Can't anybody here play this game?
White Sox fans expect the Metrodome to be a place where excitement up and dies. They didn’t expect a ritual killing.
Hell, Mark Buehrle slaughtered a record by taking a perfect game into the sixth — meaning that he retired 45 straight hitters, eclipsing the 41 set down by Bobby Jenks and Jim Barr — and all he had to show for it was a loss.
Perhaps the multi-purpose arena turns Sox players into multi-sport disasters. Scott Podsednik looked like 2008 Charles Tillman by whiffing on a catchable ball at the track, and Chris Getz emulated every Mike Brown replacement by abandoning his post for no apparent reason, turning a double-play ball into a single.
And Getz said he liked the Metrodome.
Of course, because it’s Minnesota, the game was sandwiched by two other disheartening events. Kenny Williams closed the book on one former first-round draft pick before the game, and started the clock on the exit of another.
The Sox granted Brian Anderson his long-standing wish by trading him to Boston for Mark Kotsay, a.k.a. A Darin Erstad Whom Everybody Acknowledges As Fragile. The acqusition of Kotsay then signaled the beginning of the end for Josh Fields, who was demoted to Charlotte. Most of his value was tied up in the ability to play a passable first base. By some accounts, Kotsay can actually play it well.
There’s not much to be said about Anderson’s departure, as we’d already talked about his inability to develop for the last two years. He played a good center field, but considering his basestealing ability from last season appeared to be a fluke, he was back to possessing just one tool.
Fields’ future was similarly telegraphed, though it’s more unusual to see it actually playing out. Weird couple days for him, huh? On Letterman one day, sent to Charlotte the next.
I’ll wait until he’s actually dealt to discuss it further, but if I’m Kyle McCulloch, I’m starting to sweat. Williams is on the verge of shipping out three consecutive No. 1 picks in the matter of months, and McCulloch would make a real easy fourth.
I don’t understand why a team would trade for someone put on waivers. Can’t you just claim him or is it a money thing??
On the plus side, the Sox only have 4 more games to lose in the Metrodome before they never have to play the Twins indoors again.
DFA’ing a player doesn’t mean he’s on waivers by default. The team must then put him on waivers. The only thing DFA’ing does is remove the player from the 40-man roster.
The Sox wouldn’t have priority on a claim for Kotsay, so trading was the only route they could go — unless they felt that the Red Sox wouldn’t deal him anywhere else, and Kotsay would be interested in the White Sox if he was released.
Anyone drafted by the previous player draft regime should be sweating.
Given this team’s defensive ineptitude, I’m seeing this as a non-playoff year. That game encapsulated the matter pretty well.