The Chicago Tribune's Dave Van Dyck packs an article with a ton of
interesting and troublesome news out of Venezuela. First off, Razor Shines is out as coach of La Guiara, seemingly because of grudges between the Venezuelan club and the Sox.
There are at least three thorns in La Guiara's side:
- Brian Anderson has left Venezuela after losing 20 pounds because of a stomach illness.
- Charlie Haeger was supposed to go to Venezuela but never went.
- Boone Logan went home early with arm stiffness
More about that first point, which is obviously the most significant:
Anderson, who was disappointing in his first full big-league season,
had balked at going to winter ball, much to the organization's
displeasure. He finally was cajoled into going with Shines and
minor-league teammates Sweeney and Fields but did little in his
two-plus weeks in Venezuela.
He already has been mentioned as possible trade bait with a starting
pitcher to land a big-name player. With Sweeney and Fields almost ready
for the big leagues, his future with the Sox is cloudy.
Anderson went
4-for-19 in Venezuela, every hit a single, though dropping 20 pounds in less than three weeks would explain the lack of pop.
There are some big questions with regards to time. Anderson's defense regressed while his batting average went up (and Vince is working on a big piece on Anderson's offense and defense for
Exile in Wrigleyville), and then he looked lost in both areas in the final two weeks of the season. Was that related to the Venezuela spat? When did the virus/bug/ailment kick in? I'll update this post if/when I find out more about this.
The idea that Anderson's trade bait concerns me a little, because the Sox don't have any other right-handed, ground-covering outfielders anywhere near ready for the big leagues, and I can't imagine his stock being any lower. He already had production issues, there were hints of attitude issues, and now we have health issues on top of that! We're talking pesos on the dollar. He's just a drug problem away from being the first kid on his block to collect the whole set.
This could only be the tip of the iceberg. Between these developments and
Juan Uribe's October, it's making me long for the days when the offseason's problems circulated around the date Frank Thomas arrived for Spring Training.