Kw On Air At 10:20 a.m Espn 1000

[Dick Allen]

No.

 

The GM's job is to put together a TEAM that can get ITSELF to the playoffs. A team composed of players that PERFORM well enough to reach the playoffs. The GM does not throw a pitch, swing a bat, play the field, or throw anyone out at first. The GM assembles the best team possible with the resources available to him.

 

Kenny, for the large part over his tenure, has done exactly that. He has put this team and these players in position to win this division by PERFORMING well enough SEVERAL times throughout this decade. Unfortunately for him and us, the players he has put on the field have not performed well enough to win the division several years where it was far more talented than any opposition.

 

Finally, after the 04' season, Kenny was forced to let Magglio walk and the Carlos Lee trade, in hindsight, probably could have brought back more talent (oh, how it would have been nice to have gotten Gallardo). However, the trade ultimately paid immediate dividends in bringing back some pieces that helped us win in 05' (both in trade and in clearing salary). After 05' Kenny strengthened the team by adding Thome and Vazquez, and all looked great heading into the ASB. And it's difficult to argue that not having an average hitting CF was hurting us, because we did quite well despite BA's poor performance. Unfortunately, the 06' team collapsed in the second half despite adding MacDougal to the bullpen. Neal Cotts, Bobby Jenks, Brandon McCarthy, David Riske, Mark Buehrle, and Jose Contreras all had absolutely terrible second halves. I'm just not sure what Kenny could have done to counteract fall-offs by so many pitchers.

 

Going into 07', Kenny added several bullpen arms, while trading away some of those that failed us- Riske, Cotts, and McCarthy. Fans were clamoring for a new CF'er, but the few available options were signed to dramatically over-priced contracts, including Juan Pierre and Dave Roberts, and their were no "easy" fixes. Rather than handcuff or "strangle" the payroll, as one poster likes to accuse him of doing, Kenny wisely stood pat and tried to find an internal option.

 

And at first, it looked as though Kenny had pushed the right buttons. The bullpen was one of the bright spots in the month of April, as Aardsma dominated, Masset pitched well in long relief. MacDougal, Logan, and even Andy Sisco pitched very well. Then all began to fall apart again, as Aardsma, MacDougal, Sisco and Masset all pitched terribly in May. And we all know what happened for the rest of the season- the offense never got on track, and the bullpen ended up being quite a disaster.

 

However, these performances by several players don't change the decision to acquire them at the time they were actually acquired. Suddenly, players whose acquisitions were celebrated are no longer desired because of the performance (or lack of) of other players. A team that was viewed as strong and peaking is now viewed as old and past their primes. And what has followed is the leap in logic that the acquisition of these players was the wrong move. That this team never had the talent to win more than the one Series title they did win and therefore, that is the GM's fault. And now that we have nothing to show for our efforts since 05', what Kenny has done is lead the organization down a path of absolute destruction, basically wrecking every facet from top to bottom.

 

What a bunch of nonsense!

 

Many of you fully admit that the 05' team was lucky, or flukish, etc. And I don't necessarily disagree entirely. Yet it is many of these same people who criticize Kenny for improving the team by adding Jim Thome and especially, Javy Vazquez. And now that the team he put on the field has not performed to expectations, he was wrong to have put that team on the field at all. That's not fair judgment- that's revisionist history- that's 20/20 hindsight vision.

 

Meanwhile, the man's only traded away ONE valuable asset from his farm system in his entire tenure- Chris Young. There's been absolutely no one from our system that he's moved that has turned out to burn us other than Young. ONE player. And yet he is criticized to no end for that.

 

I find it extremely difficult to fairly heap too much criticism on Kenny. When you look at some of the teams he has put on the field, the players really haven't gotten the job done for him to get his just due. Certainly they got it done in 05', but there should be more division titles in our trophy case. Perhaps an ALCS trophy as DA says. But I find it difficult to put that blame upon Kenny, considering some of the teams he has assembled.

 

And finally, I find it extremely difficult to believe many of his detractors would have done a whole lot different to actually reach an alternative outcome. It's simple to sit here now and say this move or that move should not have been made. But I can't recall many of the extensions being handed out as very controversial. In sum, we are in the position we are as a ballclub because to a large degree, our players have not gotten the job done in the second half of seasons. Not Kenny Williams.

Sorry. I have seen the light. Since KW was the GM when the White Sox won he should always be the GM. Its because of him if the Sox win and its on the players if they lose. I will go with that now. Its time then to remove several players, don't you think?

[iamshack]

Sorry. I have seen the light. Since KW was the GM when the White Sox won he should always be the GM. Its because of him if the Sox win and its on the players if they lose. I will go with that now. Its time then to remove several players, don't you think?

 

As to your first point, no, he should not "always" be the GM. But if you actually take the time to revisit the alternatives to the moves he has made when he made them, you'd realize there really weren't many answers out there to the problems which have befallen the team and the organization. I asked you, move by move, several days ago, what your decision would have been, and generally speaking, outside of your fantasy trade of Contreras before last season for several top prospects, and a trade of Cliff Politte, you basically would have made the exact same moves.

 

Secondly, no, it is not all because of him that the Sox won in 05'. It was in large part because of the players. But these things work in tandem, and if one doesn't hold up their end of the bargain, the team fails. And to be completely honest with you, I think Kenny has for the most part held up his end of the bargain. The players are the ones who haven't.

 

I'm sorry, but as long as you continue to cast the majority of the blame on the GM, and very little on the players, we will continue to disagree. I blame the players for not performing to reasonable expectations. Kenny's job is to put the best possible team on the field, keeping in mind the objectives of the organization both currently and in the future. I believe he has done an outstanding job of doing so. You, on the other hand, think he is to blame for the players not performing, which I have a hard time buying. Not with these players.

 

I do think it is time to remove several players, honestly. I don't want a full-rebuild, but a rebuild-on-the-fly is probably the best move to make. Unfortunately, Kenny has to appease the fanbase, which is ill-informed about the parameters in which he must operate, and threatens to boycott the product if players such as Konerko and Buehrle are traded. These players also happen to be some of our most valuable trade pieces.

 

My criticism of Kenny this offseason is this: 1) He should have held off on trading JG until Hunter signed, and/or MCab was traded. 2) He should have held off on trading JG until the CF situation was resolved. Then, had things turned out the way they did, he could have easily shifted gears more easily towards to future. However, ultimately, I think Cabrera can be either signed, traded, or will bring back draft picks which will help the club's future just as easily as simply trading JG for prospects.

Edited December 24, 2007 by iamshack

[iamshack]

If Linebrink is the answer for all the bullpen's problems, wouldn't Justin Speier have been the answer last season? I got ripped by the KW backers when I kept asking about him, because according to them, you don't spend $4 million on middle relief. Until KW does it the next season that is.

Why does he have to appease the fanbase? Hasn't he stated over and over again that if he tried to do that the team would be terrible. Hard to imagine what terrible is considering he thinks a 72-90 team is a solid one.

 

Believe me, DA, no need to continue to bring up Justin Speier. You've mentioned him so many times in an "I told you so" manner that we will never forget you being a proponent of his signing. And I agree, I don't particularly care for signing relievers to $4 million dollar contracts. Outside of a few handfulls of guys, most relievers are by their very nature, quite volatile. I agreed with the approach Kenny took last season in trading for several young, cheap, power arms. And when you take a step back and really look at things, it wasn't so much those arms not performing that cost us- it was the arms who pitched so well in 06' which failed us in MacDougal and Thornton, but then again, I guess that goes back to bp arms being volatile. Had we signed Speier, nothing would have been different, especially considering the way the offense performed. If you want to really press me though, I'll agree, that signing wouldn't have necessarily been a bad thing.

 

But to blame the 07' result on not signing Speier is foolish, and you know that.

 

As for appeasing the fanbase, don't pretend now that you don't realize how fickle our fanbase is. And unfortunately, they are not only fickle, but ill-informed.

 

As for your continued bs remarks about him thinking a 72-90 team is solid, you're oversimplifying things to a degree to which even you must realize is unfair.

[gosox41]

No.

 

The GM's job is to put together a TEAM that can get ITSELF to the playoffs. A team composed of players that PERFORM well enough to reach the playoffs. The GM does not throw a pitch, swing a bat, play the field, or throw anyone out at first. The GM assembles the best team possible with the resources available to him.

 

Kenny, for the large part over his tenure, has done exactly that. He has put this team and these players in position to win this division by PERFORMING well enough SEVERAL times throughout this decade. Unfortunately for him and us, the players he has put on the field have not performed well enough to win the division several years where it was far more talented than any opposition.

 

 

While it is up to the players to perform, KW is not completely faultless. He speaks of 'championship' players. What are those? Is it a 38 year old slugger who hasn't won a WS but has 500 HR's or is it a SS who can't keep his weight under control and has yet to fullfil his potential but has won a WS?

 

KW has made some bad moves. Rebuilding the bullpen with power pitchers who don't have much control was his fault. Guys like Aardsma haven't done jack anywhere else, what made KW think they would here? I've joked all year that KW got all these power pitchers because he couldn't hit the fastball when he played so he figured no one else could.

 

And what about getting grinders? KW's job is to build a team that can win. And that involves different pieces. It wasn't until Ordonez got hurt (and wouldn't sign that contract KW offered) that KW freed up enough money to allocate elsewhere. Sure Magglio is a great player, as is Carlos Lee, but like the 2008 team, the 2005 team need more then just power. For example, they needed a lead off hitter who could steal bases. KW finally realized the 2005 team needed a cathcer that can hit more then .200 as well as a 2B.

 

Also, one other area KW has failed the team in getting players is in the farm system. The fact that he only gave up Chris Young to get proven players can be perdceived as good or bad. It's good that we didn't get hosed on many deals but it's also bad because outside of Fields, what other minor league players have made a significant impact for the Sox. Also, the lack of a minor league system has hurt this team in trades that were never made, ie Miguel Cabrera. Whether or not we would have overpaid for him is one issue the fans can debate, but the fact that Flordia though our offer was too meager is a bigger issue. KW targeted him, I assume , as a championship player. But he didn't have the pieces to get the deal done.

 

One other point, when you have the same players continually underpeform many years, maybe it's time to get rid of them and not just wait until their contracts are up. It took KW 4 years to figure out a team built around pwoer hitters and 4 starters plus the minor league flavor of the day wasn't going to win.

 

 

 

Bob