Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 5. Mike Morse, ss (Garcia) Cooled off after blazing big league start, then got suspended for steroids I didn't know he was a steroid guy. I have no idea where I have been. WOW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witesoxfan Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jan 13, 2006 -> 12:10 PM) 5. Mike Morse, ss (Garcia) Cooled off after blazing big league start, then got suspended for steroids I didn't know he was a steroid guy. I have no idea where I have been. WOW! He's pretty much huge on steroids. I believe 2 positives for roids in the minors along with another in the majors. He claims that the last positive was because steroids was still in his system from his second positive in the minors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayitaintso Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 13, 2006 -> 03:17 PM) He's pretty much huge on steroids. I believe 2 positives for roids in the minors along with another in the majors. He claims that the last positive was because steroids was still in his system from his second positive in the minors. I thought he had 3 minor league ones, but still don't you think he would have gotten the message after the first time he got caught. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackie hayes Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 I think he argued that all his positive tests (2 minor, 1 major) are due to one period of use. I've read scuttlebutt that claims that it's possible, and noone saying that it's an absurd claim, so at least for now I give him the benefit of the doubt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 I've long said if you look at Kenny, he appears to do a good job of picking and choosing which prospects he deals and which he keeps. Sure, over the time, considering the prospects he gives up (a lot of them) he's going to give up a few that bite ya in the butt. The key is to not do that for the most part and to make sure you end up getting what you need in those deals to help your major league squad. So far I think he's done that and than some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Honda Civic Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Jan 13, 2006 -> 09:07 PM) I think he argued that all his positive tests (2 minor, 1 major) are due to one period of use. I've read scuttlebutt that claims that it's possible, and noone saying that it's an absurd claim, so at least for now I give him the benefit of the doubt. E-mail Will Carroll. He'll tell you it's a croc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 There is a reason that the MLB drafts every kid who owns a mitt. Drafting baseball players has the worse payoff of any sport. I don't mind trading away prospects for MLB ready talent. As much as it sucks when guys like Bull are gone, after pulling for them to make the 25, the odds are so long, take the guy who is ready. 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.