Some new Chicago Sports.com articles

[sox-r-us]

I have compiled the quotes below but to read the articles, just use the links at bottom.

 

Discuss.

 

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"We're not trying to pretend we have all the answers, but we have a plan and hopefully that plan will turn out kind of [like it] trended before," Williams said before leaving baseball's winter meetings.

 

"Where eventually it will be proven we're making the right moves and when we decide to make a move with those guys, we'll be idiots for acquiring them and idiots for letting them go."

 

"We have nothing going on," Williams said before leaving with club Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.

 

Williams admitted the Sox were "close to about four or five things, but they didn't materialize for us for various reasons."

 

"I've tried to explain our mission statement over and over, but I'm kind of resigned to the thought that whatever we do isn't good enough or understood," Williams said, shaking his head.

 

"So I honestly can't worry about it too much. I have to do what I think is in the best interests of the organization."

 

"In the case of Joe Crede, how many times did you hear get rid of Joe Crede?" Williams said. "Jon Garland. Don't bring in A.J. Pierzynski. What are you doing with Scott Podsednik? Are you nuts? Juan Uribe, he can't play shortstop. Aaron Rowand, he can't play center field. And then when I traded Aaron Rowand, it was like 'What are you doing? You traded the best center fielder in the game.'

 

"I can't combat all of it. If you do, you're going to be squashed by the pressure of it all. I just try to make informed decisions. Our guys get around and talk about a lot of things. Like you guys do in the bar about your end of the industry."

 

"But you know what would be more unpopular?" Williams said. "It would be if we did nothing and got old and got too expensive and then had to go out scrounging for leftover talent and overpaying for mediocre talent."

 

"Well, I know they are both plus-arms," Williams said. "One of the things you have to deal with is that hopefully his growing pains are out of the way. They all go through it.

 

"One thing we have to offer from an offensive standpoint is we can give a pitcher a little run support."

 

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...-home-headlines

 

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"We could not continue to operate in the manner I've been operating for the last few years, which has been target, target, target, veteran player, veteran player," Williams said Thursday.

 

"First of all, those deals aren't out there right now. You are going to run into a brick wall, sooner or later."

 

An AL executive said the Sox had asked for Mets reliever Duaner Sanchez and top pitching prospect Philip Humber and the Yankees' Philip Hughes and Humberto Sanchez in proposals for starting pitching

 

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...-home-headlines

 

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http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...-home-headlines

 

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"Just remember that you don't judge an off-season by what you have at the end of the winter meetings," a White Sox executive said Thursday.

 

One long-time GM speculated the Sox could be clearing the decks to land Barry Zito or Barry Bonds, who re-signed with the Giants late Thursday.

 

The path that might make the most sense is to use Brandon McCarthy at the top of a package to pry outfielder Carl Crawford away from Tampa Bay. If not Crawford, then

 

Rocco Baldelli, who wouldn't be quite as costly.

 

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...cs-home-utility

[SinkingShip06]

i am just totally disappointed by what i'm hearing from our organization. also i hear alot of JR in KW's comments. i think JR feels its time for a fire sale. we'll still have decent attendance and ratings for a year or two. why not dump salary so he can finally stuff some of that loot into his pockets.

[sox-r-us]

I think that quote by the Sox Exec to Phil Rogers is very telling. The Sox might very well be targetting getting Crawford and to do that, they may give up some of the young pitching they just acquired or McCarthy.

[PK14]

This is not the time for a firesale.

[Flash Tizzle]

i am just totally disappointed by what i'm hearing from our organization. also i hear alot of JR in KW's comments. i think JR feels its time for a fire sale. we'll still have decent attendance and ratings for a year or two. why not dump salary so he can finally stuff some of that loot into his pockets.

Might as well address this right now, because it will turn into a fifteen page thread otherwise -- Reinsdorf operates this club under a business model of, at worst, breaking even financially. I doubt anyone within the White Sox organization is stuffing their pockets with money. $10 million will be in use come 2007, whether it's for a various players' contract extensions or using it towards an acquired player's salary.

Edited December 8, 2006 by Flash Tizzle

[sox-r-us]

An interesting blurb regarding how Astros think about the prospect everyone wants for Garland (Hirsh)

 

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Right-hander Jason Jennings could be an increased target for the Cubs or other teams looking to deal for a starter. The Rockies shopped him to the Astros, but Houston wouldn't include Jason Hirsh or its second-ranked pitching prospect, Fernando Nieve, in a trade

[Flash Tizzle]

I think that quote by the Sox Exec to Phil Rogers is very telling. The Sox might very well be targetting getting Crawford and to do that, they may give up some of the young pitching they just acquired or McCarthy.

Once Floyd's name was mentioned in the trade I hade this feeling the White Sox were suddenly more willing to trade McCarthy. I certaintly hope not, but it's just an ominous feeling I have.

[sox-r-us]

Once Floyd's name was mentioned in the trade I hade this feeling the White Sox were suddenly more willing to trade McCarthy. I certaintly hope not, but it's just an ominous feeling I have.

 

Why not? I do not see this love affair for McCarthy. He is unproven and has shown signs of being bombed at the Cell. I am ok if we give up McCarthy to get Crawford. Crawford is what this team needs atop it's batting order and I think Ozzie wants him badly (just a hunch)

 

I am of the opinion that the following occured in the Winter meetings. Kenny got serious with the DRays and asked for what it would take to get Crawford or Baldelli from them. DRays said they would not take somoene like Garcia or Buerhle for Crawford since they would not be able to sign him after one year and hence, they would only take a young pitcher at the cusp of pitching in the majors like BMac. Kenny did not want to give up BMac before making sure he has some more young arms in the system. Hence he pulled off the Garcia deal. Now he will go back to the DRays and ask them who do they want out of Floyd, Gio and BMac to seal the deal, and probably pull it off soon here.

 

Maybe something similar can occur with Baldelli as the target too, though in that case the young pitching we give up might not be as good as BMac.

Edited December 8, 2006 by sox-r-us

[witesoxfan]

i am just totally disappointed by what i'm hearing from our organization. also i hear alot of JR in KW's comments. i think JR feels its time for a fire sale. we'll still have decent attendance and ratings for a year or two. why not dump salary so he can finally stuff some of that loot into his pockets.

 

Of course you would feel that way. You pretty much s*** on the White Sox organization every chance you get, including your avatar and board name.

 

What notion do you get that JR wants to rebuild? Because he's criticizing how f***ing ridiculous this market really is? Kenny and Jerry are smart business men, and just as you don't invest in stocks at peak value, you don't invest in starting pitching when mediocrity is getting $10+ million a year.

 

They don't want to rebuild. They simply want to stay ahead of the curve. That would be buying low and selling at higher than you bought. At the current moment, every starting pitcher on the White Sox major league club has higher value than they did last offseason, so why not sell that which is replaceable? The Sox starting rotation next year only has to be better than the rotation last year. If that results in trading Garcia and Buehrle, it means Contreras, Garland, and Vazquez need to improve, and McCarthy and another starter, be it Floyd, Phillips, Haeger, or whoever, need to put up ERAs better than, or really even equal to 4.53 and 4.99 respectively. I don't view that as impossible or even improbable, but rather quite likely, especially if the right talent is brought in. And with the depth Kenny has added to the bullpen in the past month, I can easily see the bullpen improving. It'd be quite hard for the bullpen to get worse than it was last year. The bench has to improve...what is the likelyhood of that? The offense has to be more consistent...how likely is that?

 

I'm really not sure this team will be worse than it was last year, but maybe that is just the realist in me coming out.

[Flash Tizzle]

Why not? I do not see this love affair for McCarthy. He is unproven and has shown signs of being bombed at the Cell. I am ok if we give up McCarthy to get Crawford. Crawford is what this team needs atop it's batting order and I think Ozzie wants him badly (just a hunch)

 

I am of the opinion that the following occured in the Winter meetings. Kenny got serious with the DRays and asked for what it would take to get Crawford or Baldelli from them. DRays said they would not take somoene like Garcia or Buerhle for Crawford since they would not be able to sign him after one year and hence, they would only take a young pitcher at the cusp of pitching in the majors like BMac. Kenny did not want to give up BMac before making sure he has some more young arms in the system. Hence he pulled off the Garcia deal. Now he will go back to the DRays and ask them who do they want out of Floyd, Gio and BMac to seal the deal, and probably pull it off soon here.

 

Maybe something similar can occur with Baldelli as the target too, though in that case the young pitching we give up might not be as good as BMac.

You don't understand the love affair with McCarthy, yet somehow Floyd's addition makes him expendable? You do know Floyd has fared even worse than McCarthy, right? Even is Brandon (and likely an additional P prospect) were packaged to Tampa for Crawford, is it worth trading Garcia/McCarthy/Gonzalez all in one offseason for Floyd and Crawford? I wouldn't think so.

Edited December 8, 2006 by Flash Tizzle

[daa84]

im glad to see that williams asked for sanchez and hughes from the yankees....because well that is shooting for the moon...hughes is a top 3 pitching prospect in the game, maybe the top right now, and sanchez is prolly top 15

[sox-r-us]

You don't understand the love affair with McCarthy, yet somehow Floyd's addition makes him expendable? You do know Floyd has fared even worse than McCarthy, right? Even is Brandon (and likely an additional P prospect) were packaged to Tampa for Crawford, is it worth trading Garcia/McCarthy/Gonzalez all in one offseason for Floyd and Crawford? I wouldn't think so.

 

I see the same risk with Floyd as I do with BMac. Now you will be correct when you point to Floyd's ERA from last year being >7, something BMac has not shown to be at, but the way I look at it is that with young players - they always bounce around and only after 1 or 2 years do they really reach an equilibrium stage from which they can be truly judged. In other words, it would not surprise me one bit to see BMac get a >7 ERA this year or for Floyd to beat out BMac or even for BMac to just rock and Floyd to totally suck. There is no real data to prove one way or the other on either pitcher, since the data on Floyd and BMac until now is statistically insignificant IMO.

 

To prove my point - look at how much Garland bounced around before reaching an equilibirum stage now where we know we can expect Jon to have somewhere from a 4 to 4.5 ERA in the AL. On his great days (when his sinker is working), he can throw shut outs (that is his ceiling) even to a playoff team, and on his bad days, he has that one bad inning (where he gets rocked for lots of runs and eventually gets pulled).

[SinkingShip06]

Of course you would feel that way. You pretty much s*** on the White Sox organization every chance you get, including your avatar and board name.

 

What notion do you get that JR wants to rebuild? Because he's criticizing how f***ing ridiculous this market really is? Kenny and Jerry are smart business men, and just as you don't invest in stocks at peak value, you don't invest in starting pitching when mediocrity is getting $10+ million a year.

 

They don't want to rebuild. They simply want to stay ahead of the curve. That would be buying low and selling at higher than you bought. At the current moment, every starting pitcher on the White Sox major league club has higher value than they did last offseason, so why not sell that which is replaceable? The Sox starting rotation next year only has to be better than the rotation last year. If that results in trading Garcia and Buehrle, it means Contreras, Garland, and Vazquez need to improve, and McCarthy and another starter, be it Floyd, Phillips, Haeger, or whoever, need to put up ERAs better than, or really even equal to 4.53 and 4.99 respectively. I don't view that as impossible or even improbable, but rather quite likely, especially if the right talent is brought in. And with the depth Kenny has added to the bullpen in the past month, I can easily see the bullpen improving. It'd be quite hard for the bullpen to get worse than it was last year. The bench has to improve...what is the likelyhood of that? The offense has to be more consistent...how likely is that?

 

I'm really not sure this team will be worse than it was last year, but maybe that is just the realist in me coming out.

 

lol. silly you comparing a baseball team to the stock market. kenny sure made the right "trade" getting 2 mid level prospects for freddy garcia during a pitching starved offseason. what bullpen depth has been brought in? nothing but negativity from this organization. kenny sounds like a spoiled brat who wants to take his ball and go home. did you not learn from last year with your FUZZY math? get your head outta the sand. this ballclub won the world series with major league pitchers. whether you thought they were good or bad. they were big league ready. not guys brought up from the minors. such a knee jerk reaction from a flash in the pan GM and his penny pinching owner. but we all must realize this was the only outcome that could have occured. it's the history of this franchise.

[whitesoxfan101]

I will say this: If we get Crawford or Baldelli without giving up one of our top 5 starters, a lot of apologies better get handed out around here.

[DBAHO]

lol. silly you comparing a baseball team to the stock market. kenny sure made the right "trade" getting 2 mid level prospects for freddy garcia during a pitching starved offseason. what bullpen depth has been brought in? nothing but negativity from this organization. kenny sounds like a spoiled brat who wants to take his ball and go home. did you not learn from last year with your FUZZY math? get your head outta the sand. this ballclub won the world series with major league pitchers. whether you thought they were good or bad. they were big league ready. not guys brought up from the minors. such a knee jerk reaction from a flash in the pan GM and his penny pinching owner. but we all must realize this was the only outcome that could have occured. it's the history of this franchise.

Gio Gonzalez a mid level prospect. Ha.

 

He'd almost be the Sox's #1 prospect right now.

 

What bullpen depth also? Well let's see, trades were made to bring in the likes of MacDougal and Aardsma. Jenks was claimed from the Angels, we picked up Riske for basically nothing and it didn't work out, we traded for Matt Thornton, so KW has been active there I would have thought.

 

And look at the 2 teams that made the World Series this year, and who they had in their rotations and bullpen.

 

Detroit - Justin Verlander, Joel Zumaya

St. Louis - Anthony Reyes, Adam Wainwright.

 

So yeah, you can win a world series with guys brought up from the minors, so there goes that argument.

[whitesoxfan101]

Gio Gonzalez a mid level prospect. Ha.

 

He'd almost be the Sox's #1 prospect right now.

 

He WOULD be the Sox #1 prospect right now, IMO.

[DBAHO]

He WOULD be the Sox #1 prospect right now, IMO.

Would be very close b/w him Fields, and Sweeney right now, but those are the top 3.

 

Ahh it's nice to have a "little" depth in our system again.

[Rowand44]

Gio Gonzalez a mid level prospect. Ha.

 

He'd almost be the Sox's #1 prospect right now.

He IS our number 1 prospect imo. And this coming from someone who isn't exactly super high on the guy. Gio, Sweeney, Broadway, Fields in that order, imho.

[YASNY]

You don't understand the love affair with McCarthy, yet somehow Floyd's addition makes him expendable? You do know Floyd has fared even worse than McCarthy, right? Even is Brandon (and likely an additional P prospect) were packaged to Tampa for Crawford, is it worth trading Garcia/McCarthy/Gonzalez all in one offseason for Floyd and Crawford? I wouldn't think so.

 

It would effectively be Garcia/McCarthy for Floyd and Crawford, since Gio came over in the Garcia trade.

[DBAHO]

He IS our number 1 prospect imo. And this coming from someone who isn't exactly super high on the guy. Gio, Sweeney, Broadway, Fields in that order, imho.

If Gio starts the year in AA B-Ham he'll dominate. Repeating the level and moving to a really good pitchers park are 2 factors for that.

 

But it's conceiveable the Sox could start him at Charlotte if they want to move him quickly.

 

I'd let him start at B-Ham and build up some momentum 1st though.

[Rowand44]

If Gio starts the year in AA B-Ham he'll dominate. Repeating the level and moving to a really good pitchers park are 2 factors for that.

 

But it's conceiveable the Sox could start him at Charlotte if they want to move him quickly.

 

I'd let him start at B-Ham and build up some momentum 1st though.

Ya, that's the question I asked in the trade thread: If Gio would start in Birmingham or Charlotte as I truely don't know, I guess we'll find out soon. To me now, Gio is by far and away our number 1 spect just because of his upside and because he's a pitcher.

Edited December 8, 2006 by Rowand44

[Kalapse]

If Gio starts the year in AA B-Ham he'll dominate. Repeating the level and moving to a really good pitchers park are 2 factors for that.

 

But it's conceiveable the Sox could start him at Charlotte if they want to move him quickly.

 

I'd let him start at B-Ham and build up some momentum 1st though.

Well Coop said on the Score today that he'd like for Gio to tryout for a bullpen spot this Spring Training, this leads me to believe that the lowest level we'll be seeing Gonzalez at next season is Charlotte. Of course this could just be Coop talking out of his ass but you never know.

[DBAHO]

Well Coop said on the Score today that he'd like for Gio to tryout for a bullpen spot this Spring Training, this leads me to believe that the lowest level we'll be seeing Gonzalez at next season is Charlotte. Of course this could just be Coop talking out of his ass but you never know.

Hence why bringing in a lefty reliever should be a priority right now.

 

No way do I want to start Gio's arbitration clock this season (unless he dominates and deserves a callup later on).

[Rowand44]

Hence why bringing in a lefty reliever should be a priority right now.

 

No way do I want to start Gio's arbitration clock this season (unless he dominates and deserves a callup later on).

I think Boone is going to win that spot and I honestly don't have a problem with that. Like I said in the trade thread, I think our pen for next season is going to be: Bobby, Matt, MacD, Aaaaaaaaardsma, Boone and Floyd. Might not be the humungous upgrade everyone expected but it sure has a lot of upside and 3 guys we can for sure count on.

Edited December 8, 2006 by Rowand44

[Kalapse]

Hence why bringing in a lefty reliever should be a priority right now.

 

No way do I want to start Gio's arbitration clock this season (unless he dominates and deserves a callup later on).

I agree completely, it's just impossible to get a feel for what this front office is trying to accomplish when you can't believe a damn thing they say in the media. If we were to believe what KW/Coop have said about the pen this lately then the last 2 spots will likely be filled by Floyd/McCarthy/Logan/Tracey/Heager/Gonzalez.