Garcia to the Phillies for Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez. Let's just say I'm not thrilled by it. Sure, Garcia is the guy I'm probably most content with seeing go--half the time he just didn't give a shit out there (especially when he was pitching against the Royals), and he probably cares more about smoking weed than winning games. But it just seems like the Sox could've gotten more value out of Freddy. I mean, hell, Freddy manned up and almost threw 2 perfect games to close out the season. That's gotta be worth more than two pitching prospects, right? I would hope so, especially in a market where Gil Fucking Meche and Ted Fucking Lilly stand to make about $10 million/year. I think this wins Most Uninspiring Move of the Offseason--I guess I had come to expect a little more flair from Kenny. So it goes.Two things we know from this trade:
1. Brandon McCarthy is the Sox's new #5, so it's time to realize all this so-called potential or flame out and destroy our season 2004 style, when we couldn't get a decent body to throw every 5th day.
2. Kenny Williams apparently decided he fucked up trading Gio Gonzalez in the first place (he went to the Phillies in the Rowand-Thome trade last winter) or he never really wanted to part with him in the first place. Something always makes me uncomfortable when you trade to get a guy like that back, though.
Sigh... I guess we at least have one less pitcher who automatically turns singles into doubles for any hitter with a tiny bit of speed...
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The more I think about this, the more I think it's in reaction to the outrageous salaries being tossed to back-of-the-rotation guys. Kenny must be really high on Gio Gonzalez (he is apparently the better prospect than Gavin Floyd), and he's banking on him in the rotation in 2008 or 9 when we will have yet another rotation hole to fill (and that's a big IF he pans out).
I know Freddy's only got another year at $10 million left on his contract, on the apparent downslope of his career, but I still thought he'd return more than a couple of prospects.
This day in age you have to develop your own pitchers ala Minnesota to compete.
So the Cubs got Lilly. Can anybody say "mortgaging the future"
Kenny was on Comcast the other night all pissed off about something. He kept saying how if McCarthy was adamant about starting and wouldn't go back to the bullpen he could start the season in AAA. I don't know if he dealt Garcia out of frustration or was frustrated by what was being offered by other teams for him, but he hasn't been a very happy dude at the meetings.
Still seems like he could've got more MLB talent given how hot everyone is for pitching so he must really like these prospects. And prospects are the way to go for a team that doesn't have an overwhelming need anywhere else.
Here's some good news for White Sox fans, from SI's Truth and Rumors section:
The White Sox are the "mystery team" in the Barry Bonds sweepstakes. Some reporters spent part of Wednesday working to identify the Sox as the team that seemingly spent the day meeting with Bonds and his agent, Jeff Borris.
-- Chicago Tribune
You know what? Fuck it. I'd love to have Barry Bonds on the White Sox. I'm sure he'd fit right in with other such "misunderstood" luminaries in Sox lore as Albert Belle, Wil Cordero, and Shoeless Joe Jackson. Bring it fucking on.
I don't want to sound like an asshole. I really don't understand something. Why do the White Sox act like a small market team or why does Feeding the Goat make them sound like a small market team? Chicago is a huge market and can support two big-spending teams. In both New York and Los Angeles, both teams spend big money. If I remember right, the White Sox weren't always so thrifty. They spent big bucks on Frank Thomas, Albert Belle, and their star pitching in the 90's. This isn't Cincinnati where the city forces the team into a different type of business plan. Are the White Sox just cheap? As a Cubs fan, I'm happy to see the team spending money. Eighty percent of my life has been spent with Cubs management unwilling to spend the money to win. People don't say "mortgaging the future" to the Yankees, the Dodgers, the Mets, or the Angels. Those teams take their lumps and keep on spending. They also tend to contend for their division each year. The Cubs and the White Sox seem to be in markets big enough to do the same thing.
Please educate me.
Did anything in that post make it sound like the White Sox are a small market team? I reread it, and I don't see it. I don't think the White Sox are a small market team, I don't think they spend like a small market team, and I don't think the Freddy Garcia trade makes them look like a small market team. It just reinforces the Kenny Williams/Jerry Reinsdorf mantra of not overpaying for mediocre pitching. If you think giving 31-year-old career 59-58/4.60 ERA Ted Lilly a 4 year contract worth $40 million isn't overpaying for mediocre pitching, you've got a screw loose, especially when you're looking at having to lock up Zambrano--the real ace of this staff--longterm real soon.
To revisit the small market team thing, following are the top 10 team and bottom 5 payrolls for 2006:
1.New York Yankees $198,662,180
2.Boston Red Sox $120,100,524
3.Los Angeles Angels $103,625,333
4.Chicago White Sox $102,875,667
5.New York Mets $100,901,085
6.Los Angeles Dodgers $99,176,950
7.Chicago Cubs $94,841,167
8.Houston Astros $92,551,503
9.Atlanta Braves $92,461,852
10.San Francisco Giants $90,862,063
26.Kansas City Royals $47,294,000
27.Pittsburgh Pirates $46,867,750
28.Colorado Rockies $41,133,000
29.Tampa Bay Devil Rays $35,417,967
30.Florida Marlins $14,998,500
As the 4th highest-spending team in baseball, spending more than twice as much as the Royals, there's no way anyone can argue the White Sox are small market team. What I DO argue is that they've been exceptionally savvy about not locking up players in contracts they eventually want to dump a couple years later. Sometimes that means trading a Freddy Garcia before he hits free agency to pick up some younger talent. I can almost guarantee you the Cubs are going to regret that Lilly contract by year 3, if not before. The White Sox are focused on building young talent from within or through trades, not through free agent signings. You always, always, always overpay for players in free agency.
A brief postscript to that... I don't mean to be an asshole either. But at $95 million it's ridiculous to argue that the Cubs "aren't spending the money to win." The Cubs spent a hell of a lot more than the A's, Twins, Cardinals, Padres, and Tigers in 2006... all playoff teams. And, in actuality, the Cubs have been pretty decent spenders in this millennium, with next to nothing to show for it.
Thanks. That's a good explanation. I was misguided. I didn't realize the White Sox payroll was that high. I agree with you that the Cubs are spending money this decade. They've also been competitive , except for last year when their whole team got injured and then they gave up but that's another story. When I said they wouldn't spend the money, I meant in the 1990's. Those were some dreadful years. At least now with both the Cubs and the Sox we can realistically believe our team could compete year-in and year-out.
Woohoo, Reds aren't bottom five.
By the way, jesus christ, look at that Marlins payroll. How is this happening in Miami (a reasonably respectable sports town)?
And remember how the Marlins were actually close to the playoffs until the last month of the season? Fucking incredible when you trade away or let go your best major league talent year after year, electing to keep only Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. I haven't heard anything on the stadium front in Miami for awhile. Who knows what's going on with that franchise... maybe Florida is just a bad place for baseball (see Devil Rays, Tampa Bay).
I agree that we should've held out for more in return for Freddy Garcia. Ted Lilly is out there getting $10M a year and all we can get for a solid #2 or #3 starter is two prospects. C'mon Kenny.
Also, thank God Bonds resigned with the Giants. I would end up having to cheer for asshole steroids guy and then I would be expected to defend him because he was a ChiSox player. Now I can just go on with hating him and ESPN for starting every Sportscenter and Baseball tonight with a Barry Bonds story. Do the Giants come to US Comiskular this year? I got to get my syringes ready.
I think the fact that Freddy only had one year left on his contract had a lot to do with the somewhat meager return.
Unfortunately the Giants don't visit the Sox, Bob. You'll have to settle for a trip to Old Style country if you want to send Barry your love.
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