Thursday, December 07, 2006 - Posts

Scrooged (updated)

So, what are the Sox going to spend the $10 million they just saved by shipping away Freddy Garcia? 

Not contract extensions for pitchers, apparently.  From Phil Rogers:

Having inhaled their cigars and digested the developments, [Kenny] Williams declared his club has no plans to extend the contracts of Mark Buehrle beyond 2007 or Jon Garland, Jose Contreras and Javier Vazquez beyond 2008.

Here's my biggest question, among many other reactionary issues:  If the Sox are just now committing to building a young rotation all over again, then why on Earth did Williams not offer David Riske arbitration for the draft pick?  The best way to build a cheap rotation is to grow your own.

I'm going to reread this column later in the day, because I've read it twice and my sole reaction is one I've never said before on this site:

Rogers knocked this one out of the park.

UPDATE:  Okay, I knew it was too good to be true.  First, because I wasn't reading closely enough and Rogers writes that Contreras will be gone by Opening Day 2009.  He's actually signed through the 2009 season.  As Darrin Jackson would say, "Uh oh!"

Secondly, after reading Joe Cowley's Sun-Times article with the direct quotes, it shines a different light on it.  Rogers makes his column sound like an intimate conversation, but since Cowley's using the same quotes without attribution, it was either a press conference or Cowley would've failed J-School.

Rogers frames it like he's almost eager to kick his pitchers to the curb because that's not the way they did it back in the good ol' days; Cowley's on Williams' side, perhaps a little too much, but makes it known that Williams isn't convinced this spending represents a whole new era the Sox have yet to join.

However, Rogers still makes the greater point that Williams could be more diplomatic about it.  Sometimes you can tell when Kenny's saying two things at once.  He's not doing it here, outside of contract issues messing with Buehrle once again to where he'll sign a lesser deal to get it out of his head.  Considering his job is to win ballgames, I don't think Kenny is hoping for that.

Also, my question about draft picks still stands.  I'm downgrading Rogers' column, but it's still a double. 
posted Thursday, December 07, 2006 2:09 AM by Jim with 8 Comments

Brotherly love? He'll need it

If you're not a fan of the Freddy Garcia trade -- and it could be considered underwhelming -- at least Freddy won't affect the division race.  The Sox will only face Freddy once, if at all, because the Sox travel to Philadelphia for a three-game series on the tentative 2007 schedule.  That's far better than facing him twice or more in Anaheim, Seattle, or some other rumored location.

Freddy in Philadelphia actually raises a whole lot of questions, namely:

Could Freddy in Philly be a match made in hell?

Not to speak for all Sox fans, but I'd guess a majority of us learned to like Garcia in spite of his faults.  We were aware of what Freddy did for us in 2005, and even with diminished stuff in 2006, he gave us an opportunity to win each and every time he took the mound.  He was more competitive than his mannerism let on. 

Unfortunately, there were a lot of reasons to dislike him.  His fastball lacked heat coming out of the gate, often looking like he wasn't ready to start the game.  He called out his teammates on the field.  He completely and utterly neglected runners.  He admitted that he had trouble getting amped up for lesser opponents.  He emoted nonchalance 90 percent of the time.

Now he goes to Philly, where perceived effort can trump all if somebody starts rolling the snowball.

Bobby Abreu was traded for a big pile of nothing for a lot of the same things I described about Freddy above, only if you translate pitching actions into hitting and fielding ones.  Nobody liked Floyd because he lacked "killer instinct."  Pat Burrell's currently in the Philly doghouse because he sucked in the clutch last year.  Scott Rolen was considered a sulker and a brooder.

Of course, Freddy could eliminate all chance of negativism by pitching well.  Either way, though, he'll likely be one-and-done in Philadelphia, given the way lesser pitchers are being paid more than he is right now.
posted Thursday, December 07, 2006 1:39 AM by Jim with 0 Comments