A couple of off-day thoughts:
Terry Ryan's departure from the Twins is probably a good thing for the White Sox, but his one shortcoming was a reliance on "proven veterans."
However, with Johan Santana reaching free agency at the end of next year, they might very well be served by a change in mindset in the short term. The Twins nearly shot their respective feet off by playing Tony Batista and Juan Castro over Nick Punto and Jason Bartlett early in 2006, and it didn't help to waste money on Ramon Ortiz over Matt Garza or Scott Baker this year. Rondell White was another "safe" move that ended up being sorry.
If the new stadium still doesn't create the cash flow to sign Santana, then they might be inspired to go for broke for once. Not that it'll matter much, because I don't see the Sox being competitive in 2008, but it's a thought.
Gavin Floyd is taking John Danks' starts for the rest of the season. Don Cooper says
he'll be in the bullpen the rest of the season, though that may only consist of throwing on the side.
It's a little discouraging that Danks appears to be out of gas at only 139 innings, but with Floyd out of options next year, they have to get as much as they can out of him.
It wouldn't be such a pressing issue if Floyd were alone in that respect. David Aardsma is in the same boat, and given
the plummeting stock of Nick Masset, he may be on a short leash as well.
At least Floyd is actually getting the job done at this point, as shaky as he may appear. Kenny Williams needs one of those guys to step up if the Sox are going to be worth watching next year.
Mark Gonzalez mentions Matt Thornton's awful season, but there is still isn't
any particular reason provided for his struggles. My guess is that
he still can't figure out his slider.