Official: White Sox sign Colon

[ThunderBolt]

Winning a world series. Who cares about division titles?

Nothing is guaranteed in the playoffs. One of the main objectives of moneyball is to compete for the division in a cost effective manner and get into the playoffs. Everything else is mostly luck.

[WCSox]

WOW. I am not surprised by the up front money, but the incentives are nothing. That is officially a steal. A rookie costs us $500,000, so even if we cut him early, we barely lose more than we would have given to anyone else.

 

Agreed. Definitely a good low-risk, potentially-high-reward deal.

 

[103 mph screwball]

WOW. I am not surprised by the up front money, but the incentives are nothing. That is officially a steal. A rookie costs us $500,000, so even if we cut him early, we barely lose more than we would have given to anyone else.

Agreed! This goes from a low risk move to a no brainer in my book. Nice move KW. Even if Colon has nothing left, it is worth the gamble at 1 mil.

[elrockinMT]

Three links on Chsiox.com for this signing. It's like all our troubles are over and our needs met for 2009. Bart will take us to the pennant. Funny though that this is the biggest news the Sox can make, but I do have to say I have no problem with the signing of BC. Now I wonder about Freddie?

[NorthSideSox72]

I know its unlikely, but, think about this for a minute. What if Colon and Freddy were both actually healthy for most or all the season? That makes the rotation pretty sick. Not likely I know, but, fun to think about.

 

[103 mph screwball]

I know its unlikely, but, think about this for a minute. What if Colon and Freddy were both actually healthy for most or all the season? That makes the rotation pretty sick. Not likely I know, but, fun to think about.

Darn right AND if they both suck and their arms detach, the staff is no worse than it was when Marquez CR/AP was the plan. Even if one is healthy for half of the season and the other is healthy for the other half, that helps the Sox get to the playoffs. In the playoffs, it would be nice to have either one healthy. I'm all for Garcia. I'd just rather go for Sheets or Pedro.

 

I am excited because it shows me that KW is not necessarily done despite what he has said or will say.

[ptatc]

I haven't heard anything new, but it makes sense. A full achillies tear is a major rehab. They go in and stitch the thing back together in the surgery. Then you have to wait a long ( I want to say like 8-12 weeks) to make sure that it grew back together properly. Once you have that, then they begin a very basic rehab to get you back simple range of motion and strength. Once that is done, then you actually start to resume some normal activity. After that, then you can get into some more challenging activities. The problem is that once you have a tear, it is very easy to re-tear, which is why every step take so long. When they say a year to recover, that is very realistic from my experiences. Hopefully Ptac sees this and can give some more medical details.

 

that's pretty accurrate for someone his age. The difference will be that they will use an augmentation device to help the repair heal faster and have more tensile strength later on. So he will begin moving a little earlier than the 8-12 weeks.

 

As I've stated before with all of his variables (size,age etc.) I would guess it to be about a year from surgery that he will be pitching for the Sox at the MLB level. I don't remember when he had surgery but that should be about the time frame.

 

[Balta1701]

I know its unlikely, but, think about this for a minute. What if Colon and Freddy were both actually healthy for most or all the season? That makes the rotation pretty sick. Not likely I know, but, fun to think about.

The one downside of that is that it would bury 2 of CR, JM, and AP in the minors, while the other is consigned to the pen.

 

I'm something of a believer in a pitcher needing a chance to work the kinks out in the big leagues, most of the time, before they can move on. Floyd and Danks had really good 08 campaigns...but both of them got the chance to struggle in 07. McCarthy, for example, was pretty rough in his first campaign in the bigs in 05, but then was dynamite when he was called back at the end of the season. You get the occasional Verlander who just comes up and destroys people based on raw stuff, but if a guy needs to learn to pitch in the big leagues, then they need time to learn to pitch, and the 5th starter spot can be a useful place to do that.

[WCSox]

I know its unlikely, but, think about this for a minute. What if Colon and Freddy were both actually healthy for most or all the season? That makes the rotation pretty sick. Not likely I know, but, fun to think about.

 

I'd love for Kenny to give Freddy the same deal he just gave Colon. If it doesn't work out, again, little is lost.

 

[SoxFan562004]

for the money this is a good signing, even better if they can bring in a back of the rotation starter so Colon is battling for the 5th spot with all the younger guys

[ptatc]

Nope. But he had surgery mid August and according to WebMD normal folks start rehab after at the most 7 weeks.

 

 

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/ruptured-tendon?page=5

 

Achilles tendon

 

Surgery to repair your Achilles tendon is recommended for active people who desire near normal strength and power in plantarflexion. An additional advantage with surgical correction is a lower rerupture rate of the tendon.

 

 

After your operation, your foot will be immobilized with your toes pointing downward for 3-4 weeks and then progressively brought into neutral position over 2-3 weeks before weightbearing is started. Surgery carries with it a higher risk of infection than closed treatment.

 

since he had surgery in mid- August, it will probably be around that time when he will bw with the Sox again. That is a conservative estimate based on rehab and throwing progress. But I don't see it any earlier than late July in the very best scenario. This is a return to the sox so he will be throwing earlier and getting ready.

[ThunderBolt]

The addition of Fat Freddy and Bartolo wouldn’t necessarily spell the end of CR/AP and Marquez. It would however bring the Adam Russell/D.J. Carrasco era to a close. I could see:

Buehrle

Floyd

Danks

Garcia

Colon

 

Richard

Marquez

Poreda

Thorton

Linebrink

Dotel

Jenks

 

[103 mph screwball]

The addition of Fat Freddy and Bartolo wouldn’t necessarily spell the end of CR/AP and Marquez. It would however bring the Adam Russell/D.J. Carrasco era to a close. I could see:

Buehrle

Floyd

Danks

Garcia

Colon

 

Richard

Marquez

Poreda

Thorton

Linebrink

Dotel

Jenks

 

I like it except for Poreda. Why start his arbitration clock when he could use some more work in the minors and Carrasco would suffice. I'd put Poreda in the minors getting ready to take somebody's spot in case of injury.

[WCSox]

The one downside of that is that it would bury 2 of CR, JM, and AP in the minors, while the other is consigned to the pen.

 

I'm something of a believer in a pitcher needing a chance to work the kinks out in the big leagues, most of the time, before they can move on. Floyd and Danks had really good 08 campaigns...but both of them got the chance to struggle in 07. McCarthy, for example, was pretty rough in his first campaign in the bigs in 05, but then was dynamite when he was called back at the end of the season. You get the occasional Verlander who just comes up and destroys people based on raw stuff, but if a guy needs to learn to pitch in the big leagues, then they need time to learn to pitch, and the 5th starter spot can be a useful place to do that.

 

I agree with that in general, but I'm not sure that Kenny wants to go through another 2007-like re-tooling year with the rotation. After shelling out all of that money on Linebrink and Dotel last season, with this being the last season of JT and JD, with the Central appearing to be pretty wide-open at this point, and coming off of a division win, I'd be more inclined to go for it with veteran SPs and put off the young pitching development until 2010.

 

[ptatc]

The one downside of that is that it would bury 2 of CR, JM, and AP in the minors, while the other is consigned to the pen.

 

I'm something of a believer in a pitcher needing a chance to work the kinks out in the big leagues, most of the time, before they can move on. Floyd and Danks had really good 08 campaigns...but both of them got the chance to struggle in 07. McCarthy, for example, was pretty rough in his first campaign in the bigs in 05, but then was dynamite when he was called back at the end of the season. You get the occasional Verlander who just comes up and destroys people based on raw stuff, but if a guy needs to learn to pitch in the big leagues, then they need time to learn to pitch, and the 5th starter spot can be a useful place to do that.

 

this is a really good point. At some time you need to break the pitchers into the MLB and they will suffer for a little while but you can usually see the ones who can make the adjustment. So ,even though they have a tough year, you know they will improve.

 

The question then is, how many of these do you want in the rotation? If you break CP/AP in the bullpen in may benefit them and they can hit the ground running in the rotation later.

 

[Balta1701]

The addition of Fat Freddy and Bartolo wouldn’t necessarily spell the end of CR/AP and Marquez. It would however bring the Adam Russell/D.J. Carrasco era to a close. I could see:

Honestly, I'd really rather not see Poreda in the pen. The main thing keeping him from being an MLB ready starter is a successful 3rd pitch, I think he's been working on a slider quite a bit. If he's coming out of the pen, he'll never be using his 3rd pitch in a game situation. I'd rather have him getting innings. But Hey, if he earns the bullpen slot and the team goes with it, then maybe he can learn it in the pen.

[witesoxfan]

Ok, let's call it 5.15.

 

Bear in mind that in 2006 Javy Vazquez had a 5.44 ERA on July 30th.

 

Also bear in mind that the Sox paid a pretty penny to bring Vazquez in and he cost $12 mill in 2006 with multiple years left on his deal. Colon was always going to be a 1 year deal, and now that he can only make $3 mill at the most, there's no reason to think that he won't just be cut if he starts underperforming.

 

Finally, I'd honestly have absolutely no problem with 200+ innings of a 5.15 ERA. That's almost certainly better than anything Marquez, Richard, or Poreda would give out of the #4 spot, let alone Egbert or Broadway too.

[Brian]

1 year for 1 million plus incentives. Not sure why someone would NOT like this signing. Its low risk, high reward.

[southsider2k5]

Honestly, I'd really rather not see Poreda in the pen. The main thing keeping him from being an MLB ready starter is a successful 3rd pitch, I think he's been working on a slider quite a bit. If he's coming out of the pen, he'll never be using his 3rd pitch in a game situation. I'd rather have him getting innings. But Hey, if he earns the bullpen slot and the team goes with it, then maybe he can learn it in the pen.

 

I think unless Jenks was moved without getting another closer candidate in return, I'd also rather see Poreda getting his innings. I will keep saying that this is exactly why Andy Sisco never amounted to anything at the major league level. He never got the chance to get regular innings to hone his secondary pitches and perfect his repeatablility and arm slot. Poreda needs to work on all of these things if we really want to make him a servicable major leaguer.

[SoxFan1]

IMO, Poreda should only be on the MLB roster if he outright wins the 5th starter spot in Spring Training. If not, send him to AAA and let him keep working on his secondary stuff. He's our best pitching prospect, and a pretty damn good one at that. Don't let him waste away in the bullpen. And don't bring up Buehrle either, totally different pitchers and scenarios.

[NorthSideSox72]

this is a really good point. At some time you need to break the pitchers into the MLB and they will suffer for a little while but you can usually see the ones who can make the adjustment. So ,even though they have a tough year, you know they will improve.

 

The question then is, how many of these do you want in the rotation? If you break CP/AP in the bullpen in may benefit them and they can hit the ground running in the rotation later.

I'm good with 1 in the rotation at any given time. 2 is 1 too many for me.

 

[TheBigHurt]

There was a general feeling on the board about the 2005 team that it was a pretty good team going into the season. On the first day of spring training, the main hole on the entire team was the utility infielder spot. You can go back and check out posts from that time period, and there is a good general feeling, even though the Sox were predicted to finish 3rd and 4th by the majority of writers and analysts. Rob Neyer was the only person to predict that team would finish in 1st, and he backed off that prediction pretty early on in the season even though they were proving him right.

 

You also have to look at the team going in to the season, knowing what you knew about the players. The only 4 big surprises from that team are probably Uribe not having a good season (and we now know he's just a bad hitter), Contreras having the season he did (and it took until mid July-August for him to really turn it on), Garland being as good as he was, and the bullpen being as dominant as it was. You could possibly argue Dye, but he'd had seasons like that previously and was finally fully healthy. That was just a good team going into the season, and all you really had to do was look at the components of it. The part that got the Sox as lucky as it did was the bullpen, and that fluctuates every year with every team - even the Twins bullpen blew last year.

 

I don't think that team was really as lucky as you portray it to be, other than arguably making it to the World Series. It was just a really damn good team. The following year, the pitching sucked and the offense went stale at the end of the season, which explains why they didn't set a franchise record for wins.

 

Indeed they were a damn good team. I just feel it's a lucky thing how well the team clicked and worked together so well. I can't help but feel that way after all the nonsense I've seen from this organization.

[ptatc]

IMO, Poreda should only be on the MLB roster if he outright wins the 5th starter spot in Spring Training. If not, send him to AAA and let him keep working on his secondary stuff. He's our best pitching prospect, and a pretty damn good one at that. Don't let him waste away in the bullpen. And don't bring up Buehrle either, totally different pitchers and scenarios.

 

Sandy Koufax?

 

Power Lefty, only a couple of pitches, refined from thrower to pitcher in the pen?

[sircaffey]

I'd rather not see any of Marquez, Poreda, and Richard in the pen. They should all be starting somewhere imo, at least to start the season.

Edited January 15, 2009 by sircaffey

[DBAHO]

I'd love for Kenny to give Freddy the same deal he just gave Colon. If it doesn't work out, again, little is lost.

Agreed.

 

Never hurts to have as many good arms as you can, and like I said before, it moves CR/AP/JM into roles that they're probably more comfortable and will be more effective in;

 

CR - Longman out of pen.

AP - 2nd lefty to replace Logan or starting in AAA.

JM - Starting in AAA, and taking the Gavin Floyd route up to the majors from there.