Meet the Sox

Jim Thome

Kenny Williams proved that one World Series title wasn’t enough for him when he shipped one of the team’s most popular players for the lumbering Philadelphia first baseman.  

Overview:  Jim Thome signed a six-year, $82 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies with the hopes that he would be the player to help the team get over the hump known as the Atlanta Braves.

Halfway through the contract, the Phils still found themselves stuck with mid-80s win totals and watching the Braves stretch their run of consecutive division titles to 14 (full) seasons.  Not that it was all Thome’s fault – he hit 89 homers in his first two years there, drew triple-digit walk totals each year, and played first base well enough.

But they could’ve used that kind of production last year, when the Phils found themselves barely squeezed out of the wild card race.  Thome only played in 59 games, in which he only hit seven homers thanks to elbow and back injuries.  

Williams took a chance that the 2005 version of Thome wasn’t going to stick around for long.  He took the slugger off Philadelphia’s hands (with $22 million in cash) for Aaron Rowand and pitching prospects Gio Gonzalez and Daniel Haigwood.  

Hitting:  The one bright spot about Thome’s season last year was that even though his power had disappeared and his batting average dropped like a rock (.207), he still had an above-average on-base percentage (.360).  Walking 45 times in only 59 games will help quite a bit.

Otherwise, it was fairly lousy all the way around, even though he was playing in a bandbox of a ballpark, Citizens Bank Park.  He says he’s healthier than ever, but that remains to be seen.

Should he be able to capture his pre-injury form, he’ll help the team out quite a bit, providing a left-handed power bat the Sox have lacked since the Robin Ventura days.  He’ll also make pitchers work (he walked 100+ times in six consecutive seasons), and he’ll hit the ball hard – since he became a full-time player, he’s never hit lower than .266 despite the large number of strikeouts.

Age might be a problem, however.  He’ll be 35 when the season starts, and for a big, lumbering fella with a huge swing, any loss in bat speed could throw his timing off considerably.  Given that he’s a dead pull hitter that will take his chances against defensive shifts, don’t expect him to stop swinging hard, for better or for worse.

Defense:  Thome won’t be expected to bring much of it.  Before the injury, Thome was an average first baseman who didn’t embarrass himself.  But with the elbow injury, he might be a liability out there in the field (Frank Thomas injured himself playing the field and not at the plate, remember).

Thankfully, the Sox won’t have to expose Thome to unnecessary risk.  He’ll play designated hitter most of the time, and he’ll be able to spell Paul Konerko at first base.  Last season, the Sox didn’t have a backup first baseman (Timo played there once), and barely a DH in Carl Everett.  Thome fills both those holes, and will be able to give Ozzie Guillen some options during the dog days of summer.

2006 Outlook:  Questions abound, most of them regarding his injuries.  The Sox will need Thome to produce, not only because the team needs to score runs, but also to justify the trading of two of the Sox’s most valuable minor-league chips, Haigwood and Gonzalez.  Fortunately, the Sox will only be paying him around $8 million a year, which will be a bargain.

Forget home runs – the games column is the one stat that Thome will have to fill.  Even if he only bats .250 and hits 25 homers, his presence will mean so much if he plays 140 games.  Frank Thomas barely finished over the Mendoza line, but the Sox went 24-9 when he played because he brought order to the lineup.  Carl Everett stunk up the joint in the No. 3 spot, and Aaron Rowand and A.J. Pierzynski were forced to hit fifth at times.  Murderers’ Row they were not.

With Thome, the Sox have plenty of options.  Whichever path they go, lighter hitters like Pierzynski, Joe Crede, and whichever one of Juan Uribe or Tadahito Iguchi who is not hitting second can hit sixth or lower and relax.  

Count me in as a big supporter of this move.  Thome is a perfect fit for this lineup, even if he’s Thome in decline.  A large part of his value is just in showing up, and if he resembles his pre-injury self, the man who once signed an $82 million contract might be one of the biggest bargains in baseball.