ChicagoSportsBlogs : Non Compete

I was awoken from my train-sleep by MJ's txt message. It was a simple txt message. "Fox is reporting Sox got junior from Reds". I was surprised. This wasn't the move I expected Kenny Williams to make at this year's deadline. I was hoping for a pitcher. I'm always hoping for a pitcher. If you were a betting man, you'd say an extra arm is exactly what the White Sox need. You would have been right on that bet. It's pretty simple. Contreras, Linebrink, and Jenks have either seen the DL or are currently sitting on it. Javi Vazquez hasn't exactly been himself either. Buehrle and Gavin Floyd (nice win yesterday GF) have carried the team since the All-Star break. Danks hasn't been bad, but I just watched him throw a meatball  to Morneau to give up another 4 run lead in Minnesota. (God I hate the Twins) So yea....I think we needed an arm.

That's not to say I don't like KGJ. Junior is a Hall of Famer. He is the most prolific, and most likely CLEAN home run hitter I have seen in my lifetime. He is a stand up guy, who doesn't come with any baggage. Well, he travels to Chicago with empty bags that both the White Sox and the Reds have to fill with cash thanks to an ENORMOUS contract.  The Sox gave up Masset and Richar for KGJ. That's the preverbial "sack of baseballs". Then again, Griffey is 38 years old and there is no place to put him.

You have to ask, does this move make any sense for the White Sox? Does it solidify our position as the team to beat in the AL Central? The answer is resounding NO. I don't understand this move. I don't hate it, but I don't love it. I am sort of indifferent to it. I think my pal Zorio summed it up best when he sent this gem out on our daily email thread:

Kenny Williams was infatuated with Griffey 2-3 years ago and tried to trade for him then. Dude has fallen off considerably since then (substance free). The Reds took him out of everyday centerfield for a reason- because he's in his late 30s. I think it's much ado about nothing. Limited downside, and I s'pose only good can come of it. Williams' mental masturbation becomes reality and he can claim that he "made moves" to improve the ballclub. Griffey can still hit, but he does strike out a lot more- it'll be interesting if Guillen sticks him into front of Dye in the batting order.

And there it is, yet another attempt by Kenny Williams to show he is "active" and still a mad genious. I agree with assesment completely. I don't think we have anywhere to put Griffey. He will most likely do exactly what Z described above. He plays some DH, and maybe center field and Konerko's time is split with Swisher at first. So I'll leave you with a question Sox fans:

Which old man pick up is going to be more important down the stretch? The Cub's Jim Edmonds or the Sox and Ken Griffey Jr. ??

You decide. (and yea, Edmonds just hit another home run as you were reading this)

GO-GO-WHITE SOX!

I'm pretty exhausted tonight. No idea why. Probably because work has been a pain in the balls, and there just aren't enough hours in the day to finish all the things on my ever growing To-Do list...

At least the Sox won (again) tonight against the Royals. 7-6. We stole this game. I watched the first 2 innings before basically giving up. It is only because I saw Javi strikeout 10 batters and still lose the game against the A's last week. I couldn't stand watch him lose to the Royals. Javi is struggling and it is starting to worry me. 6 runs in 5 and 2/3rds? Yuck.

Some points I just want to quickly make as I fall asleep at the keyboard tonight:

1. First, are there any Royals Bloggers out there? Turns out there are. And some pretty damn good ones. Like this one from our old pals at the SB Nation. This site clearly has way more traffic than our little blog here in Chicago. The comments section is interesting only because they stopped talking about the game after about 10 posts. Nice.

2. Pauly is back. You know how I know? He struck out 4 times tonight. 

3. I never got an All-Start snub rant up. You know why? Laziness, perhaps? No. Actually. I really don't care if we get snubbed. I'd rather get snubbed and win the division. We're playing some pretty good baseball. Our pitching is great and while we are relying on the home run a bit too much (what else is new Sox fans?) this team is making great progress. Give me a playoff run and I'll get over the All-Star game. Remember, you don't get a ring for going to the All-Star game. If you are really jonesing for a snub article, the fine young men at the Sox blog at MVN have one here.

4. There seems to have been a clubhouse "discussion" in tonight's game between Cabrera and JD. Hawk and DJ were speculating that it had something to with Cabrera's base running while JD was up. I'm not sure what this is all about. I'm waiting for Comcast to start talking Sox baseball...which leads me to # 5:

5. I hate Comcast. They had both the Cubs and the Sox on this freaking network and they buried the Sox game on Comcast Plus (ch 668 for you DTV'ers) When the White Sox game ends, DTV yanks the chord on the KC feed and forces us to jump to the main Comcast SportsNet channel. Of course, they're still talking Cubs and I'm going insane trying to figure out why Cabrera is starting static on a FIRST PLACE TEAM. Great clubhouse guy. Nice teamwork.

6. The Red Sox swept the Twins. They smoked them today 18-5. Brutal. Thank god someone took them behind the woodshed. The timing for the White Sox is great and as a result I'd like to send out a big thank you to the BoSox. 

One more thing:

Q - our All-Star outfielder saved our asses again. He hit 2 home runs. 

We still have to talk about who should be our closer while Bobby Jenks is on the DL, but I'll save that for tomorrow's post.

And if you are curious, Konerko just struck out again. (just kidding Pauly...)

Go-Go-White Sox!

The rubber match in LA between the White Sox and the Dodgers was another one of those afternoon specials. I hate early starts. I'm stuck at the office getting worked into a lather about some sort of software bullshit instead of watching the game. I completely forgot the Sox where playing the afternoon special. I used to rely on a handful of Sox fans in the office to remind me, but most of them have left the company. The Euro semi-final also isn't helping either....

As for the game, I can't really comment other than to say the box score looked great. White Sox win 2-0 and that's a big deal based on our recent road woes. Danks did a great job today pitching and the Sox where able to increase their defensive effort to support him. The bats seem to be quiet again and that won't be a good thing because part 2 of the Crosstown Classic starts tomorrow!

Here are some final White Sox points as I crawl into a dark room and pray, quietly in the corner that the White Sox punish the Cubs like a 5 year old stealing candy at WalMart:

• Danks had 4 straight no decisions before getting this win. I think he is coming along nicely. Wish he would be pitching tomorrow because...
• Jose Contreras is starting tomorrow against the Cubs. What are the chances he can shake off one of the worst innings I've ever seen him pitch.
• Paul Konerko is still on the DL. It would have been nice to have Paulie back for this series as he is a Cubs killer
• Alexai Ramirez is getting very good defensively. Did anyone see him turn that double play today? He is going to be a special player in this league. Mark my words
• Swisher looks OK at first base. Better than Thome, not as good as Paulie.
• JD is going to have to carry us this weekend...
• We have a pretty good home record at the Cell too...
• And Finally, the DAMN TWINS KEEP WINNING. CHRIST. Make them stop already. Damn Piranha.

Go-Go-White Sox!

I've said this before, and I will say it again: I love west-coast baseball. The White Sox are visiting the Dodgers in LA tonight. The game didn't start until 9pm CST. This gave me plenty of time to scout the Cubs.

Hah!

No, seriously I saw a few innings of the Cubs game. The Orioles actually did something tonight that the White Sox weren't able to do last weekend in the crosstown classic. And that is beat the Cubs at Wrigley. I am just as shocked as you are. The Orioles are not a good baseball team. I say that without even looking at the standings. Ok, they are ahead of the Blue Jays, but the Jays are in such bad times that they went and hired Cito Gaston. AGAIN. Looks like Cito is trying to put the band together again. [he just let go his batting coach] I guess I shouldn't crap on the Orioles. Especially since they come to the Northside winning 7 out of their last 10.

As for the Sox, it was a great game. Buehrle was on the mound and he did a great job. His typically fast pace worked in all of our favors. (especially those of you working in the morning) His line tonight: 8 innings, 6 hits, 1 run, 2 strike outs, and he gave up only a single home run in the 6-1 victory. Its good when the Sox bounce back this quickly. JD had another great game tonight. He tied Quentin with his 17th home run tonight. It put the game away and it was exactly what he needed. I believe I saw him strike out twice before that at bat. Way to battle JD. He also won AL Player of the Week honors. So, not a bad night for JD. I guess I should shut up about trading the guy. One final note about the game: we played some great defense tonight. (yes, even without Crede) Alexai's awesome overhand grab in short center field led to a double play. He caught the runner leading too far towards second base. A bullet throw to first catches the guy and we're heading to commercial. Nice work by the Cuban Missile. He is becoming a fun dude to watch. Finally...

Good news in the division. The Indians lost to the Giants. The Cards took care of the Tigers, and as of right now it is a 1-1 tie game in San Diego where the Twins are trying to win their 7th straight. The media should sniff the Twins turbo-charged rise any second now. I'm dreading the stories of how the Twins are "gamers".

A few White Sox notes:

Jim Thome is getting a chance to befriend Pablo Ozuna. Why Pablo? Because Ozuna rides the bench. Interleague play doesn't afford Ozzie the luxury of Thome's big bat in the lineup. I'm guessing the conversation in the dugout took a turn for the worse when big Jim realized Ozuna was told to grab a glove and find his way to his chopping station. You see, Ozuna is a butcher at 3rd and with Crede getting the night off he actually got a chance to play. Thome and Konerko could get together and compare notes when it comes to struggling early at the plate. Paulie is headed to the minors for a rehab assignment and hopefully gets to break the spell of the no-hit-bat. And with that I realize that I am rambling and making no sense.

But the White Sox win, and that means everything is back to normal tonight.

GO-GO-White Sox!

The Cubs came to play. There is no denying it. They came to PLAY against the White Sox. I am not sure if they were sending a message to the Sox (or the league) but I heard them loud and clear. This team is not a fluke. It took the best pitching staff in the AL deep 9 times. They made the Sox look silly. I can't find a single thing the Cubs did wrong against us. They stole bases, they crushed homers, and they pitched us into the ground. If I didn't know any better, I'd say they beat us at our own game. I'm positive the Cubs will eventually lose the Cardinals. It didn't take this ass-whopping of the White Sox for clarity to arrive. I'm just as sure that the Twins are going to pass the Sox.

I'm always nervous when the cross town classic comes up on the schedule. It typically goes one sided, and the team on the losing end usually stumbles their way to the bottom of their division. I know it is harsh. But is it too early to throw the towel in if you are a White Sox fan? Yup. We still have next weekend Sox Fans. It is the best we can do.  Time to hope for a sweep of the Cubs at the Cell next weekend.

The most disapointing thing about the White Sox being swept by the Cubs is that we gave up a ton of ground to the Twins. Both teams will leave this series still in first place, but the Sox are only going to be a game and a half in front of the Twins. The offense continued to struggle in this series, and the Cubs turned our once solid pitching into a joke. From the walk off home run in Friday's game off of Linebrink, to the 8 run 4th inning Contreras threw yesterday. It was a pathetic effort all around. When you lose a series like this, you start to second guess what the managers and coaches are doing. There was a lot of arm chair quarterbacking going on this weekend. The first complaint was why Denks didn't stay in the game on Friday. Further, why would Ozzie pick 2 former NL pitchers that the Cubs own (Dotel and Linebrink) to replace Denks? It made no sense and the Cubs took advantage of the situation as a result. I heard a lot about Coop not doing his job and telling Ozzie that the matchup wasn't to their favor. The next point of contention White Sox nation had with the coaching this weekend was why didn't Contreras get pulled in the 4th. (sooner) What was it going to take? 12 runs? 5 back to back home runs? Shit, Ozzie didn't even get anyone up until it was too late.

Take a deep breath. I agree that Denks should have been pulled, but I disagree with the moves of Dotel and Linebrink. Face facts, their history on the Northside isn't a good one. I did disagree with the non action against Contreras. Would it have been bad to go out there and talk to him? Perhaps Coop could have taken a slow walk out there and reminded Jose that this game isn't over...

Really? It was over. We all knew it. We all felt it on the Southside. The tone was set with the walk off on Friday. The 0-2 count to Marquis, which eventually turned into a slap single to extend the inning and force the offensive onslaught, was the cherry on top. Tough breaks? No. Tough opponent. It seems the Cubs are going to tear through the rest of this baseball season like a White House shredder. The Sox, well...the White Sox are going to battle. I'm just not sure if they battle to stay afloat or to win it outright.

Shake it off White Sox fans. This series meant nothing. At least not yet.

I was nervous this morning about tonight's Sox game. The Pirates are a horrible team. They have been owned by the Cubs. Why is this important? Because they are a bullshit measuring stick. You know it. What is a bullshit measuring stick? Its like applying simple logic to win/loss ratios. Basically, if we didn't do well against the Pirates in this series, a series that leads into the Crosstown Classic, we were toast. Cubs beat Pirates. Pirates beat Sox. Cubs Beat Sox. I feel like taking an SAT exam..

I completely missed the game tonight because of all the other shenanigans going on in Perry-land. Incidentally, I stopped blogging about the White Sox during that great win streak we had a week ago. I did this on purpose. I figured if I wasn't writing, and they were winning why should I rock the boat? At some point I realized that I was being lazy. Cocoa and Ruby programing can take a break tonight. Let's talk White Sox baseball.

There are a number of things that come to mind. I'm going to just list them out here for you:

First - Paul Konerko has been awful at the plate. He is now officially on the 15-day disabled list. This is the first time in Paulie's career that he has ever been on the DL. Is this a sign of things to come? I heard a few ridiculous comments on the radio this afternoon that had the Sox looking to shop Konerko the second he comes back from the DL. That's a dumb move. Exactly why hasn't Paulie earned the right to fight his way back from this terrible slump? If I told you we would be in first place on June 17th and Konerko was batting .215 (he is a career .278 hitter) would you have believed me? Paulie needs to work it out. He needs to work it out quickly because I like watching speed on the bases. No offense, but the middle of this order was built to "trot" not run. (thank you Comcast commercial)

Second - With hindsight being 20/20, I really would have liked to see a young outfield. Swisher, Quentin, and Brian Anderson. I think Jermaine Dye should have been traded, if not left unsigned. JD is great. He is one of my favorite White Sox players, but JD is getting up there in years and he can't run as well as he used to. Sure, I've seen him make a couple of decent diving catches in the past few weeks. And yes, he still has a great arm. But we need speed on the base pads. We also need to add some more young pitching to the farm club. JD is worth more than any of the other big 3 (Thome, Konerko, JD) I can see a playoff team in the AL calling the Sox for either JD or Thome's services before the trading deadline.

Third - Ozzie being Ozzie works. I'm sort of tired of Ozzie stirring the pot. I'm also sort of tired of the media turning it into a big deal. Rick Morrissey made a point in a column for the Trib that Chicago beat reporters are used to this from Oz. The outsiders are the ones making this a bigger deal. All well and good, but I'd like to think that the mature clubhouse we have isn't effected by Ozzie's rants at all. That goes for both good rants and bad. I find this to be yet another example of shit journalism. It sells papers, and has nothing to do with why the Sox are "turning it around".

I've got more thoughts on mid year moves...but I'm going to save that for tomorrow.

GO-Go-White Sox!

The White Sox are on a 6 game losing streak. We just the series to the Blue Jays in Toronto. I watched the majority of this game tonight and I am astonished to see how pathetic our hitters are. I can't even begin to explain it. It's not always because they aren't taking enough pitches. They just aren't hitting the ball well. They aren't seeing it and they are wasting their starter's great pitching as a result. Vazquez got 9 strikeouts tonight, only walking one batter. He gave up an unfortunate home run to Matt Stairs in the 7th, but other than that slip up the guy looked great. I'd be pissed if I was Coop and the pitching staff. We know Ozzie is pissed already.

What can Ozzie do? Well, he could go on a foul-mouthed tirade. Oh wait. He already did that. This was a classic Ozzie move. He couldn't take it out on his veteran ball club because they simply won't stand for it. Can you imagine Jim Thome in the clubhouse listening to that? I can't. I've heard that Ozzie's bench interviews are pretty similar to yesterday's tirade, but somehow I don't think he typically says horseshit as much.

Crede missed the game because of a migraine. As a result the line-up was mixed up heavily. Ozzie moved Swisher down to the 6th spot. I guess he was trying to get the guy some RBIs. The problem is that everyone ahead of Swisher had a total of 2 hits all night. Pathetic.

So maybe it's time to start finding solutions instead of talking about the problems. (this is an old team, we are slow, can't hit, defense is suspect in spots) I thought I had a solution, but someone has already emailed WhiteSox.com with my idea. Jerry Owens should get the call. The point they make is that Jerry won't start. And this is my problem. I'm not saying panic should set in...yet, but I think we're starting to really show our age. I think that our outfield would be much better if Owens was out there. I understand he won't take Quentin's spot because he is currently our strongest hitter, but JD is technically still hurt. Either that or age has finally caught up to the big man. He can't run down fly balls as well as he used to and frankly, I never thought extending him was a good idea. But this isn't a solution as the writer points out on the Sox website. There just isn't enough room for Owens without either moving JD or putting him on the DL. I love JD and I think he can still hit a ton, but I'm afraid if he doesn't start doing it now, we're going to be left holding the 70 loss bag. At least.

Jerry Owens has speed and he would fit great as a lead off man. He can't possibly feel the pressure when he comes up because the offense is sputtering anyway. Ramirez should be moved to triple-A to make room. We can't let this season slip away. Ozzie, make it happen.

Maybe all we need is home cooking. Twins come to town tomorrow.

Lets get some hits, and eventually some runs!

Go Go White Sox!

Before I get into it too deep, I wanted to point out the obvious headline I could have used tonight: Danks for Nothing. If you saw the game tonight, you'd know this was a reference to Dank's craptacular 3 inning effort tonight. After his performance tonight, I'm wondering how many times I will get the chance to use that headline. Suffice it to say, the Sox lost tonight to the Twins, 12-5.

Ozzie had no choice but to go get the young pitcher and replace him with Nick Masset in the 3rd after Danks lost it and walked in a run. No one in a Sox uniform will blame the weather, but I am wondering how much the cold had to do with Danks' performance. Masset came in and did pretty well for 3 innings. He gave up a grand slam to Jason Kubel. That ran the score to 11-3, pretty much ruining any chance of a comeback for the White Sox.

It's interesting to note; up to that point in the game the Sox's 3 runs all came from home runs. The first was crushed by Nick Swisher, followed by Konerko's blast in the 4th, and Crede's homer in the 5th. The White Sox have hit a total of 11 home runs in this young season. That's a pretty good number and it leaves me confident that we're going to do well offensively this year. Hell, didn't we end up with the 3rd most home runs last year? A lot of good that did us last year...I've got to go find that stat.

It's still very early in the season to talk about what the White Sox need to do, what moves they should be making, or any other in depth analysis. There just isn't enough there to come up with anything concrete. I still have the same concerns I had last year. One of my top worries is Jermaine Dye. He's getting up there in age, and last year I started to notice he was having a hard time getting to some balls in the outfield. I know everyone in Chicago loves JD, and I'll probably get lambasted for saying this, but here goes. JD is great trade bait. If he continues to hit well (7 games, .429 AVG, .484 OBP, 4 doubles and  a .787 slugging percentage) then he most likely gets traded. Let's face it. JD is in his 12th year, and he probably could help some team that needed a DH. It all depends on how well the Sox do this season. I'll put the request in early on JD. Trade him before it's too late. Don't wait until the season gets out of hand before starting the fire sale. We might need an arm, and while most trade scenarios that involve the Sox are likely deals for Joe Crede, Dye has good power and can extend his career a bit by hanging his glove up.

It's just a thought. Especially with all the young outfielders we've got. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I always do when baseball season returns.

GO GO WHITESOX!

I haven't been posting anything on baseball for a few reasons. First, I can't concentrate on baseball when football is still on the radar. This includes the draft. Second, it could snow out here at any minute. Snow and baseball don't go together. Dumb? Perhaps. But March Madness keeps me occupied until the draft and eventually the weather gets warm enough that I start to pay attention.

Of course, my opinion on this matter has nothing to do with the fact that the White Sox are a great unknown this season. That's a polite way of saying that I have no faith this team will be in the hunt for our division. I just don't see how we do it with the Tigers and the Cleve improving so much this past off season.

Anyway, the reason I dusted off the White Sox cap tonight is because more ambiguous news out of White Sox training camp hit the wire today: Juan Uribe was cut. (put on waivers) So the question has to be, WHY? Did GM Kenny Williams give up on trading Uribe? There were really no takers for this guy? I highly doubt it. Uribe may not have been a fantastic shortstop, but he came into spring training motivated to earn that second base job after the Sox traded for Cabrera. Instead of a trade, we put him on waivers and if no one picks him up, we're out $4 million.

I sure hope Kenny knows what he is doing. Don't mind me, I care more about my bracket that this move. Here's to hoping that the kid from Cuba gets the spot at 2nd.

The writers strike has me sitting at home with an empty Tivo. College football officially ended with another Big Ten whimper and I have no excuse not to spend a few minutes writing down some of my thoughts on the recent White Sox trade for Nick Swisher. I recently visited the comments section over at the Trib. It seems as if most Sox fans are not happy with this trade. Sending 3 young and highly touted prospects to Oakland for a 27 year old center fielder who hits no better than .260 is a bit of a head scratcher. I'm not saying that Swisher isn't going to be an improvement over any of the other center fielders we were going to rotate in this season. Far from it. I like Swisher. I do. I just don't understand what Kenny Williams sees in the rest of his team. This is a good addition to a team that is on the verge of winning a division, not one that barely beats the Royals out for the bottom of the AL Central. This is a pretty suspect move by Kenny. He has done nothing this offseason to actually improve our chances at being competitive. I argue that he has weakened this team for the present AND the foreseeable future. I base that on the previous move of Jon Garland. The pitching staff is weakened with his move to Angels. Who trades a young, talented, and stable inning-eating pitcher with an aging short stop? Pitching is at a premium these days. We should know. We're going into the season without Garland, and with Gavin Floyd and John Danks. Yea, not too good of a staff anymore. Especially with Garland gone.

I guess that was just a start for good ole Kenny. It wasn't enough to get rid of a proven started, and get NO ARMS in return, but we traded away 2 young arms for an average center fielder. I was just telling MJ about an article I found while goofing off at work today, courtesy of the SportsFrog.com gang. The article is written by John Walsh for The HardBall Times. In it Walsh breaks down, using pretty amazing statistical analysis who has the best outfield arm in baseball. Go read it. I was curious to see if any White Sox players would show up on the list. JD is middle of the pack in the AL, and our new center fielder is practically last. That makes this trade even more curious. Swisher isn't that great of a hitter and based on what I just read in this analysis, he isn't that great in the field too.

Overall, I have to say I am not overly happy with this offseason. I'll be more blunt. I think Kenny can't get over the fact that he made some pretty interesting moves pre-2005 that paid off with a ring. He's confusing evaluating talent with dumb luck. He is also trying to pull a rabbit out of his hat with every single move. He's predicting that Garland is going to get injured this year. He's also predicting that Cabrera is going to stay healthy. He wants to win now, but he clearly hasn't paid attention to the Tigers and the Indians. Both of those teams are head and shoulders better than the White Sox. Do we really need to compare the offseason moves? Do you want me to break down (stop laughing) the pitching staffs? I'm not even including the Twins in this rant because I'm still anticipating they're going to trade Santana to New York. The Swisher trade isn't going to get the Sox to 90 win season, and I'm thinking it's going to take at least 90 wins for the Sox to sniff the playoffs next year.

I appreciate Kenny's predicament. He has to make a strong effort to keep up the momentum we lost after winning the series in 2005. He also seems to still be pissed about being thrown under the bus by Billy Beane in MoneyBall. I can see him now, wringing his hands in his corner office on 35th and Shields. Yea, Kenny. You'll show them. You'll show them all.

John Kruk is an idiot. He doesn't believe Roger Clemens' trainer when he says that he injected Clemens in the ass with HGH. That's what Brian McNamee claims in today's Mitchell Report. McNamee is what we call in the modern era, a snitch. Clearly McNamee didn't get the Stop Snitchin' memo. I can only imagine all the noise coming out of Boston tonight. I can hear the furor of keyboards clacking away at all the major Boston blogs. They get to bask in the Yankee's shame while brushing the dirt off their shoulders. I guess technically both Sox teams are 'clean'. Further, both our championships are un-tainted. I'm positive there was a collective sigh coming from both SoxNation and the White Sox faithful. Andrew over at southsidebaseball.com has some pretty good questions that I'd like to answer. (Link was back there) Here goes:

So what of the names that come up? Would something like the Sox’ 2005 run be lessened? What if it were just a bit player or two whose name were splayed across the headlines? Could it become situational? If Player A wasn’t a regular, or wasn’t a starter at their position, or was just call-up, or was just OK at their job, does it sting less?

Yes. Our 2005 World Series Championship would be tainted. In this town? Are you kidding? We hold that championship up at every opportunity afforded to us. The Bears suck, but at least the Sox got a championship. Yea, the Cubs signed FukyouOno but we still have a White Sox championship! We can't cure cancer, but fuck it at least I'll go to my grave with memories of an awesome parade down LaSalle Street for that White Sox championship! All praise Ozzie!

As far as if there is a difference between say, Pablo Ozuna being nabbed with steroids and Paul Konerko I guess I've got to concede this point. It would have been much, much worse if they named Crede, or JD, or even Frank Thomas. Speaking of Frank, his name appears in the Mitchell Report 3 times:

First on page 11, Mitchell name drops Thomas as being one out of 5 players that actually did do an interview. He was described as being helpful and informative. The Big Hurt? Helpful? Regardless, my biggest fear was that my favorite White Sox player of all time (yes, more so than Greg Luzinski) was going to be on this list. Thankfully, Frank is clean and I say that with a straight face. It would have been pretty sad to see Thomas included with the likes of cheaters like Sosa, Big Mac, Palmeiro, and Mo Vaughn. I'm sure the folks in Boston are happy that Big Poppy and Manny weren't on the list as well.

A lot of people are going to say that this list isn't all inclusive. Others will say that I am being naive about the fact that this report is 100% accurate. It has to be 100% accurate, right? I don't believe you can slam someone with a serious accusation like drug use without more than hearsay as evidence. Or could you? Innocent until proven guilty...or in possession.

I'm going to see if I can get a few special guest writers to cover the legal and medical sides of this story. I'm still not convinced that drugs like HGH aren't being used LEGALLY to support someone's post operation recovery. But that's why I write crappy blog reports while the doctors are out saving lives. And batting averages.

ESPN reports this move as a surprising swap of dependable players. I liked Jon Garland. I thought he was finally hitting his stride. Let us look at his numbers last year:

G	IP	H	R	HR	BB	SO	W	L	ERA
32	208.1	219	114	19	57	98	10	13	4.23

 

Considering the White Sox were the worst team in all the land, I don't think those numbers are all that bad. Garland earned the right to be considered one of our most stable starters these past few years. It has been fun watching him mature into a great pitcher. I'm wondering out loud about this deal....

Orlando Cabrera is coming off his best year. He put up career best numbers for the Angels last year. He hit over .300 (.301 to be exact) and drove in 101 runs for the Los Angeles Anaheim San Diego Palo Alto Angels. He is a great shortstop and an unquestionable upgrade at the position over Uribe.

Math plays a part in this decision too. Kenny Williams is picking tops. He thinks that Garland has reached his peak, or is close enough to his peak that he was willing to assume the risk of trading a young starter for a 33 year old shortstop. And this comes after signing Uribe for $4.5 million next year! Someone is wrong in this trade. That's the danger of picking tops. The Angels too think they are trading a player who has reached his fullest potential. I'm left wondering, like most White Sox fans, how this makes our team better. It was pitching that got us to the World Series in '05.

I want to see the White Sox get back into contention and I'm not sure an aging infielder is going to do that. I'll gladly eat my words if Garland turns into a pumpkin for the Angels. I'll also be pleasantly surprised if Cabrera hits anywhere close to .300 next year. It won't be easy. Williams thinks he has plenty of young arms that can take the place of Garland. I'm not so sure.

There is plenty more coming for the White Sox. Rumors of Torii Hunter's signing have been swirling for weeks. I'm kind of indifferent to his anticipated signing too. I want this team to get younger, not older. Kenny Williams is taking the opposite position. Time will tell who is right.

(I wonder how much effect the steroid allegations swirling around baseball these days had on Kenny Williams' decision to make this trade. It has to be a factor. You wouldn't want to be acquiring a player who is on that list of abusers.)