Peter Gammons article on White Sox

[Steve9347]

great article on the White Sox, and I had to include the awesome picture of Josh Fields for the F of it.

 

 

linky

 

White Sox working to keep up in AL Central

By Peter Gammons

ESPN

 

The solutions to the Scott Podsednik injury are a rookie, Josh Fields, and a low-cost veteran of proven character, Darin Erstad. Both can play different positions when (and if) Podsednik comes off his groin surgery.

 

Darin Erstad gives the White Sox a veteran presence and more flexibility in the outfield.

 

The Erstad signing might not be the end of Ken Williams' winter if Juan Uribe has trouble getting out of the Dominican Republic, although for now Williams expects his shortstop to return to Chicago. But Erstad's acquisition is a low-risk complement to Williams' intrepid reshuffling of the 2005 world champions.

 

"There are a lot of people who have suggested I have lost my mind," says Williams. But as one rival in the very competitive American League Central says, "Kenny has taken a lot of risks, but he's combined the present and the future and pretty much insured that they will not go over the cliff after 2008." Indeed, at the end of that season, the White Sox could lose Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland, Javier Vazquez, Jim Thome, Jermaine Dye and Joe Crede.

 

To put it mildly, that winter of 2008-2009 will be a watershed for the division. Johan Santana and Joe Nathan will be free agents, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau will be fifth-year arbitration candidates, and C.C. Sabathia and Travis Hafner will be free agents. So will Pudge Rodriguez. At the end of 2007, Buehrle, Jake Westbrook and Torii Hunter could all be on the market.

 

"I'd like to think we're better prepared for the next few years than we were," says Williams. "I appreciate that we want to be competitive every year, and I think we will be this season. But we have to take a long view of the organization." Which is precisely what Williams has done, without fear of talk-show retribution across town from the freewheeling, rebuilding Cubs.

 

Uribe's status remains an issue. How the Brian Anderson/Erstad/Ryan Sweeney dynamics resolve themselves in center remains another issue, as does the Crede/Fields mix at third base.

 

But Williams' major deals that sent Freddy Garcia, Neal Cotts, Brandon McCarthy and Ross Gload for pitchers Gavin Floyd, Gio Gonzalez, John Danks, Nick Masset, David Aardsma, Carlos Vasquez and Andy Sisco have made made three things clear about the Williams administration.

 

The first is that he believes in his and his scouts' eyes. "I'm a firm believer in statistics and every bit of available data," says Williams, "but the eyes tell us a lot of what we need to know. For instance, our scouts convinced me a few years back that Esteban Loaiza had come up with a cutter that changed him as a pitcher, and we went with what they saw."

 

So, for instance, while the Phillies and many scouts lost their passion about Floyd as the velocity on his fastball and curveball seemed to decrease the last couple of years, the White Sox saw enough to believe that he can be a solid major starter. Sisco, Aardsma, Masset and Mike MacDougal -- whom Williams re-signed for three more years -- are all pure scouting arms.

 

That leads to point No. 2, that the White Sox so believe in pitching coach Don Cooper's ability to handle power arms and that Ozzie Guillen has such an instinctive feel for pitching that Williams will trade for underperforming power pitchers and turn them over to Cooper.

 

"Jose Contreras is a good example," says Williams. "What was Bobby Jenks before he got here?" Matt Thornton makes three; after being acquired in a spring training deal, Thornton learned to harness his 95-98 mph stuff and become a prime left-handed reliever.

 

So now Massett, Aardsma, MacDougal, Sisco, et al will get opportunities to fit in and form a deep power pen in front of Thornton and Jenks. Then, if indeed Floyd does make it, the White Sox can develop Danks, Gonzalez and knuckleballer Charlie Haeger along with Lance Broadway and Tyler Lumsden in Triple-A.

 

Most other general managers felt that trading McCarthy was a huge gamble, that he is a potential frontline starter and strike-throwing machine. But Williams is always cognizant of their home stadium being a home run haven and that McCarthy allowed 17 homers in 85 IP and is a flyball pitcher. Williams wants power and sinker arms. He also likes having different looks in the bullpen with Jenks' curveball, MacDougal's slider, etc.

 

The third aspect of the 2007 Chicago staff in which Williams still has faith is the starters that carried them to the world championship in 2005. "We could all see them get tired in the second half," says Williams. "There's no question that all the pitching they did to get us by Cleveland in the last week and through the playoffs and World Series took its toll." After the All-Star break, Buehrle's ERA was 6.44, Contreras was 5.40, Garcia 4.12. For the 2005 season, Chicago's starters' ERA was 3.75; for 2006, 4.65.

 

The AL Central will again be one of the game's best divisions, and could easily represent the American League in the World Series. By consensus, Cleveland had a great offseason, setting a Keith Foulke/Joe Borowski/Roberto Hernandez safety net to develop Fausto Carmona, Fernando Cabrera, Adam Miller, et al in the pen, adding youth, energy and talent and energy in Josh Barfield and building extraordinary depth with Trot Nixon and Dave Dellucci. Detroit added Gary Sheffield to one of the two best teams in the league. And while the Twins wonder if they can rebuild their rotation, do not turn your back on Matt Garza, Scott Baker, Boof Bonser and Glen Perkins behind Johan Santana.

 

The AL Central is a great division. It has the MVP (Justin Morneau) and the best pitcher in the world (Santana). It has two of the best players in the game in Grady Sizemore and Mauer; Hafner, whose stats equal those of David Ortiz; a World Series competitor in Detroit; and Alex Gordon coming to Kansas City.

 

If the White Sox had rested on their 2005 laurels, they might have faded deep into oblivion. "Maybe we didn't do it right," says Williams. "Results are to be determined. But we had to be proactive."

 

And intrepid, because the Indians, Twins and Tigers are going to be very good for the long haul.

[bigruss]

Great article, except one mistake in that Tyler Lumsden was traded for Mike MacDougal, but other than that it was very well written, Peter Gammons is definitely one of the smartest baseball analysts out there

[Chet Lemon]

Indeed, Gammons failed to realize that Lumsden is currently in the Royals' organization.

[ShoeLessRob]

That is indeed a good shot of Fields first one.

[EvilMonkey]

When he said:

And intrepid, because the Indians, Twins and Tigers are going to be very good for the long haul.

I wonder how he balances that with all the impending free agents all 3 have in the next few years. Twins lose any 2 of those 4 and they are toast.

[Melissa1334]

When he said:

I wonder how he balances that with all the impending free agents all 3 have in the next few years. Twins lose any 2 of those 4 and they are toast.

yup. im just glad that hunter, santana, nathan and hafner will more than likely be gone. minn, clev, det, there all middle-market teams and i dont think they can afford those players. if we "cant afford" our own players such as crede, dye, buehrle, garcia, etc, i have a hard time believing they can. im sure santana will be gone though, hopefully to the nl

[maggsmaggs]

yup. im just glad that hunter, santana, nathan and hafner will more than likely be gone. minn, clev, det, there all middle-market teams and i dont think they can afford those players. if we "cant afford" our own players such as crede, dye, buehrle, garcia, etc, i have a hard time believing they can. im sure santana will be gone though, hopefully to the nl

I agree Santana is gone, but Nathan has said he will take a discount to remain a Twin for the rest of his career. Hafner will be in Cleveland for awhile too, they are commited to keeping their young core.

[Melissa1334]

I agree Santana is gone, but Nathan has said he will take a discount to remain a Twin for the rest of his career. Hafner will be in Cleveland for awhile too, they are commited to keeping their young core.

nah, i doubt that, thats what they all say, how they want to end there career wit whatever team there with. im sure theres a team out there willing to give nathan 10+ mil. as far as santana, hes gone, there 0 chance of them keeping him. i agree with u about hafner, i think they will most likely keep him.

[LVSoxFan]

Great article! A lot of question marks I had about 2007 are gone now.

 

I hope we don't miss Uribe this year; that would suck.

 

I'm really starting to think that our secret weapon in all this and what will make or break us is: Don Cooper. The guy made a great point that Contreras was a disappointment in NY, Jenks was unknown and Thornton was: who? And now look at them.

 

If he can work his magic with the new guys, I'd say we're sitting pretty. And why wouldn't he?

 

Okay now I'm getting excited.

 

But oh how far it has come in the former Comedy Central. He's right in that we arguably are the best division in the AL.

 

Thanks for posting the piece; great stuff.

[Jeff Liefer]

Great article. I agree with Gammons on the Cooper factor. It's clearly not luck that these unproven players have their breakout years with us. I'm excited about this power bullpen. I also think Floyd could shock the world with an above average season next year. Hell it took Garland awhile to get it right after being a top draft pick. Come to the White Sox, good things happen.

[santo=dorf]

QUOTE(maggsmaggs @ Jan 27, 2007 -> 08:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree Santana is gone, but Nathan has said he will take a discount to remain a Twin for the rest of his career. Hafner will be in Cleveland for awhile too, they are commited to keeping their young core.

So why would they keep Hafner?

 

People seem to forget that Hafner is going to be 30 this year, only one year younger than Konerko.

[SoxFan1]

Cleveland rerely keeps their best players once they are due for big money. Lofton, Colon, Ramirez, Thome (although he stayed a while), Sexson, etc.

[SpringfieldFan]

Cleveland rerely keeps their best players once they are due for big money. Lofton, Colon, Ramirez, Thome (although he stayed a while), Sexson, etc.

 

...and they usually wind up in black pinstripes...

[CanOfCorn]

Great article. I agree with Gammons on the Cooper factor. It's clearly not luck that these unproven players have their breakout years with us. I'm excited about this power bullpen. I also think Floyd could shock the world with an above average season next year. Hell it took Garland awhile to get it right after being a top draft pick. Come to the White Sox, good things happen.

 

 

It's the change of scenery factor. He was expected to be a number 1 starter in Philly...which as we all know, isn't the most forgiving city, hell they booed Santa. Here, he's expected to contribute. 5th starter, bullpen, whatever...just contribute. I believe he will excel here.

 

And btw, excellent article, thanks for posting.

[Texsox]

He will be an idiot (again) as soon as he picks against us.

 

The further he gets away from NY-Bos the worse he gets, but still does a very good job.

[bmags]

He will be an idiot (again) as soon as he picks against us.

 

The further he gets away from NY-Bos the worse he gets, but still does a very good job.

 

yes, he is a boston/ny homer, but i don't blame him. Of all these ESPN analysts, when he does a profile of a team, his opinions matter. It seems like this guy actually knows every team. I mean, when harold reynolds talked about the sox, i didn't pay any attention to it, because it seemed like his comments were completely derived from watching one game, and then he generalized it for the entire season.

[FlaSoxxJim]

But oh how far it has come in the former Comedy Central. He's right in that we arguably are the best division in the AL.

 

I don't think it's even debatable. Four strong teams will be beating the crud out of each other all season. Gotta feel bed for the Royals and the clobbering they are going to get again this year.

[Texsox]

I don't think it's even debatable. Four strong teams will be beating the crud out of each other all season. Gotta feel bed for the Royals and the clobbering they are going to get again this year.

And feel bad for them . . . must be that mec you are using.