posted on Monday, June 25, 2007 12:25 AM
by
Jim
Let's hope the parts are greater than the sum
On the heels of
the Cubs' crosstown sweep of the White Sox, which my dad likened to beating up a guy in a wheelchair, Kenny Williams
ditched the optimistic rhetoric and made it clear he's ready to scrap this team and auction off some key parts.
Joe Cowley suggests Boston is
the most obvious destination for Mark Buehrle, and Ken Rosenthal
adds the Brewers to the list of 10 teams that could be vying for the lefty's services. Both teams are stacked with prospects, the Braves and the Mets aren't shabby either, and with the National League open for the taking and the Red Sox and Mets trying to bolster their rotations for a World Series run, Williams has a chance to jack up the price.
I'm
still going to be saddened by this turn of events -- especially since Buehrle in Boston will mean I'll have to root for the Red Sox at least once every five days. All I can hope is that Williams does his due diligence before making any moves.
Here's my wish list:
No. 1: Try to deal all other non-Buehrle starters first.In order, Jose Contereras (only two runs in seven innings today, hint, hint!), Javier Vazquez and then Jon Garland. I know the gaudiness of the return isn't likely to match Buehrle's star, but just give it the ol' college try, Kenny. For me. Please?
No. 2: Put Jermaine Dye on the DL and give him a chance to properly heal.Every time Jermaine talks about his right quadriceps, I become more discouraged about his trade value. First he said
he's going to "play until it blows," and now he says,
"It's hurt real bad." I can imagine every NL West reading up on his status and saying, "Oh yeah, cut me a slice of that action."
Considering the Sox's drive for 30 wins has stalled for six days (and five losses), there's nothing Dye can do to reverse the fortunes of this team this year, so let's give him a chance to help the team next year and a few down the road as well -- even though he won't be wearing the black and white pinstripes.
No. 3: Get as many position players as possible.Fun facts about the White Sox's minor league affiliates:
At least
Danny Richar is off to a good start with the Knights, with 10 hits in his first 24 at-bats in Charlotte. Still, we're going to need plenty more like him, except with higher ceilings at different positions.
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If you haven't checked out the
Trib's Hardball blog yet, it's off to a good start. If nothing else, it provides a place where reader reactions will actually see the light of day. For instance, reading
Phil Rogers' post about his power rankings, you'll see this bit of revisionist history:
26. White Sox (21). Jerry Manuel held
onto his job by keeping mediocre teams on track in the second half of
the season; that becomes Ozzie Guillen's challenge.
For years, the storyline was that the team was more talented than any other in the division, and it was poor strategy, execution and motivation that did them in every September. Am I remembering this wrongly?
Instead of just complaining here, I can comment directly to the blog. Ah, progress.
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Minor league round-up:- Charlotte 5, Rochester 2
- Danny Richar continues to hit -- 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBI. Jerry Owens, Brian Anderson and Gustavo Molina also had two hits.
- Vladimir Nunez improved to 2-9 on the season with one earned run over six innings.
- Birmingham 3, Jacksonville 2
- Adam Russell survived shaky control, only allowing two runs over six innings despite five walks, thanks in part to seven strikeouts.
- Carlos Torres and Oneli Perez pitched three scoreless innings of relief.
- Thomas Collaro went 2-for-4 with a solo homer, his 16th, and Jeremy Frost also hit a solo shot.
- Wilmington 4, Winston-Salem 3
- Derek Rodriguez continues to enjoy success in June -- he allowed two runs on four hits over seven innings.
- Daron Roberts went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple, and I forgot to mention that two days ago he drew his first walk on the season -- he now has one walk in 159 at-bats.
- Dave Cook also went 2-for-4, and Tyler Reves and C.J. Lang had the other RBI.
- Kannapolis 6, West Virginia 4
- Faustino De Los Santos gave up four runs on four hits over six innings. The good news? He picked up the win, and struck out eight to only two walks.
- Chris Carter went 2-for-4 with his 17th homer; Lee Cruz went 3-for-4, and Archie Gilbert went 1-for-3 with two RBI.