Good news — my proof copy of White Sox Outsider 2010 is hitting the printer. I’m going to give it a once-over for quality control, and when it (hopefully) passes the test, I should be able to put it up for sale sometime next week (Tuesday? Wednesday?) . Thank Johnny Damon and my corrupt database for the delay. And thank you for your patience.
A simple link dump will have to suffice today. I’m through with you, words.
If you’re not in the mood for baseball yet — and if you aren’t, then why are you here? — Scott Reifert posted some video of Carlos Quentin in the cage, and a couple other videos around Camelback Ranch as well.
It’s HD quality, so be prepared to wait for it to load. But with more than a month before the regular season starts, all we have is time.
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Keep those sights and sounds in mind. Play them in the background on loop. Breathe slowly. Breathe deeply.
Because we’re going to talk about the rotating DH.
To make the merry-go-round go faster
So that everyone needs to hang on tighter
just to keep from being thrown to the wolves.
The more I read about the Tilt-a-Whirl, the more I have a bad feeling about it. And Joe Cowley’s newest attempt to create spring training drama isn’t helping.
Cowley is readying the trap door for Mark Kotsay:
What transpired the last four-plus months will at least go a long way in defining the 2010 season — good or bad.
And the one guy in the center of that storm — the well-traveled, well-bearded Kotsay.
Chalk it up to sensationalism, but Mark Gonzalez gave Andruw Jones’ workload a greater share of newshole, and it might be scarier.
Jones said he was part of a three-player DH rotation with Blalock and David Murphy with the Rangers.
“I will do whatever is asked,” said Jones, who has batted .213 with 13 homers in 244 career at-bats as a DH. “My goal is to play every day. But whatever, happens.”
I’m reminded of the football saying that Bears fans are familiar with: If you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have one. Granted, platooning hasn’t found its way to the QB position, but we can say that if you have three DHs, ain’t nobody’s hitting.
Upon first glance, Texas DHs weren’t awful, finishing sixth in the league with an .802 OPS, first in homers (38) and third in slugging percentage (.491).
Unfortunately, they were second-to-last in OBP (.312) and batting average (.242) to the Kansas City Royals.
Now, remove Hank Blalock and his 15 homers as a DH from the equation and replace him with Kotsay, who has hit just 17 homers over the last four years. Add in the fact that Jones is coming to the White Sox on the heels of four terrible months (think Jermaine Dye, but worse, and with no recent track record).
What do you get? Well, not many reasons for optimism.
White Sox pitchers and catchers reported to Glendale on Sunday … and so did Andruw Jones!
Considering his career has taken a nosedive and he’s been hammered for being overweight and giving the Dodgers one of the great underperformances of all time, one could take this as a sign that Jones is serious about resurrecting his career.
Ah, but that might be reading into it a little too much. As Chuck Garfien explains in one of my all-time favorite tweets:
Why did Andruw Jones come to camp so early? He thought the whole team was supposed to report today. Seriously.
Andruw...
Otherwise, it was a pretty quiet start to what should be a fairly muted spring, although it did bear some significant news when Ozzie Guillen named Mark Buehrle the Opening Day starter, which would be a franchise-record eighth time.
And if the current pattern holds, he’ll be making the start while battling his seventh consecutive spring injury.
It’s safe to say The Cheat nailed his headline from Feb. 11:
Report: White Sox Finally Planning Failed Bid For Above-Replacement-Level DH
Yes, Johnny Damon is going to be a Detroit Tiger.
I largely bit my tongue on the issue, because 1) it’s never as bad for Scott Boras as it seems, and unless Damon had a visceral hatred of Detroit, the duo 2) wouldn’t break down to take a lower offer by the White Sox.
How did it happen? Detroit ponied up $8 million, none deferred, meaning that Damon actually will earn more in 2010 from the Tigers than he would’ve had he signed the two-year, $14 million contract the Yankees allegedly offered. That’s a victory, as is the no-trade clause. Damon preferred Chicago, and told the Tigers he’d sign Kenny Williams’ $6 million final offer (with deferred money) if they didn’t create a bigger disparity.
Williams called the spat with Frank Thomas back in 2006 a clash between two strong-willed men. This is a similar deal. Neither side blinked, but Boras came out a winner because Detroit did. Damn third parties.
What else do we know? That A.J. Pierzynski is as good of a closer as Scott Linebrink.
At least I can proceed with finishing the book this weekend. The Johnny Damon section will remain in the “discarded” pile with Cole Armstrong’s 40-man roster preview.
My friend Scott saw my attempt at improving the White Sox ad campaign and one-upped me with this Japanese gem.
Let’s just say that Jake Peavy’s legendary intensity no longer impresses me. It may not be safe for work due to sheer ridiculousness — screaming and unnecessary (though unrealistic) violence.
Oh, and Kenny Williams will have an announcement about Johnny Damon on Sunday. Scot Gregor thinks that means he won’t be on the Sox.
Above is the first ad in the White Sox’s 2010 marketing campaign, “It’s Black and White.” So far, it’s not as bad as I feared.
On the other hand, I snagged a copy of an alternate version of this ad, and I like this one a little better:
A dramatization.
Ken Rosenthal is the ultimate tease.
First, he becomes everything that’s wrong about Twitter when he tweets:
Damon to #WhiteSox gaining momentum. Team has made second offer #MLB
Take back previous tweet: #WhiteSox did not make second offer. Original offer stands and is not thought to be as high as Tigers’.
OK, so nothing’s changed…
… except that Rosenthal then writes a full story that basically doubles the strength of the Sox’s reputed interest:
Damon played golf Monday with White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski and broadcaster Ken “Hawk” Harrelson, according to major-league sources.
Pierzynski lobbied Damon to sign with the White Sox, and Damon’s wife, Michelle, would prefer him to play in a more cosmopolitan city than Detroit, multiple sources say.
Going with the information we have, Kenny Williams is trying to acquire Damon without playing Boras’ game, and Damon is trying to avoid Detroit without surrendering any leverage.
Something’s gotta give. In the meantime, I’ve carved out room in White Sox Outsider 2010 for Damon and have written his 2009 review.
In case you’re wondering where I’ve been, it’s been at my computer, slaving away on finishing up White Sox Outsider 2010. Here’s what it’s like to sit at my desk, as well as a sneak preview of a couple pages of rough draft:
Click on the picture for a slightly more readable version.
So that’s where I sit. Now, here’s where we stand with the book:
*All the writing is done (I hope). I finished the afterword and promotional text. If the Sox surprise with a Johnny Damon signing, we have a decision to make.
*Only indexing remains. Once I get the entire thing into PDF form (should be later today), I can fill out the table of contents and the index, which is the most mindnumbing night of the year, reading the thing and taking note of every proper noun.
*To publishing! Once the index is complete, I will upload it for publishing. There’s usually five to seven days between publishing and me receiving a copy, and then a couple days to read the entire thing and make sure it’s of selling quality. Hopefully, I will only need to do this part of the process once, now that I’ve done it before.
It’s a crawl to the finish line, but I’d rather oversee the whole process, instead of putting it into the hands of somebody who might literally turn an “annual” into an “anal.”
Johnny Damon is no closer to being a member of the White Sox than he was eight hours ago, but all reports seem to indicate he’s a lot closer to being a Tiger.
This would be unfortunate, because there are two direct implications to the White Sox.
One is that Damon, at least for the last three seasons, has been a Sox killer, raking South Side pitching to the tune of .361/.418/.627 with seven doubles and five homers over 83 at-bats. Picturing that kind of production over 18 games is a little tough to stomach.
And then there’s the matter of left field. The Tigers were one of the teams checking out Juan Pierre after the Curtis Granderson trade before the White Sox invested a not-so-insignificant sum. It’s possible that, in an alternate universe, the Tigers are the ones saying they don’t have room for Damon because of Pierre, and that kinda sucks to think about, too.
But there’s not much use devoting many more words at this point. There’s usually at least one more twist in store for Boras-related negotiations, and while Scott Merkin and Joe Cowley say the Sox have $4 million to spend, that’s not a hard figure, either. But hey — if the Sox don’t end up with Damon, it’s less work to do on the book.
Twitter is atwitter with rumors of mad-dash negotiations between the Tigers and White Sox for Johnny Damon’s services. The most noteworthy at this time:
Tigers and White Sox negotiating with Johnny Damon at levels that have eliminated the Atlanta Braves
Here’s a post in case something happens:
And to fill out a little more room… JOHNNY DAMON.
State of the Sox