Nick Masset
First off I’m a Sox fan! I know my baseball and believe in GM Kenny Williams’ ability to evaluate talent and build a ballclub. He’s the guy who put together a championship team a couple of years ago and a 90 win team one last season.
So I’m not going to go into panic mode just because we traded Freddy Garcia, Neal Cotts, Ross Gload, & Brandon McCarthy. The White Sox strength from their championship ballclub was the starting rotation, which consisted of quality arms from one to five. Last year the arms were there, but the results were shakey. Although Garcia had a solid year, his velocity wasn’t there. So he was dealt for Gavin Floyd & Gio Gonzalez, I have no problem with that. Then we sent Cotts to the Northside of town in exchange for hardthrowing Dave Aardsma, Neal lost his confidence with the Sox and was resembling departed lefty Damaso Marte, Aardsma throws smoke & looks to be the righthanded compliment of Matt Thornton. Then you add the 6’10” lefty Andrew Sisco stolen from the Royals for Ross Gload. But Kenny wasn’t done there, sending Brandon McCarthy to the Rangers for pitching prospects John Danks, Nick Masset, & Jacob Rasner. Williams likened Masset to closer Bobby Jenks in velocity, which isn’t a bad thing. Not sure where all these arms are going to fit in, but it’s a nice problem to have. Not to mention 22 year old knuckleballer Charlie Haeger appears to be ready. It looks like the 2007 bullpen will be a strength rather than a problem.
I also like that Toby Hall will backup AJ Pierzynski behind the plate. Now all we have to do is get centerfield figured out, we’ll have to see what Kenny has up his sleeve.
I’ve been saying for two years: The White Sox know something about Brandon McCarthy. And that “somethng” is not “something good.”
Your team has been going to great pains to NOT use this kid.
2005: Despite McCarthy appearing to be ready, you bring in El Duque to start in the open rotation spot. Plus, after a few Brandon starts in August and September, you don’t even put McCarthy on the playoff roster.
2006: El Duque is traded. But instead of using McCarthy, you bring in Javier Vazquez, in that trade. If McCarthy is trusted or ready, El Duque would have been traded to fill a need other than a rotation starter. Brandon McCarthy pitches long relief in 2006.
This off-season: Freddie Garcia is swapped. Does this at last open up a spot for McCarthy? Maybe. But didn’t Kenny make a comment about McCarthy starting 2007 in the minors to expand his repertoire? And now he is traded in a deal including no other major leaguers.
I’m telling you: The White Sox know something.
So Teddy, who’s the #5 starter in 2007? Haegar? The top pick pitcher we got back from the Phillies for Garcia?
There’s a lot of pitching prospects in the Sox organization now, but most people expected one pitcher to be dealt this off-season, leaving five clear-cut starters as we went into Spring Training. From there, center, left and third were going to be addressed: and that’s about it for expected changes. Admittedly, we did get a top quality #2 catcher by all standards.
So I think most perceptions are that we haven’t solved center, left or third-and we’ve gone the other way in pitching. From a total of six pitchers ready for MLB, we’re now at four. That’s why I think a lot of Sox fans are perplexed. More questions than answers in the period Oct. 1 thru today.
I agree with the post that the Sox went out of their way to avoid starting McCarthy. Time will tell whether it was because they didn’t want to reduce his value.
As far as trusting Kenny Williams. Not yet. His team has lost the division to the Twins 4 out of the last 5 years. Unless you are just happy winning a championship once every 88 years.
I trust Kenny – and Coop. I agree with his off season moves 100%. Now we need to get a Left Fielder as Pods is not the solution.