For once, this isn’t a question about “Who will be sent back to Charlotte?” (The answer seems like it would have been Brent Lillibridge) As rosters expand this week, no one needs to be moved, but according to an article on the White Sox front page, this move essentially benches Andruw Jones and Mark Kotsay. Says the article, Jones will be a defensive replacement (in what world is Jones superior to ANYONE as a defensive replacement?) and Kotsay will be just a back-up first baseman. Worse yet, is the prospect for Mark Teahen. The only position he is adequate for is DH, and…. Well, in case you haven’t figured it out by now, that spot is taken.
Is Manny actually superior to any of these guys? Let’s make some projections happen. This chart predicts how these men would fare over 300 at-bats (Why 300? I don’t know, it just seemed like a nice round number. It’s just so we’re not comparing apples to porcupines.)
Player | Current AVG | RBI | HR | SO | BB | GDP |
Manny Ramirez | .311 | 61 | 12 | 58 | 41 | 6 |
Andruw Jones | .215 | 50 | 22 | 78 | 39 | 17 |
Mark Kotsay | .233 | 31 | 8 | 33 | 29 | 8 |
Mark Teahen | .269 | 36 | 7 | 70 | 30 | 10 |
Brent Lillibridge | .281 | 68 | 5 | 95 | 5 | 5 |
Overall, Manny’s projected numbers seem to be better than everyone’s. The only questionable one is Brent Lillibridge who has had the smallest sample size of at-bats by a large margin.
Honestly, I would rather Ozzie choose two of these yoo-hoos and send them to Charlotte and literally bring every single pitcher down there and see what we can do for the bullpen. Perhaps that is the magic of the Manny trade: the ability to get rid of the many DHs and bring in as many young arms as the cell can hold. It’s brilliant, Kenny. Really, you are a ninja.
If, on the other hand, the plan was to add Manny, but keep Jones, Kotsay, Teahen AND Lillibridge on the roster… well, he’s doing a great job of wasting Jerry Reinsdorf’s money.
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