Sox Machine: Chicago White Sox blog

Stumped in the middle

One thing that has struck me strangely about this hand-wringing over the outfield situation is that we're fairly familiar with everybody who has a shot.  Brian Anderson has the tools but maybe not the head, Ryan Sweeney has a sweet swing and suspect power, Jerry Owens is fast but other tools are lacking, so on and so forth.

On the other hand, the recent Junior Spivey signing reminds me that the Sox's middle infield situation could be even more distressing if Kenny Williams finds himself having to try to replace Tadahito Iguchi.  While Jermaine Dye and Mark Buehrle have received plenty of ink for their uncertain statuses, Iguchi's contract also ends at the end of the season.

Even though the Sox have a farm system rated in the bottom third of baseball, no second basemen or shortstops are even registering on most lists:

• South Side Sox:  Pedro Lopez ranked 16th.
  
• John Sickels:  Lee Cruz ranked 21st, and he seems to be more of an outfielder.
  
• Baseball Prospectus:  None in top 10.
• Baseball America:  Same.

The Spivey signing, coinciding with Ozzie Guillen calling out shortstop prospect Robert Valido during SoxFest, makes me realize that I know very little about Sox middle infielders -- and the people who might know them don't have much to say about them.

(Random Valido tangent:  While looking up information on him, I came across a site that is set up to discuss MLB players' relationship situations, including a pretty extensive White Sox roster.  Most of them have zero comments, with only the usual suspects -- Joe Crede, Jon Garland and Scott Podsednik -- being spoken for.  Guess who else's status is confirmed?  Robert Valido, who is single (ladies).  Why Valido?  My only guess is that he posted it himself.)

So, in an effort to further my education, I'll tell you what I know about Sox minor-league middle infielders, and feel free to tell me if I'm wrong or what I'm missing:

1. Andy Gonzalez.  He's been the most consistent hitter out of the bunch, but the worst fielder.  Very strong arm, but from what little I saw of him in Tucson, he looks a little lanky and awkward for his position.  I don't know if he's any better at second base, but it's kind of wasting his best asset.  Still a decent age (25) for Triple-A, but it's going to be decision time soon.
2. Pedro Lopez.  Made huge leaps and bounds last year.  He played at Double- and Triple-A the last two years, and managed massive improvements at both Birmingham (.601 OPS to .811) and Charlotte (.518 to .724).  It feels like he's a lot older, but he's only 22.  I have no idea whether the improvement was legitimate.
3. Valido.  Considered the best fielder of the bunch, but after getting a chance to impress some people in Tucson, his game fell in the crapper.  He's only 21, so he could work his way out of it.  Allegedly single.
   
4. Chris Getz.  He seems to have the best batting eye of the group, decent speed, very little power.  No concept of his glove.  Won't factor in to big-league plans for some time.
   

That's what I know, and it seems like I should know more considering one or two of these guys could be pressed into action in 2008.  Please fill me in if you can.

Vazquez previewed

I'm officially past the halfway mark -- until Kenny Williams trades a player I've already previewed, forcing me to write another one -- as Javy Vazquez becomes lucky No. 13.  As always, a  friendly reminder to leave your projections for him and the rest of the Sox between now and the start of the season.

From top to bottom

During SoxFest, Ozzie Guillen said that Jose Contreras would be his Opening Day starter for 2007.   I can't say I disagree stuff-wise.  When Contreras is healthy, he's more capable than any Sox pitcher of throwing a shutout.

On the other hand, I'd like to see Mark Buehrle get the ball one more time to start the season.  When you factor in time missed, Contreras wasn't all that much better than Buehrle.  But more importantly (to me), Buehrle is currently tied with Wilbur Wood for most consecutive Opening Day starts for the Sox. 

It's kind of a meaningless record, but it's still kind of neat.  And sometimes those things come back around to matter (see: arguments for Jack Morris' Hall of Fame case).

Meanwhile, Gavin Floyd currently has the inside lane for the fifth starter spot, but Tucson will likely flip this order around, too.  If I had to handicap them, here's my best guess:

1) Floyd.  Kenny Williams really seems to like him, plus he got some experience pitching at Arizona during Fall League play.  His numbers didn't impress, but Williams liked the way he looked.  Odds: 2-1

2) John Danks.  He has a similar profile to Brandon McCarthy, although his fastball has more movement.  And if you remember a couple of years ago, McCarthy almost made the starting rotation out of Spring Training with some impressive outings at Tucson.   Odds:  5-1

3) Charlie Haeger.  He's somewhat of a dark horse, especially with the acquisition of Danks and the re-acquisition of Gio Gonzalez.  However, the Tucson air isn't conducive to Haeger's knuckler, so I doubt Ozzie will start him until he becomes acclimated to stronger gravity.  Odds: 10-1

4) Gio Gonzalez.  Triple-A challenged him last year, so I don't see a scenario in which Gonzalez skips a full year at that level.  Odds: 20-1

5) Nick Masset.  Since the Sox have at least two bullpen spots open, Masset likely already has a job.  On the other hand, he's virtually guaranteed to be starting 2007 in the majors, which is more than can be said for everybody in the bottom half.  Odds: 20-1

6) Lance Broadway.  If Kenny were more excited about him, he wouldn't have chewed out his scouts.   Odds: 40-1

7) Heath Phillips.  The same.  Odds: 40-1

8) Andy Sisco.  I consider him the unlikeliest candidate (barring a trade) because if he's throwing well, he'll be in the bullpen.  If he isn't, he'll be stretched out more in Charlotte.  Odds: 50-1

Quelling the hurly-Buehrle

For what's largely a feel-good arena, a lot of interesting news has come out of this year's SoxFest so far. 

A day after Mark Buehrle told fans and reporters he thought Kenny Williams had no interest in bringing him back (and it was simmering Kenny responding, it turns out), Williams apologized to Buehrle's family and said he needed to re-evaluate the way he talks to the media.


No disagreements here.  Even if he intended otherwise, Williams has sounded awfully definitive and inflexible when talking about the exploding free-agent market, and I can't say I blame Buehrle for taking the stance he did (though it seems odd that he didn't talk with Williams personally between then and now). 

Kenny doesn't have to be dishonest, but it would help if he left himself more outs.  If he said, "I don't anticipate making that overture again, but..." that would've subdued a lot of the furor.  That's pretty much what he did with the Jose Contreras extension negotiations.

By the way, the Daily Southtown's Nathaniel Whalen has a transcript of this dialogue.

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Earlier this month, I wrote about the Sox's hoarding of power arms:


It looks like the former is true.  Williams has his scouts on notice, which is a very good thing.

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A couple of Juan Uribe notes:

• Ozzie Guillen wants his shortstop in shape.  Hey, if Bobby Jenks can do it, Juan can, too.
• Williams says Uribe is just about in the clear, Joe Cowley reports.  Well, we heard that two months ago, so I'll believe it when it finally happens.
  

Mackowiak previewed

Rob Mackowiak is the 12th player to be previewed for the 2007 season.  Remember to leave your projections between now and the start of the season.  Also, if you have any Mackowiak misplays I forgot to list in said preview, please let me know.

About-face?

Here's an interesting quote from Kenny Williams on the first day of SoxFest, via Mark Gonzalez:


Well, how about Dec. 7:


And then Jan. 11:


Some context from Williams' SoxFest quote would be nice.  It's hard to tell whether this is sarcastic Kenny or simmering Kenny, as there's a thin line between the two.  Either way, I still think it's smarter for him to pretend like Buehrle could be in the Sox's future plans.  It really doesn't make his job any easier otherwise.

By the way, if anybody is going to SoxFest this weekend, describing the scene would be much appreciated.

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Gonzalez believes Sox fans will be giddy over the acquisition of Darin Erstad. but probably overstates his worth just a little:


Homers hit by Dye in 2006: 44
Homers hit by Erstad from 2001-2006:  37

Good luck with all that.

Loose ends

The details of Darin Erstad's contract have been hammered out.  It's a one-year, $1 million contract with a club option, featuring the following:

• 2007 base salary of $750,000
• $250,000 buyout if Sox reject option
• Option is worth $3.5 million, but Erstad can boost it to $6 million if incentives are met.

I'm still not excited, but there are some ways to put it into perspective.  Timo Perez received the same deal, and Erstad has greater value.  Ross Gload was set to earn $625,000, so for just a little bit more, they have a guy capable of replacing him, and Andy Sisco as well.  Chris Widger made $650,000 last year, so Erstad's in the cuttable zone if he tanks.

Meanwhile, some follow-up articles:

• Southern California mourns the loss of the Punter, not once, but twice.  The latter one received the Fire Joe Morgan treatment.
• A survey of four Erstad articles today finds the following:  Prototypical grinder, heart and soul, intense competitor, intensity, real gamer, doesn't play for personal success, plays to win the game (twice), fearless, presence, lays it on the line, about business, all-out, hardest worker, football mentality, plays at full volume.
• But none of them can definitively state whether he can hit or stay healthy. 
  

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Bobby Jenks is heeding Ozzie Guillen's call for better conditioning according to Joe Cowley.  After suspect conditioning last year, he's hired a nutritionist and is eating more vegetables.

Thirty pounds does make a difference, as the pictures show.  I think this Cowley article has a bit too much of that Barbara Walters soft focus (it really doesn't touch his second-half struggles), but that's what you get this time of year.

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Major media outlets have joined in the uproar over MLB moving its Extra Innings package to DirecTV.  I'm still certain that MLB will go through with this, but the more noise made against this, the better.  Hats off to SI.com's John Donovan and ESPN.com's Mike Philbrick for their work in this regard.

I'll give Philbrick the edge because he does a better job of expounding on the idea that MLB is going for short-term money with little concept of long-term implications.  Here's where Donovan and Philbrick differ:

Donovan:

Philbrick:


Point, Philbrick.  And bonus points for the picture of the Lavatory Orbiter.

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The crew at the blog formerly known as ChiSoxBlog is moving on to greener pastures -- in this case, a non-Blogspot domain.  CSB is now known as Life in the Cell, the Sox blog at SweetHomeSports, a Chicago-sports-centric hub of blog.  Congrats on the new digs, fellas.

Opposite day

One day, we're talking about Darin Erstad, a gutsy gamer so intense he growls while putting on his sliding shorts.

Today, we have Brian Anderson:


If the laissez-faire attitude was the reason Anderson spent a lot of 2006 in Ozzie Guillen's doghouse, it's a good one.  It probably also relates to Anderson's reluctance to play winter ball.  At the same time, it's a fairly ballsy quote, genuinely interesting and likely something Ozzie and Kenny Williams don't already know.

My first reaction was disgust.  My second and ultimately prevailing reaction was, "Hey, he just exposed more about his lack of playing time in two paragraphs than anybody else did in six months!"  Having been in the position of trying to extract more than clichés from ballplayers, it's nice when a guy actually says something. 

Now, whether it actually means something will start to unfold in under a month.  Anderson says he's "pumped up" for it (so pumped he almost kicked his mom in the face?), so it should be an interesting spring.

Left field and leftovers

Scott Podsednik had surgery on his troublesome right groin, which will sideline him for six to eight weeks and cause him to be late for Spring Training for the second straight year.  Personally, I wouldn't panic -- the Sox played without a left fielder for much of the second half of 2006.

Looking at the various reports, though, various outlets are expecting significant shakeups.  Here's a sampling of reactions:

• Joe Cowley
• Without Erstad, the Sox would've had to start a combination of Brian Anderson, Ryan Sweeney and Jerry Owens in the outfield.  Erstad's a step up, but no sure thing.
• AP reports
• Josh Fields could see some time in left during Spring Training.
  
• Scott Merkin
• If Erstad doesn't beat out Anderson for center field job, he could play left with competition from Sweeney, Owens, Fields and Pablo Ozuna, with Tadahito Iguchi at the top of the order.

But the scariest comes from Mark Gonzalez, who deserves his own block quote instead of a bullet point for this:


Please, God, no.  Erstad has posted a below-average on-base percentage in five of his last six years, and doesn't have Podsednik's or Ozuna's speed to make up for it at all.  That would be a horrible misuse of the limited talent he possesses, and no amount of hard-ass scrapgrindiness is going to make up for it. 

Why am I combing through all these reactions?  Because I find it incredibly strange that in the 1,813 combined words in these articles (I counted), two significant ones are conspicuously omitted:

Rob. Mackowiak.

Mack is not mentioned once, in any of these articles, as a possible temporary for solution for left field, and I can't figure out why.  He's not tied up anywhere else at this time -- at best, he's second string behind Joe Crede, but Alex Cintron made more appearances there last year than Mackowiak.

He's played more games in a corner outfield spot -- 253 in right field, 74 in left -- than any other position.  He has a strong arm, and Ozzie Guillen thought enough of his fly-tracking skills to play him way too often in center field.

Even if his defensive skills can be doubted, he enters 2007 with the best offensive track record.  He set career highs in batting average (.290) and OBP (.365).  His slugging percentage (.404) wasn't remarkable, yet it's still better than those of all the other candidates. 

Mackowiak wouldn't even be a bad choice as a leadoff hitter.  He may not have the speed, but if he duplicates his OBP it's far and away better than what Podsednik & Co. did last year.  White Sox leadoff hitters posted a combined line of .273/.332/.368, and Mack's 2006 season is a significant upgrade in every category.

If I had my druthers, here's how I would prioritize the candidates:

1. Mackowiak (with Ozuna platoon)
   
2. Sweeney
3. Erstad
4. Owens/Luis Terrero
   
5. Fields

There's a good chance Mack could revert to the .330 range in OBP next year, but it doesn't make any sense that he's automatically an infielder, considering he rarely played there last year.

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The White Sox released the list of non-roster invitees, and some big names are there.  Those of us going to Tucson (40 days 'til I'm there) will get an early look at John Danks, Gio Gonzalez and Lance Broadway, and Donny Lucy is another Sox prospect worth checking out.

Here's another guy worth paying attention to: Wiki Gonzalez.  He's a possibility I labeled better than Sandy Alomar Jr., and he could provide some nice depth if he sticks now that Chris Stewart is gone.

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I spent last night in Boston, and I gave my trigger finger some practice for Tucson at the Celtics-Spurs game.  There's a photo gallery up, if you care.

Scary signing, some silver lining (updated)

Denis Leary had a bit about shopping with his wife, and how he had no control over interior design in his house.


I was reminded of that when hearing that, pending a physical, the White Sox have signed Darin Erstad, which I deemed The Worst Idea of The Offseason to Date a month and a half ago.

He’s not that bad…

If the Sox are designating Erstad for strict bench use -- a late-inning defensive replacement, occasional usage against righties in center -- this isn't a bad move.  Maybe even a good move, although I pointed out in the TWIOTOTD post that whenever he plays center, he gets hurt. 

But I'd just as well like to keep Erstad away from the franchise altogether, because I haven't seen anybody else in this game whose reputation exceeds his production more.  He's somehow on the same plane as David Eckstein despite being his opposite in most ways.  Maybe there's something about white guys with the initials "D.E."

Eckstein may be over-praised, but he is effective and durable enough for someone who's the smallest player in the league, plays shortstop and gets hit with a lot of pitches.  Meanwhile, Erstad has eight inches and probably 50 pounds on Eckstein, and in case you haven't heard, he was athletic enough to play football, yet Eckstein has outslugged him the past two seasons.  Also, Erstad has averaged 126 games a season in his career; Eckstein averages 141.  Hell -- J.D. Drew, a guy who can't shake the labels of "soft" and "injury-prone," has played in far more games the last four years. 

Considering Erstad has had one great season followed by lackluster campaigns, the stats indicate there may not be a bigger underachiever in the game.  Nevertheless, legend states Erstad is a hard-nosed, scrappy, gritty, grinding, red-assed, throwback, team-playing gamer who never quits until the last out and leaves nothing on the field.

And that's what scares me.

We know Kenny Williams had his eye on Erstad years ago, and while this could truly be a matter of necessity and nothing more, Williams has a history of waiting years to get "his guy."  Not to mention Erstad fits the "grinder" mentality that Kenny and Ozzie Guillen love, and Brian Anderson was in Ozzie's doghouse even when he was hitting.  I'm not digging this vibe.

There is some to like about this signing -- it fills some holes on the depth chart and it's only a one-year deal.  On the other hand, it also makes for a lot of frightening prospects, and Scott Podsednik's injury (which warrants a separate entry, next) opens another door for Erstad to display his plucky, tenacious, intransigent, balls-to-the-wall mediocrity.

Crown their ass!

Today was the rare Bears game where every facet of the game receives a passing grade:

Passing game:  Rex Grossman didn't put up a great line, but he finally has a signature drive to his name, going 4-for-4 for 78 yards after the safety to give the Bears a two-score lead once more.  Better yet, he didn't throw one interceptable ball, and each receiver contributed.  Berrian on the touchdown drive, Desmond Clark with his blocking and big catch down the middle, Muhsin Muhammad caught everything he could, and Rashied Davis had another quality end around.

Running game:  Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson played thunder-and-lightning all game long and helped the Bears to control the ground.  Chicago handed the ball off 46 times; New Orleans had only 12. 

Offensive line:  The front five allowed zero sacks, and Grossman didn't even get hit a lot.  Bears linemen have to work harder than others because Grossman doesn't move around the pocket particularly well, but I can only remember one pass blocked at the line.  They run-blocked well, too, and had no penalties to their name.

Defensive line:  Adewale Ogunleye did something without Tommie Harris!  Mark Anderson didn't look overexposed even though he saw more action than normal, and the middle of the line did a nice job in at least holding their ground.

Linebackers:  Very few missed tackles, and they didn't get killed by those dump-offs over the middle like we've seen in previous weeks.

Secondary:  Charles Tillman has had a much better postseason this time around.  Aside from the Reggie Bush play, they kept everything in front of them, tightened up when they needed to and forced a couple of turnovers as well.

Special teams:  Kicked. Ass.  Robbie Gould hit three field goals easily and had some nifty kickoffs that took advantage of the wet turf.  Brad Maynard kicked well all day, and was one bounce away from having two punts downed inside the five.  Kick coverage improved immensely over their effort against the Seahawks, and Devin Hester provided zero scares and some decent gains.  I'm not sure that Michael Lewis' fumble was actually a fumble, but swiping at the football helped the Bears immensely.

Coaching:  Lovie Smith and Ron Turner had a good enough gauge of when to turn the dials up and down on Grossman, Jones and Benson, and the challenge on Ogunleye's sack and fumble was huge.

If the Bears play like they did today, they'll have every chance to beat the Colts.  It'd help if the turf in Miami were soggy, so I'll be praying for rain.

Early prediction: We're going to be hearing and reading a lot about how Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith are the first two African-American coaches to make it to a Super Bowl. 

MLB to non-homeowners: F.U.

From the New York Times:


It may as well have read, "Major League Baseball is close to extending a gigantic middle finger to those who live in most rental properties and/or urban settings that don't face the southern sky."

I bought Extra Innings last year on Time Warner Cable, and would have been a faithful consumer of it for years to come, even with moderate price hikes.  But DirecTV is not an option for me, and it won't be for the forseeable future since I live in an apartment building.  I don't even have a porch off which to jerry-rig a dish.

So it looks like I'm screwed, all because of what seems to be a very marginal amount of money ($100 million annually spread amongst 30 teams, so teams could overpay one more middle reliever!).  For contextual purposes, DirecTV pays the NFL $700 million annually for their services.  That would be a considerable amount.

If this goes through, then people like me are stuck with three options:

1) Boycott.  I wish I could.  Of course, this site would decrease in value accordingly, unless more people wanted to hear my thoughts on bad sandwich combinations or drivers who can't merge than the White Sox.

2) Buy Gameday Audio only.  During the 2005 season, I paid $15 for the season and listened to John Rooney and Ed Farmer all year, and picking up what games I could on ESPN or WGN.  It's how I followed the Sox during their championship season since I was bound to move, and it wasn't terrible.  The problem is that I don't get WGN in New York.

3) Buy MLB.TV.  In theory, this would be nice.  However, considering I spend seven of my eight hours at work on a computer, and an hour or so on this site every night, the idea of having to spend an additional three hours staring at a computer screen is scary.

I'd pretty much be shoehorned into No. 3 and hope an S-video cable makes up the difference -- but that doesn't necessarily make sense for MLB, since it cost half the price of an Extra  Innings subscription last year.  This is all to say I'd expect MLB to raise the price of MLB.TV and kick me in the ass once more for good measure.

Most businesses go to extra measures to take care of devoted customers, but Major League Baseball would rather bend them over.  Thanks, baseball.

Previews, previews, previews

Over in Meet the Sox, Jermaine Dye is the 11th player to be previewed for the 2007 season.  As always, remember to leave your projections between now and the start of the season.

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On the subject of previews, two national outlets had their scope on the Sox today:

USA TODAY

Mel Antonen's preview stays neutral on the subject of Kenny Williams and his wheeling and dealing bonanza.  Not a lot we didn't know, but he has a couple of key points.  On the subject of Brian Anderson:


And in terms of fundamentals, Ozzie had this to say:


Fair enough, Oz, but hopefully that means baserunning is Job One.  Baseball Prospectus ranked the Sox the worst on the basepaths in 2007.

NBC SPORTS

Here's the one item of interest I saw:


That's the first time I've seen Phillips mentioned as a candidate for the fifth starter spot, and it's probably due to his anomalous year at Charlotte more than any sort of prospect status.

Nevertheless, he'll be interesting to monitor for a few reasons.  He has the profile of a poor man's -- and portly man's -- Mark Buehrle, with lots of hits allowed, good control, and a strikeout rate that needs to improve.  He also had a better year in the tiny ballpark at Charlotte than he ever had at Birmingham's big field. 

On the other hand, he was one of numerous Knights who pitched lights-out in the first half, only to be hit around in the second (Charlie Haeger is another one).  Everything points to three months of fluky pitching, but sometimes decent major-league candidates just sort of materialize.  And considering the relative lack of depth in the Sox's minor league system, it's not like we'll be preoccupied watching others.

Forty percent there

Bobby Jenks is the 10th player to be previewed in the 2007 Meet the Sox section.  Remember to leave your projections between now and the start of the season.

Sox Machine Season in Review: May

If you missed the first two parts:

• The Offseason
• April
  

May 2 – Chris Widger picks a bad time to dramtically re-enact the Stations of the Cross.

May 3 – In Guardado’s previous save situation against the Sox, Brian Anderson victimized him to tie the game.  This time, Pablo Ozuna hits a game-tying homer that happens to also be his first in 334 big-league at-bats.  Suddenly, “Everyday Eddie” has a new and less welcome meaning.

May 4 – Joe Crede makes a sliding catch into the tarp, gets his spikes tangled in the remains of Vince Coleman.

May 8 – Jose Contreras heads towards the DL for a bout with sciatica, which is an upgrade over earlier reports that he was paralyzed from the waist down and couldn’t eat solid foods.

May 9 – Scott Podsednik makes perfect, leaping, home-run robbing catch.  No, seriously.

May 10 – Unlike the Proctological Corps, Charlie Haeger knuckles under to the Anaheim Angels.

May 11 – Aaron Rowand runs face-first into a fence, and Frank Thomas pulls quad muscle.  It’s like they never left.

May 12 – After a brief sabbatical, Johan Santana resumes kicking the Sox’s asses.

May 14 – Mark Buehrle gives up seven runs in the first inning against the Twins but manages to win the game, becoming the first pitcher in 100 years to accomplish that feat and giving him an idea...

May 16 – After failing to make a throw to first on a sacrifice bunt, cover first base on a grounder to the right side, and giving up five runs in under two innings, Boone Logan seals his demotion – to coach-pitch league.

May 20 – Michael Barrett punches A.J. Pierzynski in the face, prompting millions of jackasses to laugh in self-satisfaction as they make the incredibly unique joke that the Sox catcher “deserves to be punched out of principle.”

May 21 – Neal Cotts gives up homer to Jacque Jones, who entered the game hitting 1-for-19 against lefties.  More to come.

May 22 – Frank Thomas returns to the South Side in a different uniform for the first time, hits two massive homers, yet is overshadowed by a walk-off bunt.  

May 23 – Jeff Nelson makes his debut with the White Sox, ensuring that he retires as a member of the Pale Hose and bringing his career full-circle.

May 26 – Ozzie Guillen, filling in as third-base coach as Joey Cora serves his suspension, informs Juan Uribe of a 2-0 count.

May 29 – After struggling with the Indians in the first two series, the Sox finally get it in gear against the future fourth-place finishers with an 11-0 drubbing over Cliff Lee and Cleveland.

May 31 – The Sox drop the next two to the Tribe, scoring three runs combined. 

All aboard

Joe Crede and the White Sox agreed to a one-year, $4.94 million contract -- a steal, especially if Scott Boras was seriously angling for $8+ million.  More importantly, the Sox avoided the arbitration process, which didn't seem likely but yaneverknow.

It seems to me that both parties have gone to great lengths to measure their words, and an arbitration hearing would basically demolish all of that foundation-building -- or maintaining, rather.

I find slightly strange the amount of hand-wringing over Crede's future with the Sox, especially considering that he won't be a free agent until after 2008, and he has a lot of question marks.  Most of them deal with his back, but he still has to prove that April-September 2006 represented a new level of performance for him. 

At the very least, the Sox now have their 25-man roster under contract for 2007, although it's always subject to change between now and the end of Spring Training.

Number 9 ... number 9 ... number 9 ...

Matt Thornton is the ninth player to be previewed for the 2007 season.  As always, feel free to leave your projections between now and the start of the season. 

Phew.

Welp, that oughta take care of the "worst 13-3 team ever" talk.  Especially considering the way Marty Schottenheimer started coaching against his team in the fourth quarter of the Patriots-Chargers game, thus spoiling a 14-2 season.

There were a lot of things I thought the Bears could've done better, like roll Grossman out on playactions when they had early success with the running game to keep him from getting swallowed up by the rush.  They still don't have a way to replace Tommie Harris -- the lack of up-the-middle rush makes the hole up the middle in the Cover 2 scheme even bigger.  Bernard Berrian had a couple of piss-poor efforts in the second half with the false start and the weak one-handed catch attempt.  Former Arena-leaguer Rashied Davis showed up Muhsin Muhammad, and Lance Briggs made Brian Urlacher look small.

Still, whatever complaints one might have about the Bears can't compare to the ones Chargers fans have against their head coach.  Schottenheimer showed why his teams don't make it to the Super Bowl -- lack of discipline, lack of a game plan and a lack of clock management, all in the fourth quarter.  I can't decide which one of the following three offenses were less inexplicable:

1) Where was LaDainian Tomlinson?  He averaged better than five yards a carry, yet only touched the ball once on the Chargers' last two drives.  In the penultimate drive, he took the first handoff for six yards, and Schottenheimer followed up with two pass plays -- both incomplete, of course.  Punt.

2) Burnt timeout No. 1.  Challenging hopeless plays is one of my signatures in Madden.  If I take a sack that ends the game, I'll challenge it.  The video game refs interpret it as I'm looking to change the spot of the ball, which is awfully nice of them.  The refs treated Schottenheimer with the same respect, when they didn't even have to go to the booth.  They could've just said, "Time out, San Diego.  On a change of possession, nevertheless. Commence booing."

3) Burnt timeout No. 2.  The Chargers had to take a second timeout despite having additional time to call a play since Ellis Hobbs got the wind knocked out of him defending a pass. 

As badly as the Bears have played at times the last two months, it's been mostly due to underperforming players.  I'd take that 10 out of 10 times, because I know for certain I couldn't do any better in that field.

At this point, I wonder if the Chargers are considering retaining Schottenheimer's services until the fourth quarter of their next playoff game.  He obviously has no problems getting teams into excellent postseason positions, but after all the times he's screwed up, wouldn't it be something to see A.J. Smith tap Schottenheimer on the shoulder at the end of the third quarter of a tie game, tell him to hand over his headset and crown Dick Vermeil or Bill Cowher with it?  I don't think he'd have any right to file a grievance.

There are already coaches for every imaginable position -- why not a closing coach?

A need for speed

Kenny Williams continued his quest to collect as many huge, wild arms as possible by trading Chris Stewart to the Texas Rangers for John Lujan.

The departure opens up a hole on the 40-man roster, and also opens up competition for the third catcher spot.  Worry not, because I only devote thousands of words when there's a need for a second catcher.  Stewart's not going to be a major-league hitter, and while his throwing arm is stellar, Gustavo Molina isn't much of a downgrade in that department.  Supposedly, the White Sox staff likes working with him as well.

One unique skill that Stewart did possess was his ability to catch Charlie Haeger's knuckleball.  Haeger purchased an extra-big glove for A.J. Pierzynski, so hopefully that will help matters.

Meanwhile, Lujan is another guy with a blazing fastball and suspect command.  A 15th round draft pick of the Rangers from junior college, Lujan entered professional baseball with a fastball in the range of 88-91 m.p.h., but now can dial it up to 96.  His increase in velocity didn't show up in his stat sheet in High-A ball, but he supposedly had a much better second half after gaining some control.

Lujan joins Jacob Rasner, Nick Masset, Andrew Sisco, Carlos Vazquez and David Aardsma of guys who can crank up the heat but don't have much of an idea of where it will end up.  That profile seems to be Williams' offseason target, and it conflicts with the White Sox organization's strategy of drafting polished pitchers with low ceilings like Lance Broadway, Ray Liotta and Kyle McCulloch.  The lack of truly exciting players led Kevin Goldstein at Baseball Prospectus to label the Sox's draft classes as "boring" in his article published today.

Such a radical departure makes me wonder if Kenny Williams will be looking for a different direction from Duane Shaffer and his crew when the next draft comes around, or if this is merely supplementing a drafting method he's happy with.

Cintron previewed; Buehrle, Dye pre-mortemed

Not only does Alex Cintron wear No. 8, but he's Preview No. 8 in the 2007 Meet the Sox section.  As always, remember to leave your projections between now and the start of the season.

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The Trib's Dave Van Dyck appears to be bored already with the 2007 season, because he's already talking about Mark Buehrle leaving the Sox when the next offseason rolls around.  Kenny Williams appears to be ready to take full advantage of Buehrle's contract drive:


But that's not all -- Van Dyck also talks with Williams about what to do with Jermaine Dye:


At least Williams hasn't written off an extension to Dye.  Not that I necessarily want them to receive extensions, but the frank talk regarding fan favorites leaving isn't great for morale, even if Kenny's being smart about it overall.

Despite the gigantic contracts general managers handed out to the big names like Alfonso Soriano, Barry Zito and Carlos Lee, there's an outside shot that the 2008 market could rebound to be a bit more reasonable.  Manny Ramirez went and signed an eight-year, $160 million contract as the top free agent in 2000; a half dozen years later, people freak out when Alfonso Soriano signed for $24 million less over the same time.

I know MLB has a lot more money now than it did then, so more teams are able to join the bidding fray, but I think even extensions at this point in time might be considered buying high.

LOOGY hawking

Remember Scott Schoeneweis?  The Sox traded for him in 2003, he grumbled about being a reliever, so they put him in the rotation and he responded with a 5.59 ERA in 19 starts? 

The Mets just signed him to a three-year, $10.8 million contract.  He had a terrible year in Toronto last year, a few great weeks in Cincinnati, righties hit .291 off him lifetime, and yet at $3.6 million a year, he'll be making more money than any Sox reliever.

Needless to say, this makes me like Kenny's bullpen manuevering even more this offseason, and The Cheat has some interesting notes on their strikeout rates.

Hark! No Harold, voters sing

On one hand, I'm happy that Harold Baines made it to a second Hall of Fame ballot.  On the other hand, it's disheartening to see how narrowly he made the cut.

Baines received 5.3 percent of the vote, with five of his total of 29 coming from Chicago Tribune writers.  Take Chicago out of the equation, and Baines drops off the ballot.

Maybe it's because Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. were on the ballot.  That probably explains why Jim Rice, Andre Dawson and Bert Blyleven all saw their percentages drop.  When true greatness is on the ballot, voters become far more discriminating, and those shifting standards present one of my biggest problems with the current voting procedure.

Baines isn't a Hall of Famer, because he simply wasn't durable enough for a designated hitter.  On the other hand, he seems to have done enough to warrant a lengthy run on the ballot, which I consider to be the Temporary Baseball Hall of Fame.  Here's how Baines ranks on the Eligible Players Not in The Hall lists:

• First in hits (2,866)
• First in total bases (4,604)
• First in RBI (1,628)
• First in runs created (1,657)
• Second in games (2,830)

Yes, he did rack up those numbers because he hung around forever, but he had every right to stay.  Although he missed a lot of time thanks to his knees, he didn't post an OPS+ below 100 until he was 41, so it isn't exactly garbage time for garbage teams.

Hopefully he'll see some more votes come his way in 2008, which will feature a far weaker ballot.  Of course, that will be Tim Raines' first year, so we'll probably just shift the caterwauling for Rock's eventual lack of support.

Hall previewed, and Hall previewed

Toby Hall is the seventh Sox to be previewed for the 2007 season.  Make sure to leave your projections for Hall and others for the 2007 season between now and the start of the season.

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Speaking of Hall, voting results for the Hall of Fame's Class of 2007 will be announced mid-day Tuesday.  Locally, at least for most of you:

• The Chicago Tribune polls its writers for a cross-section of Hall of Fame ballots.
• The Daily Southtown's Paul Ladewski won't be voting for anybody.  Evidently, he holds the players who predated the offensive explosion accountable for the steroid era, too.

Here would be my ballot, if I had one:

1. Cal Ripken Jr.  At worst, the fifth-greatest shortstop of all-time.
2. Tony Gwynn.  Duh.
   
3. Bert Blyleven.  287 wins, top 10 in strikeouts and shutouts.
4. Alan Trammell.  I'd rather have him over Ozzie Smith for a 10-year period.
5. Goose Gossage.  Better than Bruce Sutter; his peak puts current closers to shame.
6. Harold Baines.  Just because.
   
7. Andre Dawson.  His OBP is below-average, but he's a guy you had to see.  Also the first ballplayer I ever met.
8. Tommy John.  288 wins and a surgery that bears his name.
9. Mark McGwire.  He's not going to get in the HOF this year, but I want to make sure he hangs around the ballot as more stuff is discovered.
10. Jose Canseco.  For my childhood.
    

Juan Uribe approaches the bench (updated again)

Ruh roh:

And here's the translated copy of the Spanish version, thanks to Adrienne:

I'm still confused, and it would've been nice if the Chicago media followed this case a little more closely instead of concentrating on manufactured verbal "warfare."   A team missing its starting shortstop because of an alleged shooting warrants more than casual attention, especially if the case and proceedings against Uribe are as sketchy as they seem.  Nobody's even mentioned if there's actual evidence!

His actual words don't mean much to me right now, because I'm sure his mind's not on baseball right now.  I'm taking them with the same weight as somebody saying "I'll eat my hat" in response to a preposterous suggestion.  If he talks to Kenny and they both come out saying that Uribe could miss 2007, then I'll start to get worried.

Update:  Juan Uribe sounds a bit more confident...


...but Kenny Williams has yet to hear from him.

Mariotti undergoes heart procedure

From the Trib's Phil Rosenthal:

This isn't to make light of a medical condition as much as it is an honest-to-goodness question:

Did everybody read the headline and think something along the lines of, "I didn't know he had a heart to begin with"?

This, that and the other

Brandon McCarthy refuses to get into war of words with the Sox.  That's good, because Williams didn't say anything objectionable or out of line. 

I've been chewing on this MLB.com piece on Sox catchers for a day, trying to figure out what to make of it.  Basically, it comes down to some quotes from A.J. Pierzynski that could use some context:


I'm going to take these as typical athlete human quotes, because no competitive person is going to readily admit they need help.  But I suppose there always is the lingering threat of red-ass that could break through.

A.J. is right that he didn't completely break down -- rebounded well enough in September (.273/.309/.455) to make his abysmal August (.228/.265/.402) seem not so scary. 

On the other hand, against lefties, he crawled to the finish line.  Here's what Pierzynski posted against southpaws by month (ABs in parentheses):

• April: .421/.476/.474 (19)
  
• May: .154/.241/.154 (26)
  
• June: .345/.367/.517 (29)
  
• July: .368/.368/.368 (19)
  
• August: .158/.158/.158 (19)
  
• Sept/Oct: .207/.233/.241 (29)

April, June and July support his theory that he can hit lefties; May, August and September beg to differ.  Considering he posted OPSes of .626 of .524 against lefties in the two years prior to 2006, I think it's safe to say that occasionally he could use the help.

Speaking of catchers, here's why it's great to have Hall:

While A.J.'s wanting as much playing time as possible, Lopez is a pretty good example of how catchers can fall off a cliff.  And should the Rockies sign Alomar, they'll have cut the White Sox's lead in "Times A Team Has Acquired Sandy Alomar Jr." to 3-2.

Kenny Williams airs it out

If you haven't heard it yet, South Side Sox has audio of Kenny Williams' interview with Mike North on The Score.  Williams' comments are well worth listening to Mike North, whose voice makes my speakers vibrate.  Man, I'm glad he didn't get the Sox radio job.

At any rate, there's one item that particularly made me think, and it's when Williams talks about how McCarthy's repertoire isn't well suited to U.S. Cellular Field.  Williams says about John Danks and Gio Gonzalez that "they both have movement -- and it's key in our ballpark -- they both have movement on their fastballs and sink on their fastballs to be able to get you a ground ball and keep the ball in the ballpark."

They go on to discuss that McCarthy's fastball was pretty straight, which is true, and that might cripple him in such a small park.  Fair point, but then again as I've said before, Danks' home run rates were far worse in the minors.  Danks gave up 1.41 home runs per nine innings, while McCarthy surrendered 1.11.  But what I didn't do was look up how their respective minor league parks played into it. 

Well, that doesn't favor Danks either.  Here's what the park factors say in terms of home runs:

McCarthy

• 26.0 IP, 2 HR at Birmingham (0.54)
• 119.1 IP, 16 HR at Charlotte (1.47)

Danks

• 69.1 IP, 11 HR at Frisco (0.95)
• 70.2 IP, 11 HR at Oklahoma (0.68)

Danks' homer rates mean that he'd give up around 18-19 homers if he pitched 119 innings at either level in friendlier parks, and that should be a significant warning flag.  On the other hand, when looking at his game log, I could maybe kinda sorta start to see where Williams is coming from.

After receiving a promotion to Triple-A midway through the season, Danks struggled in the early going, but ended up giving up only one gopher ball in his last 31 1/3 innings.  Meanwhile, he induced totals of 70 grounders, 30 line drives and 60 fly balls in Triple-A, which isn't a bad split.

So he's got that going for him, but should Danks start out in Charlotte next year as expected, we'll have a far better idea of how the two stack up.  Not only will Danks play his home games in McCarthy's park, but he'll also be McCarthy's age (22).

A hill of Beane

Carol Slezak is such a tease.  Or maybe the copy editor who wrote the headline of her column is the guilty party.

Whatever was the case, I saw "