Thome to Dodgers, Contreras to Rockies in Salary Dump

I was writing the newest addition to the blog when this happened on twitter via Joe Cowley: Breaking News: Thome went to the Dodgers, while Jose Contreras was sent to the Rockies.
As much as I hate relying on that guy, wow! That’s something. So, what does this mean?

Well, Thome was traded for infielder Justin Fuller and Contreras was traded for RHP Brandon Hynick.

In case you didn’t follow my twitter updates: Hynick: 10-9, 3.83 ERA in AAA, 1.297 WHIP, 1.92 SO/BB He also threw a perfect game this year. He was AA pitcher of the year at some point, and he has some random “Pitcher of the Week” awards. Fuller batting .254 with .340 OBP, 4 HR and 17 RBI and played mostly short stop and 2B in single A. I was expecting a bit more for Thome, but a salary dump is a salary dump.

I don’t expect Fuller to see much major league time, but Hynick might be forced to fill the gap in our rotation for now. That’s all I got for now in terms of that.

In terms of Thome and Contreras, it was no secret that I’ve lost faith in Contreras after 2005, but he seemed like a class act, just like Thome. And now… the era of Josh Fields as DH! Great… He and Wise, as well as Getz and Flores will be up tomorrow for the roster expansions.

At least Scott Linebrink will stick around long enough for me to perpetuate the nickname I gave him last week via twitter: Scotch Linebrink. Both because he gets into stick situations and because he’ll make anyone watching him pitch want to be an alcoholic.

Speaking of Scotty Linebrink, here’s what I was originally writing when the news started to trickle in:

There’s [a picture] that Sox bloggers have adopted of late that sums up the games better than any blog post could.


I was in the middle of using Photoshop for similar purposes using an image of Jose Contreras down on all fours, but I realized that description alone could do the job and I could keep the ratings PG.

Honestly, I agree with Ozzie on his decision for Saturday’s game: who else are you going to start on Saturday? Peavy is too precious to be wasted on a game we would have lost anyway. Sure, there were 10 runs given up, but none scored by the White Sox. Might as well throw Grandpa out there and make him earn his salary.

And speaking of “throwing out,” there is a rumored memo that KW passed out to… everyone, which supposedly states that Dye, Thome, and especially Linebrink are up for trade. Thome has a full no-trade clause, Dye has some restrictions, and Scotch is likely to turn any manager into an alcoholic.

So, the Sox are on a 4-game skid, and not even the magic of Floyd could keep the Twins at bay. The Sox are now in third place, and quickly catching up to the Cubs as the biggest disappointment in Chicago. It’s hard to keep an upbeat attitude, and I don’t blame anyone that temporarily becomes a Dodgers fan or something to keep the depression at bay.