In response to
this Kenny Williams quote:
"So that's why it's not necessarily the personnel, in terms of the splashy move, maybe just a fit kind of thing. It might turn out that fit is also the big-name type player, but we're setting out to find the answers. We've missed a little bit of that grind and edge and we've got to get that back."
Chicago Pete at South Side Sox posted
this fairly damning diary entry, in which it exposes that nearly half of the Sox's at-bats this year were taken by guys who are worse than a replacement-level player.
Here's what grinds my gears -- Williams followed those game guidelines last year, picking up Darin Erstad to solve one of two gaping outfield holes. Erstad was a "fit kind of thing," both in attitude and defensive position. Unfortunately, he lacked ability, and therefore didn't address a shortcoming that Brian Anderson and Scott Podsednik proved they couldn't fill either.
The problem with grinders is that, by definition, they make a lot of things look difficult. And the 2007 White Sox were great at making things look hard, like:
- Hitting above-average fastballs
- Hitting low-and-away breaking balls
- Hitting pitches
- Moving runners over
- Identifying mechanical issues
- Fielding a ball and throwing a ball well in succession.
- Throwing strikes
- Holding runners
- Holding leads
- Throwing runners out
The list goes on, but to put it plainly, the White Sox made baseball look hard. It seemed like they had to wring every drop of ability out of themselves in order to win a one-run game. Why seek more players who look like they're on the fringe of riding buses on road trips?
This team only had one player to whom baseball looked easy: Jim Thome. Strikeouts and all, Thome was the only hitter at any point in the season who seemed to have any control of his own fate. Even when
his power deserted him in May and June, he still contributed an above-average on-base percentage. That's how easy the game comes to him.
The problem with this kind of player is that they seem to be the first dumped on when they slump. Like hitting is so innate that any ruts they encounter can be overcome with an increase in perceived effort. Along with his inability to understand how his words sounded when they left his mouth, this was Frank Thomas' issue throughout the second half of his White Sox career.
Similarly, even a "grinder" can have his true talents overshadowed. As much as people will praise Aaron Rowand's willingness to run through walls to make a catch (a display of supreme grindertude), his greatest value was that he made a lot of tough plays to the gaps look like nothing special. On
arguably his finest day in center field, he never left his feet.
At this point, I've had enough with the word "grind" and all its various forms -- verb, adjective, noun, adverb, gerund, etc. Remove that from the equation, and I don't have any issues with Kenny Williams seeking "a fit kind of thing," because here's how that would be defined:
- Naturally talented.
- With multiple tools.
- And under 30.
Those are three qualities the Sox are sorely lacking. Anything else, and Williams won't be seeking players who are good fits. He'll only be finding players who fit in.
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But here's some good news: Rafael Santana is on the move, from his post as Birmingham Barons manager to head of the team's new Dominican Republic facility.
It will take a few years before anybody sees the benefits at the major-league level, and Latin talent evaluation is as much of a crapshoot as it is anywhere else, but here's an effort the Sox can point to that doesn't preserve the status quo.