Matt Thornton is
the 12th member of the White Sox to be previewed for the 2008 season, during which he'll stand as arguably the most important member of the bullpen.
By "most important," I don't mean "most effective" or "most valuable," as that would be Bobby Jenks in a landslide. I'm talking more in terms of making the bullpen function as a whole.
Entering the 2007 season, Mike MacDougal owned that title. Had he remained healthy and effective, he would provide most of the bridge to Jenks. If he faltered, it would throw the bullpen into chaos, as the Sox had nobody who had shown themselves capable of handling high-leverage situations. We know what happened there.
The pressure is off MacDougal's shoulders in 2008. Scott Linebrink and Octavio Dotel will share the load in innings No. 7 and 8, relegating Meikeljohn to earlier-inning appearances and mop-up duty.
Now it's up to Thorndog to serve as the lead dog. Linebrink and Dotel are interchangeable, giving Ozzie Guillen the ability to play the hot hand. Thornton is the guy who, if he handles his role, will allow others to fall into their places.
It's basically due to the hand he throws with. Here's what is behind Thornton in the bullpen southpaw department:
1. Boone Logan. Righties eat him alive, and he walks too many lefties to feel absolutely comfortable with him in a LOOGY situation. He should get there this year, if he maintains his improvement trajectory.
2. Andy Sisco. Starting or relieving, the Sox still don't know what to do with him. He's not giving them any easy answers with his control problems.
3. Carlos Vasquez. The organization seems to like him, and there's a lot of potential. We know he can get
grounders like a fiend (... a fiend who induces a lot of grounders), but look at how he handled lefties in
Birmingham and
Charlotte:
- Birmingham: .063/.171/.063 in 16 AB
- Charlotte: .329/.442/.471 in 70 AB
He held righties to .192/.306/.236 in Triple-A, but that's not what the Sox would need him to do in an emergency call-up in 2008.
Ideally, Thornton would be able to retire lefties like he did in 2006, giving Ozzie the ability to let him pitch in lefty-righty-lefty situations instead of making him make three pitcher changes. If not, Ozzie is then prone to overmanaging, and might tempt Kenny Williams to look for a dead cat bounce from Mike Myers again. Perish the thought.
My quick list of the non-Jenks Sox relievers, in order of "importance":
- Thornton.
- Scott Linebrink. He's getting paid to be the eighth-inning guy.
- Octavio Dotel. Sox have to plan for him to get injured at some point, but he's the best setup man on the staff right now.
- Boone Logan. He's close to locking his role.
- Long (not Matt) Reliever. The Sox haven't needed one, but they probably will this year.
- Mike MacDougal. It seems they're prepared for another MacMeltdown, and anything else would be just peachy.
The Bard's Room and
Scooped have additional thoughts about the bullpen, if you're jonesing for more.
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If my theory that the longer a Sox move is rumored to happen,
the less likely it will actually materialize holds, then there's practically zero chance that Kenny Williams will trade Joe Crede to the San Francisco Giants.
Crede has been linked to the Giants for a couple months, but even if we're generous and limit the origin to when
the Phillies signed Pedro Feliz, that still makes a month in between the start of the rumor and the start of the spring training season. That's why
this Brian Sabean quote is interesting:
Sabean reiterated that although he's pursuing trades -- most likely for
a third baseman -- he would be reluctant to deplete the Giants'
pitching depth. This casts the Joe Crede trade rumors in a different
light, since the White Sox have been said to be eyeing Noah Lowry. "If
it means giving up what everybody wants, which is young pitching, it's
not going to happen," Sabean said.
I still can't envision a situation in which Crede is on the Opening Day roster, though it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities since Williams is stubborn. I just have no clue what the return will be -- Sabean may say he won't give up any young arms, but then again, Bengie Molina is the Giants' cleanup hitter. From Lowry to another A-ball reliever, anything is possible.