posted on Thursday, April 13, 2006 9:44 PM by Jim

Another man's treasure

Every season, Kenny Williams makes a much-ballyhooed megadeal where people speculate he gave up too much.  And just the same, each year he makes an under-the-radar move where he gets something for nothing.  The latter talent (or maybe Jerry Reinsdorf's insane amount of loyalty) is what kept him from getting fired when the Todd Ritchie and Billy Koch swaps backfired.

Two years ago, he acquired Juan Uribe for Aaron Miles.  Last year, he claimed Bobby Jenks off waivers.  Early this season, it's looking like Alex Cintron is his Bargain of the Year.  Sometimes it has seemed as though other GMs have taken advantage of Kenny for being so outright and upfront about who he wants to deal.  This time around it worked in his favor. 

Following with a breakout (and likely a fluke) 2003 season in which he bat .317 and posted an .848 OPS, he fell flat on his face with an ugly 2004.  His 2005 season was closest to his true talent level, but he spent the season stuck behind veterans acquired by a chemistry-hungry Joe Garagiola Jr.  So at his two primary positions (2B and SS), he spent a lot of time stuck behind Craig Counsell (who played very well, actually), and Royce Clayton (who didn't).  We Sox fans know that nobody should ever be stuck behind Royce Clayton.

So Arizona management was in the same position that Kenny Williams was with Keith Foulke.  Foulke had a rough start to the 2002 season, lost his closer role, and then Jerry Manuel spent the rest of the year yanking him around and devaluing him all the while.  Manuel forced Kenny's hand, and he lost.  Cintron suffered the same fate, and rather than pay him with hotshot prospect Stephen Drew coming up, the D-Backs front office traded him for Jeff Bajenaru. 

Maybe the Diamondbacks should've taken the hint when Bajenaru couldn't make a wide-open Sox bullpen in which a Class-A arm jumped to the 25-man roster.  The Sox were happy to deal him, and they somehow managed to get something of value in return.  Bajenaru didn't even end up making the Diamondbacks bullpen, and now the Sox have a switch-hitting utility infielder who, as we saw today, can show some pop once in awhile.

Other Spring Training Acquistion Update:  Perhaps Don Cooper has solved Matt Thornton's control problems, but his effectiveness problems still need some work.  Thornton threw 19 of 22 pitches for strikes, but he allowed three hits and brought the tying run to the plate when he entered with a four-run lead.  He still throws hard and straight, so I've yet to believe he'll be anything more than Alan Embree.

Comments

# re: Another man's treasure

Friday, April 14, 2006 11:30 AM by jgelfand
How hard was Matt Thornton hit yesterday? Were they pop-ups caught up in the wind that landed for ducksnorts, or hard shots? It's amazing he gave up three hits and no runs, so...

On a completely unrelated note, but one that might be of interest to you, why is the Daily Southtown's beat writer for the Sox not writing articles for them (or at least they are not appearing of their website?) His blog is interesting though....

# re: Another man's treasure

Friday, April 14, 2006 6:24 PM by Jim Margalus
Thornton wasn't hit hard. He gave up a couple legitimate singles -- not scalded by any means, but not cheapies either. The third hit was a nubber to third that Crede didn't want to risk throwing away. He was lucky that he got to face Granderson with the bases loaded. Ozzie had Politte warming in the pen to counter any move Leyland might've made, which was smart.

In regards to the Southtown, we'll see what their site looks like tomorrow. If Whalen files a story, then that means that the Southtown isn't staffing road games. But the blog is nice.