Well this was unexpected.
Kenny Williams up and dealt Brandon McCarthy and David Paisano to the Texas Rangers for John Danks, Nick Masset and Jacob Rasner.
I know the jury's been out on McCarthy. I personally feel like he would've been able to duplicate Freddy Garcia's line for better or for worse last year; others were scarred by his late-inning meltdowns. He was by no means a sure-fire bet for major-league success, but considering he had success as a starter in his brief Sox career (4-3, 4.12 ERA, 1.11 WHIP), I felt fairly comfortable with him at the bottom of the rotation.
If the Sox front office felt McCarthy's homertastic ways (one every five innings) wouldn't fare well long-term at U.S. Cellular Field, I could understand it. But then I look at Danks' numbers, and I don't see much of a difference.
Like McCarthy, Danks was young at every level -- at 21, Danks was one of the youngest pitchers at Triple-A. Here's their combined stats from their most recent stops at AA and AAA.
| Name |
IP |
H/9 |
HR/9 |
BB/9 |
K/9 |
WHIP |
ERA |
| Danks |
140.0 |
9.06 |
1.41 |
3.60 |
9.90 |
1.41 |
4.24 |
| McCarthy |
145.1 |
7.86 |
1.11 |
2.35 |
9.85 |
1.14 |
3.84 |
I've read and heard rave reviews about Danks' stuff, but considering McCarthy was also young for his levels (and pitched far more of those 145.1 innings in the bandbox at Charlotte), I'm not sure what's to love about Danks. He is left-handed, so he's a possible replacement for Mark Buehrle should he be the next Sox pitcher whom Williams shows the door.
One encouraging note about Danks is that he's stumbled at the start of his Double-A and Triple-A career, but eventually gained confidence to overcome the disappointments. Then again, so did McCarthy.
Masset is another candidate for the front end of the bullpen, who has started most of his his minor-league days. He has the same problem as Danks in that he gives up a lot of hits, but he's shown the capability of preventing the long ball. He throws a heavy two-seamer and gets a lot of ground balls, which should make him a decent candidate for survival at the Cell. At the very least, he bolsters the Triple-A pen.
Rasner just turned 20 and hasn't looked like anything special thus far. Maybe some work at Winston-Salem will get him on the right track.
I'll allow that this move has potential, because Danks has a Barry Zito ceiling from what I've read, and Masset could be everything we liked about Sean Tracey, except with control. I just can't get excited about it because I don't see what edge he has on McCarthy, who has already succeeded at the Cell to varying degrees when starting games.
While Danks doesn't have any service time, McCarthy wasn't even arbitration-eligible. Williams is taking a hell of a gamble by counting on one of Danks or Masset or Gavin Floyd to contribute in 2007, and even towards the future, this is mostly a lateral move.
I suppose I'm just sort of confused, and the only way this makes a lot of sense is if Danks is dealt to Tampa Bay or Toronto to shore up one of the outfield spots. If he's staying put, then maybe I just need to see Danks for myself to feel better about this.