No. 1: Here’s a list of various contracts the Sox have eaten, at least in part the past five years.
- 2005: Ben Davis, $1M (all)
- 2006: Chris Widger $650,000 (half)
- 2008: Pablo Ozuna: $1.05M (half)
- 2009: Mike MacDougal: $2.65M (almost all)
- 2009: Wilson Betemit: $1.3M (most)
- 2009: Jim Thome; ~$1.5M (total sent to Dodgers)
- 2009: Jose Contreras: Cash considerations (close to Thome, probably)
The Sox spent $5 million on players who didn’t play in Chicago last year. Thought that was interesting.
No. 2: Compare the attitudes!
When Thome didn’t play for two or three days, Guillen didn’t want the media to go to Thome about the situation. And Guillen didn’t want to have to answer the same questions, as to why he was halting Thome’s pursuit of 600 home runs.
“For me, it’s all about at-bats,” Guillen said. “I don’t believe Jimmy can play once or twice per week.
“We play ‘em all and everybody is going to get at-bats,” Gardenhire said. “A guy like Jim, he’s not going to just come off the bench. He’s going to get his time playing and mix in at DH. … That’s the way you keep the guys going and keep everybody a part of it. We’ll get plenty of at-bats for him.”
The latter team had no need for a left-handed power hitter, but couldn’t turn down the opportunity to add a good hitter on the cheap. The former team did need a left-handed power hitter, but felt that Mark Kotsay, his .700 OPS and his two back surgeries in four years was a better use of $1.5 million.
