Sox and Cubs in the Media

…Sure I have a ton of gripes about the White Sox. But nevertheless, I love the team. It’s why I dedicate so much time to this blog. So with that said, why should someone that makes a grand total of $0.00 a year to cover the White Sox spend so much time researching when the media can’t spend as much as 5 minutes researching the White Sox roster.

I was browsing Borders recently, only to find a 2010 calendar. It may have been acceptable to include the likes of Dye and Thome as the photos designated for various months. However, riddle me this: who wears number 7, plays third base for the White Sox, and is named Josh Fields? No one. While Josh Fields used to do all those things, he no longer does. Why, then, is his unshaven cleft chin the image chosen to represent the month of June? A bit of research would have saved the publishers of said calendar from making this gaffe.

However, the Sox can still retain some pride in the fact that [the Cubs seem to want a Sox leftover: Jose Contreras. And Scott Podsednik.] Mandatory Grandpa Jo Joke: The irony is that the Cubs haven’t won a World Series since Jose Contreras was born.

Revisiting the Golden Tresses of Anderson

“Four or five teams expressed interest in the outfielder after he became a free agent this offseason. That group included the Cubs, Nationals and Reds, but ultimately, the Royals stood as Anderson's ideal destination.” Yup, the one and only Brian Anderson is headed to the Royals. The outfielder is returning to the AL Central after a brief stint in Boston. Surprisingly enough, he did pretty well in Bean-Town. Blondie had five hits and two homers in 17 at-bats with the crimson Sox.

The thing is, Brian talks a lot about digging his own hole and what might have happened if he did ‘something’ differently. What is this something?

In similar news, Javy Vazquez and Boone Logan are headed to the Yankees. Javy has already spent a year with the Yankees, and ended the year with a 14-10 record. The truth it, Javy has been quietly having himself a career year. He posted a career-best 2.87 ERA and a 15-10 record. Over 219 innings. Just goes to show how great the National League can treat pitchers. And this isn’t just a typical joke. It’s true. Javy has not had an ERA below 4 in the American League (with the exception of 2007). So, I guess what I’m saying is… Javy is still a good pitcher, maybe. Probably only in the National League. And probably not when he’s under pressure. Er… what were we talking about again?

In more, also similar news, Octavio Dotel has been offered a pretty good deal to close for the Pirates. I’d have some sort of statistics similar to those I presented for Javy, but they’re too all over the place. All I can say is that the guy is more of a set-up guy than a closer as far as I can tell. How many times did Dotel come into the game only to give up a 2-run homer? More than any closer should.

The theme of the post is clear. It’s the future of ex-Sox players. Because the future of the Sox as a team is unknown. But let’s face it, since it’s Christmas Eve, let’s be positive. There’s a lot of potential on our team. And the future of the Sox can still be bright.

The Pierre Trade from A New Perspective

If you really want an in-depth look at the Juan Pierre trade, your go-to place is the [ChiSox Examiner].

So, I’m not going to repeat all of that. I’m not even going to go the opposite way and say that I’m sad this is the end of Scott Podsednik. I’m not even going to acknowledge anything other than the fact that, luckily, the Sox are only paying $8 million over two years instead of $18.5. What I have to say about it is, we’ll see how it pans out. Which, by the way, is my new Alex Rios slogan. We’ll see how he works out.

No, what I’m going to look at is the Dodgers’ side of this. Because those fans have seen more of Pierre than we have. Says [one blogger for the LA Times], “Juan Pierre was a good fourth outfielder … But he's not a starter.” This same blogger sees the trade as a bargain for the Dodgers. They see it as $8 million they can pay for someone else and they don’t seen losing Pierre as a loss. In fact, if you look at LA Dodger bloggers, the feeling seems to be unanimous.

But don’t despair! On the bright side, we do have some added grindyness. The guy can steal a base. And even if he matches his lowest AVG in 5 years (about .285), that’s still better production than, say, DeWayne Wise, Brian Anderson, Brent Lillibridge, and the Bat Boy.

As for the pitching we gave up, supposedly Link and Ely, I’m not too disappointed. Not since John Danks-ish or Mark Buehrle-ish have we had an in-house pitcher pan out. When it comes to true pitching talent, the Sox scouts can’t see it, and Kenny Williams finds it elsewhere. Problem solved.

Adieu Carrasco, See you later Tony Pena

It can’t be based on number. From the White Sox website, we gather that the Sox won’t offer D.J. Carrasco a renewed contract, but they probably will offer one to Tony Pena. “The remaining four arbitration-eligible players in Bobby Jenks, John Danks, Tony Pena and Carlos Quentin were fully expected to be tendered a contract.”

Now, it shouldn’t be a secret that I think Tony Pena is awful. To quote myself, “If I had one word to describe you, it would be ‘bad.’ If I had two words, they would be, ‘incredibly bad.’”

In all honestly, overall, he improved. By the end of the season, his ERA with the Sox decreased to a modest 3.75. Not to mention a career-best 3.22 SO/BB. Also a career best 7.3 SO/9. Nevertheless, this guy is not the asset you want in your bullpen. If you’re looking for a guy to eat up innings, bring Lance Broadway back. At least he was good-looking.

As for D.J. Carrasco, I sort of understand the decision. Now we have Putz, Carrasco would have demanded (and deserved) a lot of money, blah blah blah. But still. You can’t help but regret losing a guy like that. With the Sox, Carrasco had a career-best 3.76 ERA, 2.8BB/9, 62K, etc. And the Sox were willing to offer him a whopping $600,000 salary. “In this economy? How can I offer half a penny when they don’t even make pennies anymore? We can’t afford any more than that.” I’ll believe it when I see the financial statements.

What gets to me (and apparently Jim Margalus of SoxMachine who posted a similar article yesterday) more than anything is something Carrasco said about the Sox not needing a long reliever. I nearly did a spit take. Let me tell you something: the Sox have a TON of talented pitchers, but let me remind you of the Sox record this year: 79-83. And that is WITH a long reliever in tow. So let’s do some math estimates. Buehrle, Danks, and Floyd would have won at least half of their share of games, combined. So, out of the 3/5 games that they started, only 3/10 would be a guaranteed win. What about the other 1/5 of games that you need to win in order to be at the .500 mark? Even with Jake Peavy, you can only assume a 40% winning rate. That’s 65 games won. By that theory, we might as well not even have the Sox come up to bat. Why bother hiring a third outfielder? Just send Strubin out there. Long relief is necessary for the Sox because pitchers won’t have a good day every day. Long relief is necessary for the Sox because there is always one bum wheel on the wagon. Long relief is necessary for the Sox because bad things happen to good people. That’s the end of that.