Guillen: Sox not going outside org. for CF

[caulfield12]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,2905815.story

 

Well, we shall see how long into the season KW will go with things "as is"...or if we have to trade in some of our newfound minor league depth for another solution. I would call it the Final Solution, but then I would sound like Joseph Goebbels.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Well I at least hope Kenny is out there looking around anyway.

 

PS you've got a weird sense of humor, Caulfield. I do like it though.

[Melissa1334]

teams must be asking for a ton,or the sox must have no money at all or no one wants to trade their cfers i think bcuz i dont think the white sox r that stupid and think that one of them can be an everydat cfer lol

[GreenSox]

There's little point in developing nice prospects, if you are going to trade them in on some better than brian anderson mediocrity.

 

[TheBigHurt]

Just give the CF job to BA and be done with it...

[caulfield12]

Well I at least hope Kenny is out there looking around anyway.

 

PS you've got a weird sense of humor, Caulfield. I do like it though.

 

 

I guess it's because I just watched Valkryie two nights ago...and I wrote a term paper in high school on the Holocaust.

[GREEDY]

Dewayne Wise wouldn't make any other major league ballclub; but somehow his ass is going to be starting on Opening Day for a Chicago team.

 

There was no unexpected injuries that backed us into this mss, no unexpected retirement, no suspensions... how is this acceptable?

 

[bschmaranz]

So you're saying we're NOT trading for Grady Sizemore?

 

f***ing Kenny!

[beck72]

It sounds like the sox will have a CF platoon of Wise and Anderson. Goodbye Mr. Owens.

 

If Getz can hit in the leadoff spot, I'd rather the sox play Anderson 3/4 of the time, and have Wise play 1/4 vs. tough RHP's. I don't think Anderson can hit to his potential playing a more limited role. His bat would be fine in the 8th spot, if he can hit .260 + with a .330+ OBP.

 

 

[Dick Allen]

Rob Neyer pipes in, nothing too new, but its hard to disagree:

 

 

White Sox's center-field options unattractive

 

Friday, March 27, 2009 | Feedback | Print Entry

 

Are the White Sox really interested in Melky Cabrera? According to Ozzie Guillen (via Mark Gonzales), they are not:

 

 

PHOENIX - Manager Ozzie Guillen reiterated his faith in the candidates for the White Sox's leadoff and center field positions and tempered any trade speculation.

 

"No, we're not going (outside the organization)," Guillen said. "I don't want that to happen. I don't like that to happen. If we have to go outside the organization right now, gosh, I'm not going to say we're in trouble. But as a ballclub, we have enough guys here to resolve that problem."

 

Dewayne Wise went 1 for 4 with a double in a 3-1 loss to Arizona but was nailed trying to stretch the hit into a triple in the bottom of the first inning.

 

 

As Tim Dierkes notes, the in-house options are Wise, Jerry Owens, and Brian Anderson.

 

With all due respect, Jerry Owens simply isn't good enough to play. He's got more than 400 plate appearances in the majors -- and by the way, why? -- and his career stats include a .321 on-base percentage and a .312 slugging percentage. OK, small sample size … but Owens is 28, and in three years and nearly 1,200 plate appearances in Triple-A, he hasn't done appreciably better. He's hung around for a while because he's fast, but you can't steal first base. Owens doesn't belong in this conversation.

 

Brian Anderson is a horse of a different stripe. He's got more MLB service than Owens and his numbers are just as heinous -- thank you, .277 OBP -- but he's two years younger and does have a solid minor league track record. Well, maybe not solid. But it's a track record suggesting he can play better in the majors than he has.

 

And then there's Dewayne Wise.

 

Owens' career OBP is .321. Not good.

 

Anderson's career OBP is .277. Really not good.

 

Wise's career OBP is .254. In 504 plate appearances. His career OBP in the minors is .310. He's 31.

 

When Ozzie Guillen says the White Sox "have enough guys here to resolve that problem," I'm not sure what he means. You can bring in all the fast guys in the world who can't get on base, and you still won't have a legitimate center fielder. Let alone a legitimate center fielder who can bat leadoff and score 100 runs.

 

I don't know that Melky Cabrera's the answer. He's been a bit OBP-challenged, too. What's more, every would-be contender's got a weakness somewhere. Brett Gardner's playing center field for the Yankees. Julio Lugo supposedly is playing shortstop for the Red Sox. The Indians are relying on Carl Pavano. But it's just irresponsible for a contender to enter spring training without a reasonably viable option at a particular position, particularly a key spot like center field.

 

Yet that's exactly what the White Sox have done. And now, just more than week before Opening Day, they're still doing it.

 

[GREEDY]

But it's just irresponsible for a contender to enter spring training without a reasonably viable option at a particular position,

 

BINGO.

 

 

The only reasonable explanation I can fathom is that KW believed in Owens being at least viable enough to platoon with Anderson.

 

 

This is downright ridiculous.

 

[Jordan4life_2007]

It's irrelevant now, and who knows how legitimate the possibilities of us acquiring any of these guys really was, but don't players like Willy Taveras, Chone Figgins and Bobby Abreu (Abreu would've at least addressed the need for a quality leadoff hitter) look a lot more appealing now? This is what I was talking about a couple months ago. Yeah, there was no 'ideal' guy out there (Grady Sizemore), but there were guys out there better, and in some cases considerably better, than the crap that we're going into the season with and they got ripped to shreds.

[caulfield12]

But can anyone really say this team looked better heading into 2008?

 

I mean, of course, CF is an issue...but KW obviously passed on Taveras and some of the other options out there (like Pierre or Andruw Jones), so there's certainly the possibility he will make another trade at mid-season or that Edmonds might come here and be paired with BA. There's Cabrera, GMJ, none of them are "obvious" solutions, but it's not easy to trade for Nate McLouth or the develop the next Grady Sizemore/Curtis Granderson. I think if Chris Young had been here in Chicago playing, we might have been more appreciative of his overall game, but I still think at least 50% of the fanbase thinks we're better off without him or that we somehow won the two Vazquez trades in the long-term (that all depends on Flowers, and, to a lesser extent, Gilmore/Rodriguez)

 

I really think we have to find out what we can get out of BA with regular playing time and then if things don't work out, we cut our losses and move on.

[Jordan4life_2007]

But can anyone really say this team looked better heading into 2008?

 

I mean, of course, CF is an issue...but KW obviously passed on Taveras and some of the other options out there (like Pierre or Andruw Jones), so there's certainly the possibility he will make another trade at mid-season or that Edmonds might come here and be paired with BA. There's Cabrera, GMJ, none of them are "obvious" solutions, but it's not easy to trade for Nate McLouth or the develop the next Grady Sizemore/Curtis Granderson. I think if Chris Young had been here in Chicago playing, we might have been more appreciative of his overall game, but I still think at least 50% of the fanbase thinks we're better off without him or that we somehow won the two Vazquez trades in the long-term (that all depends on Flowers, and, to a lesser extent, Gilmore/Rodriguez)

 

I really think we have to find out what we can get out of BA with regular playing time and then if things don't work out, we cut our losses and move on.

 

I agree with all this. If I'm Ozzie, and I know he won't go this route, I give Brian Anderson one final chance to prove that he can be anything besides a liability with the bat. If he continues to felate (I learned that word from Heads or Southsideirish), it's time for him to move on.

[AWhiteSoxinNJ]

Like I said in another thread, the trade options are almost as worse as the in house options.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

I agree with all this. If I'm Ozzie, and I know he won't go this route, I give Brian Anderson one final chance to prove that he can be anything besides a liability with the bat. If he continues to felate (I learned that word from Heads or Southsideirish), it's time for him to move on.

I agree with you, but when you say it's time to move on if Brian doesn't hit, I think that all depends on what we'd be moving on to. If we're "moving on" to more garbage defensive AAAA players then we shouldn't move on at all.

 

If I were Ozzie I'd put Brian out there every day and hit him 9th, no platoons, no AAAA players taking AB away from him. If he's not getting anything done by mid-season at the earliest then look for a replacement, but *only* if the replacement is a better player and *only* if the cost is worth it, i.e. upgrading Anderson to Melky Cabrera at the cost of Brandon Allen is not worth it by any means. The Sox need to stick with Brian until he proves himself capable or incapable, and if he's incapable, then they need to actually fill the damn position for once, either with an expensive (talent-wise) long-term solution that is worth the cost, or with a solid, above-average veteran stopgap that is again worth the cost (no top prospects).

[caulfield12]

The question is if BA could put up a 740 OPS playing on an everyday basis.

 

That's about the "break even" point for him...otherwise, it might make more sense to play Wise against some tough righties if he can close to approximating an 800 OPS against righties that Anderson has struggled mightily against.

 

Let's say the Anderson/Wise platoon can give you a 770 OPS...or even 800 OPS.

 

Is that worth it to sacrifice Anderson's defense for 30-70 OPS points? That's where the argument becomes a very interesting one. With Dye becoming ever more limited in terms of range in RF and Wise a defensive nightmare in center, I tend to favor the argument (and this is basically based on the idea that last year was a fluke for Wise, or anomaly) that playing Anderson everyday would be best, as long as he's nowhere need the leadoff spot and Getz and Ramirez are at the top of the line-up and not Wise/Anderson/AJ.

 

 

[elrockinMT]

Brian Anderson for CF'er

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

The question is if BA could put up a 740 OPS playing on an everyday basis.

 

That's about the "break even" point for him...otherwise, it might make more sense to play Wise against some tough righties if he can close to approximating an 800 OPS against righties that Anderson has struggled mightily against.

 

Let's say the Anderson/Wise platoon can give you a 770 OPS...or even 800 OPS.

 

Is that worth it to sacrifice Anderson's defense for 30-70 OPS points? That's where the argument becomes a very interesting one. With Dye becoming ever more limited in terms of range in RF and Wise a defensive nightmare in center, I tend to favor the argument (and this is basically based on the idea that last year was a fluke for Wise, or anomaly) that playing Anderson everyday would be best, as long as he's nowhere need the leadoff spot and Getz and Ramirez are at the top of the line-up and not Wise/Anderson/AJ.

Brian should be able to post a .740 OPS in everyday playing time no problem. The standards should be set higher, more like a .780 OPS. Wise will likely only drag that number down though, so I don't see how adding him to the equation helps anything. Even if Wise were a very good hitter I still wouldn't want him in CF. Anderson, if he played everyday, would be the only GG-worthy player on this entire team. Our pitching will definitely need that.

[caulfield12]

I'll agree with that...we don't know exactly what we have on our hands with Alexei at SS yet, but I doubt he'll win the Gold Glove this year. Then again, those "spectacular" Aaron Rowand plays in Yankee Stadium or Icuchi's throw while parallel to the ground and some of Alexei's more amazing playoffs (did he just do that??) tend to cement a reputation more than the actuality of play.

 

I would hope that Alexei and Getz would give us at least an average to slightly above average ML double-play combination up the middle.

 

That's why Tyler Flowers mystifies me a little too...I just can't get past what I saw out of him defensively this spring, but hopefully he'll make rapid progress the next 18-24 months at that position. Otherwise, we'll have a Jr. Mike Piazza or Victor Martinez essentially playing out of position.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Per MLBTradeRumors, the Braves are in fact looking to deal Josh Anderson and the Sox are named as a possible destination. He shouldn't cost anything all that significant (no top prospects) and would be a much better platoon option than Wise, if it is true that we are looking at a Brian Anderson/Wise platoon.

[lostfan]

I agree with all this. If I'm Ozzie, and I know he won't go this route, I give Brian Anderson one final chance to prove that he can be anything besides a liability with the bat. If he continues to felate (I learned that word from Heads or Southsideirish), it's time for him to move on.

Two l's in that word, otherwise nice usage

[Soxfest]

CF will be and problem all year!

[GreatScott82]

Per MLBTradeRumors, the Braves are in fact looking to deal Josh Anderson and the Sox are named as a possible destination. He shouldn't cost anything all that significant (no top prospects) and would be a much better platoon option than Wise, if it is true that we are looking at a Brian Anderson/Wise platoon.

I would LOVE to give Josh Anderson a shot here. He stole over 40 bases in the past 5 minor league seasons. And he hit for an average of .294 in 40 games with the big league team last year.

He is 26 years old, and the Braves seem to be leaning toward Schafer as their every day CF.

So far this spring, JA is hitting .286 with 2 HR, a triple and 7 RBI. He is 2-2 in SBs. His OBP is only .298 so he would like be at the bottom of the order if KW looks into a deal like this. I'd be cool with an Anderson duo platoon.. . Its much better than having Wise or Owens out there.

[Cubano]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,2905815.story

 

Well, we shall see how long into the season KW will go with things "as is"...or if we have to trade in some of our newfound minor league depth for another solution. I would call it the Final Solution, but then I would sound like Joseph Goebbels.

 

 

I do not believe anything they say. It is hard to find somebody in a leadership position that keeps his word. Today they say this and tomorrow they say something else. If the CF platoon do not perform and there is a CF out there available, the Sox will eat their words and trade for the guy especially if the playoffs are within reach.

 

If the sucks, which I think they will, the old guys will be expendable and no CF will be needed for 2009.