Grading Kenny Williams' wheeling and dealing throughout the first half of the season:
| WHITE SOX | BREAKDOWN | PHILLIES |
Jim Thome
 | If Brian Anderson hadn't started hitting, this trade might be a push. However, since June 9, Anderson's line is .258/.324/.419; Rowand's is .221/.288/.337. Considering they're about equal with the gloves, and Haigwood was traded to the Rangers, the only real cost was Gio Gonzalez, who has struck out 112 batters in 99 innings in Triple-A.
For what Thome has brought the Sox, I'll take it. His presence has meant nearly a run a game, and has helped the Sox to have one of the top offenses in baseball.
| Aaron Rowand
Gio Gonzalez
Daniel Haigwood
|
| WHITE SOX | BREAKDOWN | D-BACKS |
Javier Vazquez
| Vazquez has the stuff to rebound and make Kenny look good, but giving the grades right now, the edge goes to the Diamondbacks. After all, people have raved about Vazquez's "stuff" coming around for three years now.
El Duque was a salary dump, and he has since been traded for Jorge Julio. Luis Vizcaino is having a Luis Vizcaino-type year, but neither were the main attraction in the Sox's package.
That would be Chris Young, and he's continuing his track to major-league success in Triple-A, where he's recovered from a wrist injury to put up a line of .271/.359/.508 with 14 homers in 262 at-bats. As things stand right now, he's the center fielder of the future in Arizona, and he should've been ours.
| Orlando Hernandez
Luis Vizcaino
Chris Young
|
| WHITE SOX | BREAKDOWN | PIRATES |
Rob Mackowiak
| Damaso hasn't regained his edge that made him one of the most fearsome relievers in all of baseball from 2001-03. His ERA (2.97) and strikeout rate (11.07/9 IP) look good; his WHIP (1.35) is as scary as ever. Plus, these numbers are in the National League. I don't miss him.
Mackowiak, on the other hand, has been a valuable member of this team, even if we saw too much of his center field "defense" in the first half. After a rough start, he's hitting .309 and posting an OBP of .396, both of which would be career highs by far if he keeps it up. He hasn't been the utility man we thought he might be because of Alex Cintron, but he'll probably get some starts at third thrown his way.
| Damaso Marte
|
| WHITE SOX | BREAKDOWN | MARINERS |
Matt Thornton
| Don Cooper was right; I was wrong. Cooper's helped Thornton harness his immense power and turned him into an effective reliever who's capable of retiring righties as well. He's dampened his gopher ball tendencies, is striking out better than a batter an inning, and has allowed only eight of 28 inherited runners to score.
The Mariners had no use for Borchard, and he's now playing for the Marlins doing his Joe Borchard things -- hitting some homers, low batting average, striking out a lot. No loss there.
| Joe Borchard
|
| WHITE SOX | BREAKDOWN | MARINERS |
David Riske
| Any time you can trade a lefty for a righty who is no risk of being less valuable, you do it. Kenny did, and we got something for nothing.
Riske's not a guy you turn to in the clutch, but he's a perfectly acceptable low-to-mid leverage situation guy. Lopez is the poor man's Marte.
| Javier Lopez
|
| WHITE SOX | BREAKDOWN | D-BACKS |
Alex Cintron
| This time, the White Sox were able to take advantage of Arizona as the D-Backs dumped some salary on the Sox again.
Cintron has been better than acceptable as a utility infielder, coming up with some big hits and showing a glove that's at least average. Bajenaru is looking worse on Arizona's Triple-A squad than he did in Charlotte last year, so you have to figure he's just about out of chances.
| Jeff Bajenaru
|
That's about par for the course for Kenny -- one big risky trade that worked out, one big risky trade that hasn't, and a few minor deals that are indisputable victories.