A few days ago, the Sun-Times'
Joe Cowley handed out his season awards, and I'll be doing the same shortly.
More interesting is what he ended the column with -- three projected lineups reflecting Ozzie Guillen's wishes, Kenny Williams' wishes, and what will likely happen in Cowley's eyes:
| Guillen |
Williams |
Cowley |
| CF |
Pierre |
CF |
Matthews |
CF |
Pierre |
| SS |
Young |
2B |
Iguchi |
2B |
Iguchi |
| RF |
Dye |
RF |
Dye |
RF |
Dye |
| DH |
Thome |
DH
|
Thome |
DH |
Thome |
| 1B |
Konerko |
1B |
Konerko |
1B |
Konerko |
| C |
Pierzynski |
C |
Pierzynski |
C |
Pierzynski |
| 3B |
Crede |
3B |
Crede |
3B |
Crede |
| 2B |
Iguchi |
LF
|
Anderson
|
LF |
Anderson
|
| LF |
Sweeney |
SS |
Uribe |
SS |
Gonzalez |
| SP |
Contreras |
SP |
Contreras |
SP |
Contreras |
| SP |
Buehrle |
SP |
Zito |
SP |
Buehrle |
| SP |
Garland |
SP |
Garland |
SP |
Garland |
| SP |
Garcia |
SP |
Buehrle |
SP |
Vazquez |
| SP |
McCarthy |
SP |
McCarthy |
SP |
McCarthy |
A quick breakdown of each:
Guillen: Michael Young would be ideal if we didn't have a second baseman. He's a great leadoff hitter and has enough speed to sate Ozzie's thirst. The problem is while he plays shortstop for the Rangers, he isn't a shortstop. Every defensive expert says he's the
worst one in the league. And we know
what I think of Juan Pierre.
Williams: Gary Matthews doesn't seem like Kenny's kind of player. I don't say that from the standpoint of talent or attitude, but value. Matthews is having a career season in a contract year, and for that matter, so is Barry Zito. Kenny's thrived in the area of picking up undervalued/rejected talent, refurbishing it and passing it off as new. The times he's gone after guys who just peaked, he ended up with Todd Ritchie and Billy Koch, so I don't see a guy who's had
one good season in eight years being a target. Plus, despite his potential catch of the year in Texas, he covers less ground than Brian Anderson.
Cowley: No Pierre, please. Freddy Garcia is the popular option out of town, and we've gone over that a
couple times now. Gonzalez is an interesting name at short, but like Juan Uribe, he owns a
sub-.300 on-base percentage. I don't know how that's an upgrade, considering Uribe's affordability in relation to his glove and pop. It could improve the team marginally, but chances are it'd be an unnecessary swap.
For me, the entire roster hinges on left field. If Kenny makes the right move, he kills two cats with one stone and doesn't need to make any more of the lineup more expensive.
Coco Crisp seems to fit the profile of a classic Williams target. We know from talk last year that
the White Sox respect his game, and his contract tops out at $5.75 million in 2009, with an $8 million option in 2010. He didn't meet expectations in Boston, due in large part to injury, and I don't think anybody's too enamored with the acquisition. If he returned to
his 2004-05 self, where he hit .299/.345/.456 with good left field defense (not center field) and plus speed, he could be a proven right-handed outfielder had for cheap.
A more sure bet would be Tampa's
Carl Crawford, but he also costs more. Kenny's not afraid to ask, and more importantly, he's not afraid to give up prospects. Crawford is younger than Crisp, faster than Crisp, a better hitter than Crisp, an equally good defender and with an even better contract, and as far as anybody knows, he hasn't been made unavailable. The Devil Rays may not be actively looking to deal him, but if you tried making a trade offer for the Mets' Jose Reyes (similar contracts and talent), they'd crack up, then hang up. I don't see that being the case in Tampa.
It would take selling the farm to get him, but is there anybody on the farm worth keeping aside from Ryan Sweeney? Lance Broadway hasn't yet failed, but he isn't a star. Josh Fields scares me, Ray Liotta has plateaued, and Charlie Haeger is a fringe talent. One or more of the above may turn out to be solid major-leaguers, but I don't know if any of them are going to flood our souls with regret.
If Kenny fills left field with a talent along the lines of a Crisp or Crawford, that solidifies the leadoff spot, adds a right-handed bat (in the case of Crisp) and settles the outfield. At that point, Juan Uribe can stay at shortstop and you can throw Sweeney and Anderson in Thunderdome and have them fight to the death for the center field job.