posted on Friday, December 05, 2008 3:04 AM
by
Jim
The aftermath (and fallout?) of the Vazquez trade
Javier Vazquez was introduced as a member of the Atlanta Braves, and had this to say about his time in Chicago:
“The negativity is never good," Vazquez said at his
news conference in Atlanta. "I’ve always been a big believer in being
positive, especially in professional leagues. You’ve got a lot of
negative things going on, so you always try to be positive." [...]
Vazquez declined to say anything bad about Guillen.
"The only thing I’m going to say is it’s good to get away from the
negativity and start fresh," Vazquez said. "I like the city, like the
stadium. I’m a flyball pitcher, so this park, I think suits better with
the type of pitcher I am. I’m looking forward to pitching here."
Well, at least
I can't be held accountable.
*************************
Hoping that's the last we hear of any relationship issues between Guillen and Vazquez, let's sift through the rest of the news, most of which was drawn from
Kenny Williams' conference call with the media upon the finalization of the trade.
The call is about 30 minutes, and worth listening to if you 1) have time, and 2) can tolerate that it was apparently recorded in Edison's laboratory 130 years ago.
Among the notable quotables:
*Orlando Cabrera, should he accept arbitration, would return in the utility role, as Williams maintained Alexei Ramirez has a firm grip on the shortstop position.
It's a little bit of unnecessary posturing, because
as knoxfire pointed out in the previous thread, this situation favors the Sox, even if it costs them some money. But it's funny to think that if Cabrera's on the roster, he's going to be the one sitting while Chris Getz, Jayson Nix and Brent Lillibridge fight it out for the second base spot. That would nearly be cause for a union grievance if everybody lives up to their track records.
*The rhetoric around Brent Lillibridge makes me a little uneasy, because it echoes the
"The Carlos Quentin" sentiment from last year.
If Lillibridge were as good as Quentin, I wouldn't be complaining, but Quentin had been, you know,
good the previous couple minor league seasons. Lillibridge? Not so much.
The silver lining is that Williams says Lillibridge needs to shorten his swing in order to get back to where he was -- something that should be spottable before he's even considered for the 25-man roster. Williams says he also needs to get back to "playing the game to win," which points to a gambling problem if I'm not mistaken.
*Jon Gilmore was described as a "Joe Crede-type," but not in terms of his defense -- more like his build and bat.
*Jeff Marquez, he of the 33 strikeouts in 80 1/3 innings at Triple-A last year,
is first in line to replace Vazquez:
"When we went out and got Jeff Marquez [from the Yankees in the Swisher
deal], that was with the mind-set -- that, at the end of the day, it
made us, and me in particular, feel comfortable that, should we end up
moving Javy, that we can put Marquez and [left-hander] Clayton Richard
in the back of the rotation," Williams said. "Now that can only be done
with the type of bullpen that I think we have, because you have to
support those guys as they are going through some of their growing
periods."
I'd still be surprised if the Sox don't acquire at least one veteran starter, even if it's a high-risk guy like Pedro Martinez or -- wait for it -- Carl Pavano. The Sox have cleared too much payroll not to take a short contract. Of course, they could very well splurge, taking advantage of a buyer's market in the bad economy to sign a big free agent for fewer dollars than it would normally require, but that's the one move Williams really hasn't tried yet.
*Williams sees no need to worry about
whether Tyler Flowers needs to change positions:
"I think this guy is going to be an All-Star catcher," Williams said.
"For a guy his size, he certainly has a lot of agility behind home
plate and he throws the ball particularly well."
*Dayan Viciedo may report to Chicago next week, but he's already being asked to lose 10 pounds so he can be in better shape to cover ground in the outfield. While Williams said he's not actively shopping any other veterans, that seems to point to a desire to ship Jermaine Dye out of town.
Phil Rogers came to the same conclusion, but I'm going to pick a nit with his lede.
Paging Jermaine Dye, paging Jermaine Dye … Mr. Dye, please cancel your spring-training reservations with the White Sox and hold for your impending reassignment.
There are no reservations to cancel because he was already going to stay home. That many in the Sox organization lived in the Phoenix area in the offseason was a main impetus in paying the city of Tucson $5 million to skip town.