Jerry Reinsdorf
granted a rare radio interview to comment on the complete and utter debacle that is the 2007 White Sox. Ultimately, it's hard to take umbrage with most of what he said -- he seems to appreciate the attendance and sympathizes with fans who may not show up next year, and it's interesting to hear him explain his perspectives on pitcher contracts.
However, this quote brought me to a screeching halt:
The interview, which included moments of levity from Reinsdorf, also
included a grade, of sorts, for general manager Ken Williams.
"I've told Kenny this," Reinsdorf said. "I think he had his
best offseason this year. His ability to reload the system with arms, I
thought it was uncanny the way he pulled it off."
Really? His best offseason?
Assuming this isn't a "I'll take the heat" quote -- and it could be, because Reinsdorf doesn't give much thought to public opinion -- it's hard to see how Williams accomplished much this offseason, even with his plan. Even as someone who endorsed his bullpen construction.
Williams brought in eight arms total. Four were expected to contribute in the majors right away, two were slotted in the high minors, and two were projects. Two have met expectations, with John Danks surviving (although clearly running out of gas) in the big leagues at 22, and Gio Gonzalez dominating the Southern League. The rest:
- Gavin Floyd: The fifth spot was his, but he never earned it.
- Nick Masset: Fumbled a gift-wrapped bullpen role repeatedly.
- Andy Sisco: Zero command.
- David Aardsma: One great month, then splat.
- John Lujan: Above-average peripherals as a High-A reliever.
- Jacob Rasner: Getting shelled repeatedly in Kannapolis.
Unless Gonzalez is that good, I fail to see how Williams really came out ahead. He may not have lost any deals, but the only one he won (the Freddy Garcia) won't have a major-league impact until 2008, if we're lucky.
So, where does this past offseason stand among his history? Allow me to give it a shot. Because the Sox expected to be competing in every year since Williams took the helm, I'm focusing on immediate contributions first, with little weight given to moves that panned out a few moves later:
No. 1: 2005. An obvious choice. Every move he made worked and fit into the master plan perfectly. He went 7-for-7 in free-agent signings, as Jermaine Dye, Tadahito Iguchi, Dustin Hermanson, Orlando Hernandez, A.J. Pierzynski, Chris Widger and Pablo Ozuna did exactly what they were supposed to, and the one big trade he made -- Carlos Lee for Scott Podsednik and Luis Vizcaino -- opened up a lot of salary while getting two major-league contributors in return.
Sure, he needed a lot of luck to make this happen, but you can't hold that against him.
No. 2: 2003. The Keith Foulke-for-Billy Koch trade is the one everybody remembers, but his shrewd free-agent pickup of Tom Gordon helped to offset it. He didn't lose any prospects of value in the Bartolo Colon trade, and Esteban Loaiza was the surprise of the season. Though I never was that impressed by Koch, I didn't know he was a head case.
Williams' biggest failure was perhaps retaining Jerry Manuel for another season. Manuel's distrust of Foulke was the reason for that awful trade, and he went on to punt several games, not only by giving Koch the ball in the ninth inning, but with his Sunday lineups. Starting Neal Cotts instead of Mark Buehrle in Yankee Stadium with a sweep on the line should've been a fireable offense.
No. 3: 2006. Williams went for the kill in 2006, and the consequences are still in their formative stages. He addressed several needs, adding a big lefty bat (Jim Thome), an insurance starting pitcher (Javier Vazquez), bulking up the bench (Rob Mackowiak and Alex Cintron) and adding a quality bullpen arm, even if by accident (Matt Thornton).
On paper, it was difficult to find a fatal flaw, so that's why this gets the nod over...
No. 4: 2004. Replacing Jerry Manuel with Ozzie Guillen was the highlight of this year, and Juan Uribe's breakout season only cost Aaron Miles. Shingo Takatsu exceeded expectations, even if he was only a supernova. He also signed Cliff Politte, but he didn't do anything in '04, and nobody expected much of him in '05.
However, this team began the season with both Scott Schoeneweis and Danny Wright in the Opening Day rotation. The offense couldn't compensate, especially when both Magglio Ordonez and Frank Thomas suffered season-ending injuries.
No. 5: 2007. Only because none of his moves killed the future. He certainly didn't fix any nagging issues, though. Even if we give him credit for trying to resolve the bullpen's woes, many of the offense's neglected flaws were highly visible.
No. 6: 2001. Williams had a difficult task on his hands, because he inherited a 95-win team that had only 85-win talent, and collapsed under the weight of injuries to boot. He had the right idea with the David Wells trade, but Sandy Alomar was a downgrade compared to Charles Johnson/Brook Fordyce, and the signing of Royce Clayton not only created a big offensive void at short, but also diminished the value of Jose Valentin on the field.
No. 7: 2002: Todd Ritchie.
I can maybe see dropping 2007 to the sixth slot, but it's difficult to separate the Sox's current record with what the team looked like at the start of the season. That, and the AL Central is so much more talented now than it was in 2001, so 83 wins that year mean a whole lot less now.
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Minor league round-up:- Charlotte 4, Norfolk 3
- Thomas Collaro went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles; he scored the winning run in the ninth after doubling to lead off the inning, advancing to third on a sac bunt before scoring on a wild pitch.
- Charlie Haeger pitched well enough to survive two gopher balls, giving up three runs on six hits and one walk over eight innings. He struck out six.
- Casey Rogowski went 1-for-3 with a walk and two RBI.
- Montgomery 10, Birmingham 5
- Jack Egbert struck out 11 over six innings, allowing one run. He was a bit wilder than usual, walking four, but only allowed four hits.
- Unfortunately, the bullpen and defense helped give up the other nine runs, including six in the ninth. Josh Fields took the loss, with three unearned runs in two-thirds of an inning.
- Shaun Garrett went 2-for-5 with two doubles and four RBI; Chris Getz, Cory Aldridge, Victor Mercedes, Cole Armstrong and Chris Kelly also had multi-hit games.
- Salem 5, Winston-Salem 1
- Lujan took the loss by allowing three runs over 2 2/3 innings on three hits and three walks; Gary Bakker survived five walks to throw six innings of one-run ball.
- Daron Roberts went 1-for-3 with a double and another walk. He's drawn four of his 11 total walks over the last five days.
- Greenville 7, Kannapolis 2
- Jose Zazueta was ineffective over five innings, giving up five runs (four earned).
- Justin Edwards pitched two scoreless innings of relief, allowing two hits and no walks while striking out three.
- John Shelby went 3-for-5 with a triple and yet another outfield assist. He's now hitting .302/.352/.510.
- Brandon Allen went 3-for-5 with a homer and Kannapolis' two lone RBI; Archie Gilbert had a two-hit night.