Pierre trade can't mean job is done … can it?

Once again, Kenny Williams acquired a guy that had long been tied to the White Sox. Once again, he made a trade that’s hard to get upset about.
And once again, it’s hard to tell if the team is any better off for it.
Great GazooBy acquiring Juan Pierre and $10.5 million in exchange for Jon Link and John Ely, Williams merely continued this offseason’s theme of expending energy on the margins.  Adding onto the running total from before, Williams has now sunk $11 million into nonessential players who stand a noticeable chance of making the team worse.
That’s more than guys like Chone Figgins ($9 million) and Hideki Matsui ($6.5M) will make in 2009 — guys who would have filled three or four needs instead of one, one-and-a-half of them.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
It’s easy to load up on sarcasm when discussing a guy like Pierre, but there’s a non-zero chance he could be an asset. I mentioned a couple of days ago that his year was very similiar to Scott Podsednik’s.  Podsednik helped last year, and so could Pierre.  In fact, Pierre stands a better chance of being 2009 Scott Podsednik than Actual Scott Podsednik does, with better defense along the warning track to boot.
But looking beyond the .334 OBP and the sub-.700 OPS since 2005, and here are some other numbers staring me in the face.
6,064: Pierre’s career total of plate appearances, and he enjoyed every single one of them as a member of a National League team. Some players never make the transition.
One: Home run over his last 1,707 plate appearances, dating back to August of 2006. That’s as many as Jerry Owens has under his belt over the same period of time.
Seven: The number of outs Pierre ran into on the basepaths last season. He was doubled off four times. Pierre’s a little like Mark Teahen in this respect — both had histories of being smart baserunners, yet somehow cost their teams a buttload of outs last season.
.726: Pierre’s career OPS against right-handed pitching.  The Sox have added two more left-handed bats to the lineup, and neither of them are going to make Jered Weaver think he won’t be able to hold the Sox scoreless anymore.
Adding it all up, I don’t see how Williams is done dealing, despite some suggestions that he’s done. I mean, this  rationale sounds good upon first listening…

“Ozzie and I have been speaking on that, and we spoke on it again [Tuesday],” Williams said of the DH spot. “Right now, what he would like to do is sit where we are right now because he likes flexibility with the DH position, whether it be a guy getting a break or keeping your bench players fresh. Guys like [Andruw] Jones, [Mark] Kotsay, [Omar] Vizquel, getting [Paul] Konerko off of his feet and getting into the DH spot … he likes the flexibility that comes with it.

…until you realize what Ozzie Guillen actually wants to do is regularly deploy a reject to fill one of the most critical positions for an American League Lineup (no, not the Leadoff Position).
Worse yet, that bench now includes:

  1. Two guys who may have had dead cat bounces last year (Jones and Kotsay).
  2. One guy who has an OPS+ of 58 since turning 40.

And worse still, the other two offensive players acquired by Williams — Teahen and Alex Rios — are in the midst of significant multiple-year declines.
Now Williams adds Pierre, the sabermetric whipping boy, to the mix, and it’s hard for some to restrain themselves.

The trade, however, also opens the door for a lot of great nicknames for the South Siders’ outfield when it happens to be comprised of Pierre, former Los Angeles teammate Andruw Jones(notes) and expensive Blue Jays castoff Alex Rios(notes). “The Discounted”, “The Ned Colletti Memorial Outfield” and “Where’s Vernon Wells(notes) When You Need Him?” happen to be my early favorites. (Feel free to submit your favorite nicknames below.)

The thing is, it’s not really laughable if Williams can figure out a way to acquire a middle-of-the-order bat. Pierre isn’t a bad fit, and neither are the several players acquired before him in the offseason.  It just so happens that none of them have proven themselves to be game-changers, and it appears that Williams expects a couple to somehow emerge from the miasma.
If that’s the case, then we should gear up for disappointment, because the foundation of this roster wouldn’t be suitable for a house of cards.  However, I’m going to reserve doomsday predictions until the end of spring training. The signs of weakness seem way too obvious at this juncture to not be addressed.
But if an out-pocalypse is upon us, then 2012 becomes more interesting. That’s the year Kenny Williams’ contract is allegedly up, and it’s also the year that Figgins may not start living up to his contract.
I would reserve your jersey now.
************************************
Leftovers:
*Link isn’t a big loss, but dealing Ely hurts just a little.  The Sox lack starting depth, and Ely was the best starting candidate of a thin crop behind Daniel Hudson.
However, Ely is basically Lance Broadway, and if you need more proof, Phil Rogers is mourning the trade. He said the same thing about Broadway… and Heath Phillips .. and Kyle McCulloch.  If you’re right-handed, can’t crack 90 and experience success at Double-A, Rogers basically has adoption papers ready.
Not to mention that Brandon Hynick will probably be able to fill that fringy, low-ceiling crafty righty role.  The Sox acquired him when they dumped Jose Contreras, and people thought the Rockies gave up too much.  There’s a reason these guys float around.
*Additional reading material on this deal: Larry and J.J. both weigh in.
*Jayson Nix was wondering where he fit before Pierre was acquired.  Now it appears his future on the South Side is even more tenuous.
I’m not a huge fan of Nix, mainly because I think he takes pitches without knowing why he’s taking them. Still, look at his home run rate in 2009 compared to the guys who may usurp him:

  • Jones: 16.5 at-bats per homer
  • Nix: 21.3
  • Teahen: 43.7
  • Vizquel: 177
  • Pierre: LOW BATT

Like I said, this team needs power badly.

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john

I was having a hard time getting too peeved at this trade, or the off-season for that matter, until this:
Williams has now sunk $11 million into nonessential players who stand a noticeable chance of making the team worse.
That’s more than guys like Chone Figgins ($9 million) and Hideki Matsui ($6.5M) will make in 2009 — guys who would have filled three or four needs instead of one, one-and-a-half of them.
Now, I hate it. If this team goes into the season with Vizquel and A. Jones as its DH’s, then I’ll see you all in 2012.

pander

I have an irrational hope that Andruw starts hitting like Manny Ramirez, Pierre OBPs .375, Paulie dings 35 and hits 290, and each member of the starting rotation enjoys adequate+ defense and stays between 2.5-4.0 ERA.
Irrationality is FUN.

iowaoaks

I haven’t looked it up, but isn’t Pierre old too? Not Visquel old (obviously), but not a spring chicken by any means either.
There is only one thing that made me smile when I read about this trade; a bunch of posts from Cub fans saying how much they wish they hadn’t got rid of Pierre. This is not enough to make me happy about the trade, but it’s something.
and nice Gazoo.

ceverettsdinosaurs

I believe Pierre is 32, 2 years younger than Scott Podsednik.

iowaoaks

Well. Hmm, maybe this isn’t so bad after all… though that OPS is pretty terrible.
and the name (ceverettsdinosaurs) is awesome. I always think about his comments when I re-watch the 2005 world series.

striker

I’ll reserve any doubt I have for opening day, the day the roster matters. I do think the moves KW has made have filled holes but I also agree that we are missing that left handed bat that the opposing manager brings in a LOOGY for.

knoxfire30

The starting staff is strong, the pen looks alright, the bench seems alright, and I think the lineup atleast makes sense now. Big DH bat or not this season will still only go as far as Quentin and Rios take it. If TCQ is back to 08 levels and Rios mirrors the former all star this teams potential is unlimited if they both flounder then this team is likely sunk. A nick johnson, jim thome or hank blalock type acquistion to help the DH spot out likely wont be the difference. Having said that, I still think kenny will add one of those type guys.

ceverettsdinosaurs

Not having a permanent DH could actually help Quentin keep his feet in good shape because we can rotate him in to the DH spot. I’m not sure if his feet had anything to do with his defensive decline last year but it couldn’t hurt to keep him off his feet a little a couple times a week. I’ve read that sometimes traveling can cause plantar fasciitis to flare up, maybe it’d be worth it to rotate him into those spots the day after long flights out to the coasts.
That being said, I don’t like that signing all these veterans and possible a DH could spell the end for Jayson Nix. Not that I think he’s a great player, but he’s got a pretty good glove and is out of options. I’d hate to see one of these veterans go down with an injury and not have a competent backup in the high minors (maybe Rethorford but he’s unproven) that we can bring up in that event.

ricksch

You nailed it Knox — and even if the Sox had acquired Figgins and Matsui, the truth of the matter is they are counting on some big production from Quentin and Rios. I notice most people have Q batting third in their possible line-up. That’s the spot usually reserved for your best hitter. What’s Q’s lifetime average? Has a played a full year of baseball without getting hurt? Okay, Carlos showed us his upside in ’08 before he broke his own hand. He’s earned another shot and IF he’s healthy, we’ll see. As far as Rios goes, God help us that this guy won’t just mail it in for the duration of a contract that could addle the team for years to come. I also agree that KW will add a discount DH. We do NOT need Nix on the roster. Let him learn how to play defense in AAA. If AR, Beck or Viz get hurt, THEN call him up. My biggest hope/worry at this point is that KW plans to replace Randy Williams.

ceverettsdinosaurs

I agree that having Nix is not essential, but he’s out of options. So, if we wanted to send him to the minors we’d risk losing him to another team or he could elect free agency. Either way, that leaves us without any middle infield backup should the 40+ year old Vizquel go down with an injury, or, even worse, one of the starters goes down. Although I like the progress of Retherford to date, I’m not sure he’s ready to count on at the major league level, especially early in the season.

bigfun

“Rios has declined in three straight seasons.”
Rios was brutally unlucky in 2009, I think it’s unfair to suggest that’s part of a decline in skills. Every projection system I have seen has him returning to close to his 2008 level, and at his age, a return to his 2006-2007 level is not out of the question either.
There are four or five guys in this lineup who are more worrisome for 2010 than Rios, people are just freaking out over small sample size.

soxfan1

I like the deal for Pierre! When he filled in for Manny, the birdbrain, last year he was great. I see him adding the same spark to the Chisox that Scotty Pods did in 2005.
Looking at 2009 salaries only is not a valid comparison. All of these guys are involved in multi-year packages. It’s just not as simple as looking at 2009 comparisons.

ceverettsdinosaurs

Without Manny last year, the Dodgers plugged in Pierre and went 29-21 (the best record in the National League over that span) and Juan Pierre hit .318/.381/.411, 21/28 SB during that time.

iowaoaks

So, did we sign that Pierre (the good one) or the other one?

bigfun

Probably less likely it’s the guy who was really good for one month and more likely it’s the guy who was mediocre for, uh, the other nine seasons.

marshlands

SIGN JACK CUST 2010

ricksch

I speak more from resignation about what the team is willing to do, more than from what I believe they NEED to do to win this year. Based on past performance, Quentin and Rios are longshots to be the producers we need them to be. I’m just grateful that with Pods gone and two (maybe three if Jones is on the treadmill instead of at the Outback) new guys with some glove added to the team, they won’t play defense like the Keystone Cops. It was sickening to watch them in the field and run the bases last year. Ozzie and KW are making the team better fundamentally, which is why it’s doubtful they’ll add SO King Cust. He’ll probably cost about two mil, but may have to settle for less. If Thome would offer the Sox a local deal, I wouldn’t mind seeing him get 400 ABs.
Probably the best news of all is that all we have to do is beat the Twins this year to make the playoffs — which, if you’ve been a Sox fan for any length of time — remains a rarity. We do have better pitching and they are out of that dome.

bigfun

The Twins seem like the favorites to me too, but this is selling the Tigers short. They still have a lot of talent on the roster and should definitely contend in 2010 even if they don’t add any other pieces.