posted on Wednesday, October 31, 2007 12:40 AM by Jim

They came. They saw. They stunk.

Scott Merkin bears good news:

CHICAGO -- The White Sox declined club options on both outfielder/first baseman Darin Erstad and left-handed reliever Mike Myers, with both veterans officially filing for free agency on Tuesday.

So Kenny Williams is 2-for-2 with his first two decisions of the offseason.  Of course, Williams went 3-for-3 last year with similarly easy decisions, picking up options on Mark Buehrle, Jermaine Dye and Tadahito Iguchi, so that doesn't necessarily foreshadow success.  Nevertheless, it's two small steps in the right direction.

If I had to write a eulogy for Erstad, this is what it would look like:



There's nothing much else to say, because his 2007 season surprised nobody -- except maybe the people who hired him.

He would've been useful if given 150-200 at-bats as a primary backup at first and center field.  Instead, the guy who hurt himself the last two seasons he spent significant time in the outfield was anointed the starting center fielder.  His contract included an $6 million option that vested if he accrued 600 plate appearances.  He finished with 345.  His longest stint on the DL came after injuring his ankle on a regular swing.

In other words, it was doomed for the start.  Piling on would be overkill, because he's not a bad guy.  He's just not a particularly good baseball player, either.

Myers, meanwhile, finished his White Sox career with an 11.20 ERA over 13 2/3 innings -- the fifth-highest single-season ERA of any White Sox pitcher who threw at least 13 innings.

Comments

# re: They came. They saw. They stunk.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007 9:12 AM by Roy Dean Bream
A sensible decision. The only one to make since he never should have been brought here in the first place.

Grinders = bad players.

Erstad = Bad.

# re: They came. They saw. They stunk.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007 4:15 PM by Jim Margalus
I found it interesting that before the season, he was considered "hard-nosed," but toward the end, some started saying he was wound way too tight.

I guess that's how they came to grips with the gap between perception and reality with regards to his true talent level.