South Side Sox

White Sox Un-Retire #11, Vizquel to wear Aparico's number with his blessing

2010-02-08T17:23:44Z

White Sox Un-Retire #11, Vizquel to wear Aparico's number with his blessing

The Chicago White Sox have un-retired uniform No. 11, the number worn by Hall of Fame shortstop Luis Aparicio, for the 2010 season, during which it will be worn by Omar Vizquel, the team’s newly acquired 11-time Gold Glove infielder. Vizquel, a native of Venezuela, will don the number as a tribute to Aparicio, who is the first and only Venezuelan to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

"If there is one player who I would like to see wear my uniform number with the White Sox, it is Omar Vizquel," said Aparicio. "I have known Omar for a long time. Along with being an outstanding player, he is a good and decent man."

"I feel privileged to have the opportunity to wear the same uniform number with the White Sox as the great Luis Aparicio," said Vizquel. "It is a great honor for me."

Hey, who wants to sit around and talk about 2005?

2010-02-07T22:51:40Z

I'm not talking October 2005. But February of 2005.

I wasn't really following White Sox baseball (other than "I'm a south sider and I like the White Sox"), during the 2004-2005 off season.

What was that offseason like? If everyone freaked out about the Twins signing Jim Thome and Orlando Hudson, then everyone must have really lost their minds five winters ago.

There are a lot of parallels between this offseason and 2004/05. Power hitters like Lee and Magglio were gone, replaced by a slap hitter and a guy with a questionable injury history.

PECOTA had the Sox at 80-82 that year, in third place behind Cleveland and Minnesota. Detroit was pegged as the team most likely to break out.

Here's what Nate Silver had to say about Kenny's moves:

Perhaps Kenny Williams has some form of Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy, and needs to ruin the team in order to save it? Perhaps it's something in the White Sox' ill-conceived lease with the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, which doesn't require the White Sox to pay rent until the 1.5 millionth customer has passed through the U.S. Cellular turnstiles? In any event, this was looking like the year in which the Sox might finally have done poorly enough to trigger some necessary, long-overdue front office changes, but the flurry of constructive late-winter signings ought to be just enough to pull them back into their self-built purgatory.

Jay Mariotti wrote in the Sun Times:

Oh, this makes loads of sense, building a slap-and-tickle team to play 81 games in the most power-friendly ballpark in the majors..... Ken Williams is trading mashers for midgets....Amazingly enough, a team that hit a major-league-best 242 homers in 2004 has lost four prime power hitters, including Jose Valentin. And the only attempt to fill the void was Williams' cheapskate signing of injury-hobbled Jermaine Dye, who will make $4 million next year ($10 million less than Ordonez made last season) and is a career .208 hitter with two out and runners in scoring position.....Don't be fooled by (Scott) Podsednik's 2003 National League Rookie of the Year award or his 70 stolen bases last year. This is a leadoff hitter who has trouble leading off, hitting only .244 last season with a lame .313 on-base percentage....

Of course this sounds familiar, because this is what we have been saying for the last three weeks. It must have been much worse then, because Lee and Magglio were still in their prime.

As we all know, everyone went on to live happily ever after.

That brings us to this year. The pitching staff, in my estimation, is much better than five years ago. These guys are good. You don't have to wonder if someone's going to pull a phenomenal season out of their ass.

You might want to check my math on this - but I'm willing to say that heading into this year, the offense is better than five years ago. Even without Thome and Dye (yet).

Here's what I'm looking for this year

1- The hot start. Five years ago, the Sox jumped out of the gate so fast that everyone kind of forgot that the Indians were the best team in that division (at least until September). Throw in a couple of extended winning streaks, and I can enjoy a Tums free summer.

2- The question marks. Not ours, theirs. Everyone talks about the problems with the White Sox, but what if the Orlando Hudson that shows up in Minnesota is the Slow-Dog who lost his job in LA to Ronnie Belliard? What if JJ Hardy is the player that bounced back and forth between Milwaukee and Nashville? What if Justin Morneau has a hard time recovering after back surgery? There's some stuff lurking in the weeds up north too.

3- The deal. Kenny's not done. He can trade for a bat. He can sign someone.

4- The bouncebacks. The consensus in the stat community is that Rios and Quentin will bounce back. You toss a non-slumping PK, an older Beckham, and Alexei into the mix, you have a team that can hit the ball.

5- Ozzie. With the exception of 2007, he's outperformed PECOTA. He beat the projection system by 19 games in '05, 8 games in '06, 0 games in '07 (but even that team did better than it should have), 12 games in '08, and 8 games in '09. Given Ozzie's track record, the Sox should clock in at 88-89 wins.

6- Surprises. Sometimes, a Kenny gamble pays off. Jermaine Dye, Tadahito Iguchi, and Bobby Jenks in 2005, Jim Thome in 2006, Carlos Quentin in 2008, and Pods 2.0 in 2009 are all examples of question marks who later became cornerstones. Odds are someone's gonna turn some heads.

So there's your daily dose of optimism.

South Side Sox 2010 Fantasy Baseball Challenge

2010-02-06T07:47:33Z

Last year we had a SSS fantasy baseball league on yahoo. It was huge. 18 teams huge.

I'd like to contract this season by cutting a few teams, and change it to a more interesting head to head format with three divisions.

Guys who were fighting in contention last season are invited back for sure: Illini(AKA his ringer at the draft), El Diablo, furby, U-God, KenWo~even though he blew his wad early- no innings left for all of september but wouldnt trade what he couldnt use for what he needed like a jack-ass.

Come back, join the league again and be ready for pain.

tsk, wu, hazymania, hoodlight, jbasic, grinders in training- you guys are all cut from the league.

You suck at fantasy baseball.

Just kidding about being cut, you guys can play again(some of you anyway). You can be the jr. circuit division.

Last years contenders will be the home team division.

In the third division I want all new blood.

larry, T-Dogg, cheat, Colin, I formally challenge you to a season of fantasy baseball.

Lets see who really knows whats going on out there on the diamond. Any Editors go in the visitors division.

yeah thats right larry, im calling you out especially. fantasy baseball is like playing the piano. you can look up all the classical pieces and memorize every note, but I write the masterpiece, bitch.

you too cheat. You obviously aint writing for this site no more, you got the time! t-dogg, lets see if your new spread sheet skills can be put to good use. colin, you ever had wOBA up your ass sideways?

Thats what I got for you in both barrels, offense and pitching! Bring it on, punks!

Ideally we can get 15 teams with 5 in each division, the 3 champs and a wild card making the play-offs. 7x7 with R, HR, RBI, -K, OBP, SLG., SB and ERA, WHIP, Ks, -HR, wins, holds and saves. If there isnt enough interest(aka cheat and larry are scared) then we can go with 12 teams. 16(4 divisions) is the max though, 18 teams was at least 2 too many.

2009 SSS Final Standings

		Batting						Pitching
Rank	Team	Total GP	R	HR	RBI	AVG	NSB	IP	W	K	ERA	WHIP	NSV
1.	Colon Blow	1363	787	237	743	.266	81	1246.0	75	1062	3.67	1.29	91
2.	e-Gus Intimidators	1382	810	216	781	.283	61	1248.2	85	1040	4.31	1.36	61
3.	ElDiablo	1341	727	196	702	.273	45	1183.1	69	1089	3.45	1.27	100
4.	Nation of Domination	1412	790	176	797	.304	79	1250.2	71	958	4.71	1.44	42
5.	furb's naturals	1384	771	167	689	.274	74	1249.0	78	921	4.04	1.29	49
6.	Vote Nellie Fox 09	1319	786	182	687	.281	86	1250.1	80	866	4.19	1.36	4
6.	SSH Memorial Squad (u-god)	1263	623	154	725	.283	29	1035.2	64	976	3.68	1.28	75
8.	KenWo	1333	684	166	723	.271	54	1254.2	72	952	3.75	1.28	40
9.	Option27	1210	659	142	549	.281	87	933.0	62	845	3.57	1.26	52
10.	usualsuspect	1314	706	165	730	.283	60	967.2	64	725	3.95	1.37	37
11.	JBasic89	1155	589	148	539	.259	43	1151.1	79	1062	3.41	1.26	16
12.	hoodlight	1212	673	183	688	.279	52	1059.1	54	903	4.21	1.33	21
13.	Ramming Speed	1056	526	133	516	.265	45	1003.1	65	809	3.57	1.25	45
14.	Station to Station	1281	693	173	669	.265	91	943.0	45	764	4.26	1.40	37
15.	Thigh Lords (wu)	1315	680	168	668	.281	95	670.0	40	590	4.46	1.41	37
16.	Grinders in Training	1225	667	151	645	.279	78	1035.1	54	863	4.28	1.30	1
17.	LL Cool Jose	1088	553	178	578	.258	54	954.1	57	782	4.44	1.35	32
18.	SI	1031	515	146	533	.276	23	959.1	64	801	4.15	1.32	30

e-gus started this post with the intent to write a 'how to play better fantasy baseball' story and almost gave out an unbeatable starting pitcher draft strategy for 2010. Realizing it would surely fall into the hands of his enemies before draft day he changed the premise completely.

Poll

Did winningugly really fall asleep during the SSS 2009 fantasy draft?

What Is and What Never Would Be: Former White Sox OF Prospects

2010-02-04T23:25:59Z

Never forget.

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I liked justjc's idea of taking a look back at former top prospects that the Sox traded away. I decided to start with the outfielders and limit it to the past half-decade. I also left Aaron Cunningham out, since I feel its still too early to say anything much about his trade and future. That left me with six young men (in absolutely no specific order): Chris B. Young, Ryan Sweeney, Jeremy Reed, Brian N. Anderson, Jerry Owens, and Joe Borchard.

Chris B. Young: The Sox drafted Young in the 16th round (493rd pick) of the 2001 draft out of Bellaire High School in Bellaire, Texas. He took two years to ge tgoing, but began dominating the minors in 2004 with a .261/.365/.503 line in Kannapolis. This resulted in BA naming him the 6th best prospect in the farm system, as well as the fastest baserunner and best athlete. Shortly after posting a .922 OPS and 32 steals in 38 attempts at Birmingham, he was shipped to Arizona with Orlando Hernandez and Luis Vizcaino for Javier Vazquez on December 12, 2005. He continued his hot hitting in 2006, being named the 12th best prospect in baseball entering the 2007 season. He played 148 games for the Diamondbacks, hitting .237/.295/.467 with 32 homers and 27 steals. His performance earned him fourth place in the NL RotY voting. He followed that with a more productive 2008, improving his OBP and defense enough to be worth 2.2 WAR. The wheels fell off last season, as his defense crapped out, ISO dropped yet again, and K% spiked to a career-high 30.7%. He had a better second half, but it seems like being an averageish player is his ceiling. Career line: .235/.307/.438.

Ryan Sweeney: Sweeney was the Sox second round choice in 2003 (52nd) out of Xavier High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was awarded a $785,000 signing bonus. He took well to the minors, showing a strong arm and a decent batting eye, but lacking more than doubles power. He garnered high praise his entire minor league career: 2005-42nd best in MiLB, 2nd in CHW as well as best hitter for average and best outfield arm, 2006-92nd best MiLB, 3rd in CHW as well as best outfield arm, 2007-55th best MiLB, 1st in CHW as well as best hitter for average and best outfield defense. He was sent to Oakland with Fautino de los Santos and Gio Gonzalez for Nick Swisher on January 3, 2008. He was worth 4.1 WAR last season, splitting time between right and center while playing plus defense in both. This is the only outfield prospect we traded away on this list that looks like it may bite Kenny Williams in the ass, mostly due to the second Swisher trade getting us back nothing from the Yankees. Career line: .284/.341/.387.

Jeremy Reed: One of the first prospects I remember watching fail, Jeremy Reed was drafted out of Long Beach State University in the second round (59th) of the 2002 draft and given a $650,000 signing bonus. Reed was absolutely fantastic in 2003, hitting a combined line of .373/.453/.537 with 45 steals at Winston-Salem and Birmingham. Going into the 2004 season, he was our best prospect and the 25th best in all baseball. We then traded him to the Mariners with Mike Morse and Miguel Olivo for Ben Davis and Freddy Garcia June 27, 2004. The centerfield job was his to lose in Seattle in 2005, and he did just that by posting a .254/.322/.352 line, though he did lead all centerfielders in range factor. He may have turned it around, but he broke his wrist on the outfield wall, starting an upsetting injury trend. He was sent to the Mets in the massive three-team trade that involved Cleveland as well on December 11, 2008. Thanks to Omar Minaya signing a team of glass figurines, Reed actually played in 126 games last year. He was awful. He has been worth .5 WAR for his career, with 2005 being the last season he wasn't in the negatives. He now dwells in the minors of Toronto. Career line: .255/.312/.357.

Brian Anderson: And onto our most recent disappointment. Brian Anderson is the first player on this list to actually play more than two seasons in the majors for the White Sox. Brian was the 15th player picked in the 2003 draft. He went to the University of Arizona and received a $1,600,000 signing bonus. He hit well enough in the minors, especially when coupled with his incredibly promising defense. He was the best defensive outfielder in the system in 2005 and 2006. He was also labeled the 37th and 51st best prospect in baseball in 05 and 06, as well as our 1st and 2nd best respectively. Anderson's "readiness" allowed the White Sox to trade Aaron Rowand away for Jim Thome, giving Brian his chance to start in center. His bat simply never translated to the major league level, and eventually his defense merely became average. He was never more than a back-up after he lost his starting job to Darin Erstad in 2007. Kenny Williams finally gave up on the golden boy on July 28, 2009 when he was shipped up to Boston for Mark Kotsay. He recently signed a major league deal with the Royals, wasting one of the spots on their 40-man roster. Thanks Dayton! Career line: .227/.290/.370.

Jerry Owens: Jerry Owens is the only player on this list who wasn't drafted by the Pale Hose. Owens was selected by Montreal a mere four picks after we chose Sweeney in 2003. He played college ball at The Master's College. On Valentine's Day in 2005, the Sox sent Alex Escobar to the newly renamed Montreal Expos to obtain Jerry. He was named our 5th best prospect for the upcoming season, along with being annointed the best hitter for average, fastest baserunner, and best athlete. His best season came in 2007 on the strength of his 32 stolen bases and above-average defense in center. We'll just ignore his .267/.324/.312 for now. He tore his right adductor muscle early on in 2008, allowing Carlos Quentin to play in the outfield. WE all know how that worked out. Like Anderson, the organization's patience ran out this last season and Owens was released. He latched on with Seattle and played in Tacoma for the rest of the season. He recently signed a minor-league deal with the Nationals, potentially bringing him back to his first franchise. Career line: .262/.319/.305.

Joe Borchard: So much suck, it's not even funny. Joe was the 12th pick in the 2000 draft. He played at Stanford, where he also played quarterback. He was given a $5,300,000 signing bonus, the largest in baseball history until Justin Upton signed for $6.1 mil in 2005. This is obviously still a White Sox record. He was heavily hyped right out of the gate, being called the 23rd best prospect in baseball and the 2nd best in the system. He had his best minor league season that year in Birmingham, hitting 27 bombs to go with his .295/.384/.509 line. This resulted in mroe praise, being called the 12th best overall and our top prospect. Then things began to go south. His numbers all dropped, but no one was too worried as he had moved up to AAA. 2003 would be the last season he would enjoy being called a top prospect (28). 2004 marked the most time he ever spent on the major league roster. During this time, he launched a 504' homer off of Brett Myers, setting a U.S. Cellular Field record. It still stands to this day. When it seemed like he would never figure it all out, he was traded to Seattle for Matt Thornton. Thornton was another failed prospect at the time. Seattle would cut Borchard, and he wound up in Florida for a season and a half. The Braves signed him in 08, but he needed Tommy John and was released. He is currently with San Francisco, in AAA. Career line: .205/.284/.352.

Lineup Construction, the Tango Way

2010-02-04T01:39:43Z

More photos » Nam Y. Huh - AP

Chicago White Sox pitcher Jake Peavy LOVES high-fives. If you see him anywhere, just go for it. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

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For those who have never read a thing Colin has ever posted, Tom Tango is an expert when it comes to sabermetrics and wrote The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball back in 2007. The Book uses methods such as linear regression and Markov chains to help prove and disprove common long-held strategies managers have always used. The chapter I found the most interesting was the fifth, which took a very in-depth look at the true importance of batting order.

In what is now old news, it turns out that batting order means relatively little since it is essentially set in a loop that only ends with the 27th out. It is possible to get more runs out of that order through some optimization techniques. Ideally, you would like your best three hitters (using wOBA as our metric) in the 1, 2, and 4 slots. The player hitting second should walk more than the clean-up hitter, who should have more power than the man hitting second. The lead-off hitter should be comparable to the 2 and 4, but with less power as homeruns from the lead spot are less valuable. The next best hitters should bat 5th and 3rd respectively. After that, you can just plug the rest of the players into spots 6-9 in order by descending wOBA. Pretty simple right? Well, here's what you get when you try this using CHONE and Marcel projections for our 2010 Chicago White Sox.

I decided to use both the CHONE and Marcel projections from Fangraphs, so as to cover for any flaws by the other. Bill James' are just a bit too optimistic for me.

Marcel
Player	wOBA	BB%	ISO
Pierzynski	.314	5.0	.134
Konerko	.346	10.9	.202
Beckham	.353	9.6	.181
Ramirez	.327	6.9	.147
Teahen	.324	7.8	.143
Pierre	.316	6.0	.076
Rios	.338	7.0	.170
Quentin	.361	9.4	.223
Jones	.307	11.3	.180
Kotsay	.305	7.8	.127

Using these values, Tango's reasoning, and whatever it is I bring to the table, I constructed the following batting order. It would never happen in the real world, as you'll realize as soon as you look at it.

I decided to deviate away from the set plan slightly by putting Rios at the top of the order. I did this because out of the top four hitters in wOBA, he has the lowest projected ISO which makes hitting him leadoff waste less homeruns than putting Konerko there. On days when Kotsay is DH, that bottom half of the lineup is a whole bunch of left-handed mediocrity and garbage. Kotsay and Jones are interchangeable really, as Marcel sees them only sporting a .002 difference in wOBA.

CHONE
Player	wOBA	BB%	ISO
Pierzynski	.315	3.7	.136
Konerko	.356	10.1	.207
Beckham	.350	9.0	.182
Ramirez	.329	6.5	.150
Teahen	.328	7.5	.161
Pierre	.310	5.2	.081
Rios	.338	7.0	.169
Quentin	.371	9.1	.229
Jones	.324	11.3	.203
Kotsay	.297	6.9	.109

Not too much changes in terms of batting order when you siwth to CHONE. A.J. and Juan switch spots, and Andruw Jones moves the DH situation up to 7th against southpaws (assuming a strict platoon between him and Kotsay for simplicity's sake). The name on the left of the slash is the hitter against lefties.

Alex Rios
Gordon Beckham
Alexei Ramirez
Carlos Quentin
Paul Konerko
Mark Teahen
Andruw Jones/A.J.Pierzynski
A.J. Pierzynski/Juan Pierre
Juan Pierre/Mark Kotsay

For those curious, Jim Thome projects in at .360/14.7%/.232 and .351/14.8%/.209 respectively. This results in the following lineups (left side Marcel, right CHONE):

Beckham
Thome
Rios
Quentin
Konerko
Ramirez
Teahen
Pierre/Pierzynski
Pierzynski/Pierre

I loathe Mark Kotsay more and more every day.

Strange, Way-Back Machine

2010-02-02T18:24:15Z

More photos » Nam Y. Huh - AP

This picture has nothing to do with this article, but I really wanted to use it anyways. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

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Since its another slow day (only 30 more til the first ST game), I wanted to bring up something I noticed a little while back. When SBN switched to the newest format, we got a neat little Roster toolbar that has players on the 40-man listed and has short bios of them. These have scouting reports on the right-side. Most of them are fairly accurate, but then some feel as though the scouting report was written by someone who only had access to MVP Baseball 2005.

When was the last time Mark Kotsay was honestly "a slightly above-average center-fielder"? I believe it was around the same time Andruw Jones was "a great defensive center-fielder" and Mark Teahen was listed as "an above-average thirdbaseman". The strangeness is not just limited to players on the White Sox roster, as these examples show. I do love the resource, it just seems kind of odd that some of the more high-profile drop-off players are still viewed as they used to be or still held in high-regard at positions they no longer play. Oh well.

2010 White Sox Sure To Be Passionate

2010-02-02T15:39:47Z

More photos » Ann Heisenfelt - AP

Che!

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Ok, not necessarily. I just couldn't help but re-use such a clever and intriguing headline, taken from the current front page of mlb.com.

This week is the Caribbean World Series, which, as mlb.com reports, is sure to be passionate.

Well duhhh. We as White Sox fans know all about the passion... The immeasurable overflow of orgullo!

"The Caribbean Series is an opportunity for us to host something that's very important in our country," said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, a native Venezuelan. "Our country is going through a very tough situation right now, politically, but it doesn't have anything to do with baseball. People are very excited about this series."

So follow the link to read about the series, and tune in to some quality live action baseball.
I'm thinking it'll scratch that itch just enough to get to Pitchers and Catchers in about 2 weeks.

oh, and Opening Day = T - 62 days. Yum!

Thoughts on Baseball America's Top 31 White Sox Prospects

2010-01-31T03:04:54Z

Brent Morel is the #4 White Sox Prospect, ladies. Come get him.

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First, the list. After the jump, some musings.

Jared Mitchell
Tyler Flowers
Daniel Hudson
Brent Morel
Jordan Danks
Trayce Thompson
Dayan Viciedo
David Holmberg
Clevelan Santeliz
Miguel Gonzalez
Josh Phegley
John Ely
Sergio Santos
Stefan Gartrell
C.J. Retherford
Carlos Torres
Lucas Harrell
Santos Rodriguez
Eduardo Escobar
Nevin Griffith
Christian Marrero
Jhonny Nunez
Dan Remenowsky
Kyle Bellamy
John Shelby
Nate Jones
Charlie Leesman
Jon Link
Jose Martinez
Justin Collop
Nick Ciolli

Yes, Baseball America put the book to bed December 13 so the Juan Pierre trade that took place two days later wasn't taken into account, thereby leaving Ely and Link on the list.

Most readers are already aware of my dislike of lists because they essentially lack context. What does it mean to be the #10 prospect in a system if you don't know how good that system is? What does it mean for two players to be ranked #4 and #5? Are they close together in terms of potential or is there a big gap? You need to read the scouting reports (and use your own head) to figure it out.

Of course, I'm just giving you a list from a book. So, other than my comments below, what can we all learn from it. One easy thing is to simply compare it to other lists you've read. One thing you see is Daniel Hudson ranges from #1-3, suggesting perhaps a lack of consensus about his prospect status (and, by extension, the other usual suspects, Tyler Flowers and Jared Mitchell) - which is borne out when looking at overall top prospect lists, where, for example, Keith Law doesn't even rank Hudson in his top 100 while John Sickels rates him as the #24 pitching prospect (which, while John doesn't combine his hitters and pitchers into one list, suggests a ranking somewhere around #50 overall). Indeed, amongst the three editors of Baseball America's book, Hudson was only on one of their top 50 lists (#37, Will Lingo) while both Mitchell (#28, Lingo; #39 John Manuel) and Flowers (#29, Lingo; #41, Manuel) made two. I guess, like Law, Jim Callis hates the White Sox system - and, by extension, all White Sox fans and kittens - since he doesn't see one top 50 prospect.

Another thing is understanding the biases of a listmaker. For example, Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein is known as an upside-whore with a particular predilection for young Latinos. If you were signed at age 16, speak Spanish as your native language and are described as either "toolsy" or "flame-throwing", you will automatically be ranked at least 50 spots higher than on most other prospect lists. In Baseball America's case, you often see a bias towards players the organization likes as it is believed that they lend more weight to the opinion of club officials. So, when reading their list, particularly as you get outside the top 10 or 15, you tend to see some guys who aren't as highly touted elsewhere but make the list because of club favoritism.

I (and others) talk a lot about the top guys so I'm going to focus more on the lesser knowns. Obviously, I like the placement of David Holmberg because it jives with my top ten list. While he doesn't have good velocity, as a lefty, he can get away with that. Both of his secondary offerings, a curve and a changeup, are considered plus offerings already - and he graduated high school seven months ago. While there isn't a great deal of projection left in him, pitchers like him can be #3/4 starters.

This is the first list that another of my favorites, Miguel Gonzalez, made the top ten. I struggled with his placement on my list and he was a late cut simply because he lacked experience above Rookie league. He's going to be in Kannapolis next year as a 19 year old but he could be on a fast track.

Stefan Gartrell's placement at #14 is a combination of Phil Rogers' input and an example of organizational bias slipping in. Gartrell, even in a weak system like the White Sox', probably doesn't even belong in a top 31. Lucas Harrell and Eduardo Escobar are more examples of this. Harrell has long been a favorite - he was added to the 40 man two years ago despite being oft-injured with shoulder problems. Escobar simply cannot hit a lick and, while his fielding is wonderful, the glove doesn't carry you to the big leagues if you barely crack a .300 OBP in two seasons in Low A.

Everybody roots for Dan Remenowksy, who went undrafted and was signed out of the independent leagues. He mowed down A ballers to the tune of 15.5 K/9 but a fastball that doesn't usually crack 90 usually spells doom for a right-handed reliever.

Charlie Leesman is a Rick Hahn favorite and as arguably the most advanced lefty in the system - despite being a 2008 draftee and having no experience above A ball - he can probably expect to be pushed aggressively.

Jose Martinez is another example of club bias seeping through. Had plenty of talent but he hasn't played since May 2008 due to knee problems. His placement shows that the club is still thinking of him but how much to expect after that sort of layoff - even for a player just 22 - is highly speculative.

And I'd be remiss to not bloviate on another favorite, Nick Ciolli, who made the pamphlet supplement to the book. Obviously he's the type who needs just about everything to go right for him to even make AAA but I like the line drive swing and I like the intelligence and acumen it takes to steal 23 bases in 27 attempts while having only average speed.

John Sickels on Clevelan Santeliz

2010-01-29T17:18:52Z

John Sickels on Clevelan Santeliz

Clevelan Santeliz, RHP, Chicago White Sox
Bats: R Throws: R HT: 6-0 WT: 190 DOB: September 1, 1986

After futzing around as a starter unsuccessfully in 2008, Santeliz moved back to the bullpen in '09 and was very impressive at times for Double-A Birmingham. He's got a terrific fastball at 95-98 MPH, with movement, and he continued to make strides with his slider and splitter, though both pitchers remain erratic. He posted good K/IP and H/IP marks, but his walk rate was still high and that will hurt him at higher levels. There was a lot of good luck involved with the 0.96 ERA: his FIP was 4.00, much better than the 5.98 mark he posted in '08, but showing that the ERA overstates how much he improved. I remain intrigued with his arm strength, but the control still worries me. Don't overrate him based on the pretty ERA. Grade C.

DH Stat of the Day

2010-01-28T15:05:31Z

Baserunning

According to Bill James Handbook (2009)

Jim Thome: -15 bases

Omar Vizquel: -2
Andruw Jones: -1
Mark Kotsay: -12
Total: -15

An Unladylike Reflection On The Gentleman

2010-01-27T18:36:21Z

Look at him clogging all over the basepaths. Pathetic.

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Everything is so much clearer now that I've had a night to sleep on this and take a lot of drugs.

As though last Friday's rumors didn't forebode yesterday's events, I still clung to some superfluous shred of hope, that Ozzie and Kenny would not be so dumb as to allow Jim Thome to go unsigned; in turn pushing him into the open arms of the Twins.

You know Nick Punto was the first to call and say hi.
The doucheclown.

Alas, nobody was able to knock sense into Ozzie's thick skull, and so it is...the most devastating event since 9/11: Jim Thome signs with the Twins for $1.5 million (and some incentives).

I know Jim Thome was not everyone's cup of tea, what with his lacking speed and being on base all the damn time - the combination of which was downright offensive and unbearable (aesthetically-speaking, of course).

I also know that a bunch of you em-effers are on diets, depriving yourselves of delicious carbs - like taters, for example - because you want to appear a certain way...even if it's not all that healthy or natural or fun.

But once again, the widespread devastation among most Sox fans is not just a matter of Jim Thome (though he does hold a special place in most of our hearts, for good reason).

The bigger problem is Ozzie's deliberate omission of a left-handed power bat, from a lineup that will be supporting one of the greatest pitching staffs in the game. And not just an omission - it's a full-on straight-faced rejection of the cheapest, most solid lefty power bat on the market. A guy who wanted to play for the Sox. A guy who can bring a 5-0 game back into reach with one swing of his mighty bat. Just a nice guy to have around; not playing for your division rivals.

We are actually paying Mark Kotsay more money to be in our everyday lineup, than we were willing to pay Jim Thome.

For shame!

Of course, I choose to remain somewhat positive. Hell, I'm pretty sure that's what life is all about anyway.

Though I will admit this is my least-favorite Ozzie/Kenny moment of them all so far.

And this is the one that makes me most question my faith in our management and my ability to really believe that they wouldn't do that, they couldn't do that, they wouldn't let this one by, they wouldn't bring Linebrink in right now, they will not rely on a few mediocre bench players to fill out an offense so essential in completing a team that has a real fighting chance at a title...

But aside from my loss of faith and my listlessness over continuing to defend those two and their roster tomfoolery, I have hope yet.

1. The off-season is not over. Perhaps the backlash of the Thome non-signing will inspire KW/OG/JR to pursue Damon. A Damon signing might just renew my faith, but it will cost us more than the pocket change required for Thome, and it will require that KW puts his Boras bias on the side. If he can do it for Jones, I would hope such a ridiculous rationale would not stop him from going after Damon (or any of the other high profile guys Boras reps, or will rep in the future). But we'll see.

2. Further hope remains within me, that Gardenhire will "misuse" Thome and will stunt his production. Maybe Thome will be limited to pinch-hitting most of the time. I am torn between being a Thome fan and wishing him well on his travels; and being a Twins-hater, loathing all things related - especially if said things help them win the division.
What a crappy predicament!

It's as if Thome has died to me. Or worse, it's as if Thome has brought home a boyfriend.

3. Surely Quentin is going to stay healthy. Right? RIGHT?! A healthy, '08-esque Q would do wonders for us. Unfortunately, most of us are too exhausted from all the hopefulness for the same last year, that the Return of Q! seems like a fantasy now, a stretch really. (heh...stretch)

4. A full season of Beckham! Hoorah! Flowers on the horizon! Yippee!

5. Peavy, Danks, Buehrle, Floyd, Freddy! Hoorah! Bullpen looking not too shabby either... not that we'll need them!

Baseball is full of miracles. I know I've witnessed a few and I'm just a (relatively) young piece of shit.

It's not easy to keep your chin up when something like this happens, but it's not like we were exactly stoked for our upcoming offense in January 2005 either.

The commiserating is free to abound, and I'm still pissed as hell, but I refuse to allow Ozzie to numb my excitement over our rotation.

So here's to hoping for another acquisition - a bat, preferably - before the season starts.
Here's to hoping the damage against us is not so severe.
Here's to hoping for the resurrection of Q!, Jones, Rios, Pierre, Putz, and Teahen to name a few.
Here's to hoping for a full year of production from Alexei, Beckham, Buehrle; and the good ol' consistency we've come to expect from AJ.

And most importantly, here's to hoping for a 2010 division title that very easily should be ours, with or without a diet full of mashed taters.

Thome Makes Entire White Sox Organization Look Like Fools, Signs With Twins for Pennies

2010-01-27T06:09:42Z

More photos » Mark Duncan - AP

Because you don't stare at a grounder to the second baseman

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150M Pennies

Unlike yesterday, when the words just flowed from my fingers to the screen, I don't even want to talk about this. It's just so obviously wrong and stupid that it should cost everyone involved in the decision making process their jobs. Sox Machine points out the ridiculousness of the situation, both in playing time implications and contract terms.

The only way the Williams/Guillen team avoids rabid fans calling for their head -- the ones that aren't already -- is if the pitching staff they've built carries them easily to the post-season. Anything less than an easy walk to the playoffs shows that the two were more concerned with building a team their way than exploiting what might be the best free-agent value on the entire market.

It's a bit scary to think what would happen if the Sox did magically march into the playoffs? Would pitchers be batting next year so Ozzie can go to a 14 man pitching staff with a two-strike specialist? The hubris would be unfathomable.

Thome to Twins - $1.5M plus incentives up to $750K

2010-01-26T23:22:13Z

Thome to Twins - $1.5M plus incentives up to $750K

Ozzie Guillen is not a fan of the DH, Productive Offenses

2010-01-26T05:31:45Z

by Mitch. from our epic MS Paint thread

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Have you ever been to a restaurant where some little brat ruined the evening for an entire dining room, throwing food, screaming and generally being ignored by his parent(s)? You initially focus an intense rage towards the kid. "If he wasn't here, I could just enjoy my meal in peace," you think. But after witnessing a few moments of neglect by indifferent parent(s), you realize it's not really the kid's fault. He doesn't know any better. He's just a kid whose parents are oblivious, beaten down, or some combination of both.

That's how I feel today.

I want to channel all of my anger towards Ozzie Guillen, who ultimately had the final say as to whether Jim Thome would be back on the South Side, but in reality it's Guillen's metaphorical parents who bear much of the responsibility for this situation. (Don't worry I'll get to Ozzie later)

Kenny Williams is the General Manager of White Sox. Among other things, it's his job to provide Ozzie with the best possible team he can while working under the budget provided. Back in '04-'05, when I could still get fired up about the 25th man on the roster, I couldn't stand to see Timo Perez on the roster. "If he's on the roster, he's in danger of being used," I used to say. When Williams decided to hire Ozzie, it became part of his job description to protect Ozzie from himself, to keep the ineffective-yet-grindy, effort-over-talent guys to a minimum.

You don't let a 4-year old play with kerosene and matches, and you don't let Ozzie Guillen design your offense. Both end in nothing but pain.

Williams' deflection to Ozzie, his insistence that Ozzie have the final say on the bass-ackwards DH situation, has to rank up there with the, the Todd Ritchie Deal, Foulke-for-Koch, and Swisher-for-Goggles as ill-conceived from the outset deals which will no-doubt immediately be rationalized by the local media.

It's been reported that KW along with the man signing the checks, Jerry Reinsdorf, both wanted Thome back. Yet, they still found a way to defer to their sub-ordinate. There's a large part of me that wants to write in big bold letters: Hey, KW! Grow a Pair! You're the guy who built this city's first World Series winner in 88 years. You've got the hammer. Use it. But in a way, having the guts to turn over the decision making process to Ozzie takes a huge pair. A huge pair, and maybe a heaping helping of hubris.

Hubris because the White Sox can win the division next year without Thome. Williams showed he has some of the biggest balls in the game when he reconstructed the team last summer. With the addition of a full-season of Jake Peavy to the Buehrle-Danks-Floyd trio, the Sox now own a rotation that can go toe-to-toe with basically any team in baseball. (Plus, I'm a big fan of their 6th starter, Daniel Hudson, who I see as a near-average starter this year) Unfortunately, they still might not have enough offense to make it work.

Let's take a look at the additions to the team since start of last season, and let's throw in the left-handers to make a point.

New Offense?

	3-yr OBP	3-yr BB%
Alex Rios	.330	6.7
Mark Teahen	.330	7.6
Juan Pierre	.339	5.2
Omar Vizquel	.301	7.6
Andruw Jones	.304	11.6
AJ Pierzynski	.317	4.2
Mark Kotsay	.315	7.6

The White Sox had a .329 OBP as a team last season in a league where average was .336. The lack of guys who got on base was one of their weaknesses last season. So what has Kenny done but gone and added three regulars who have essentially average on-base skills, none of whom get their via the walk all that often. Mark Teahen leads the lefties in OBP at an incredible .330, and is tied with Kotsay in walk-rate at 7.6%. Rios, Teahen and Jones strike out a ton to go along with their lowish OBPs, and only Jones offers real plus power. Though he's had all of one good half-season in his last three. These guys all share the same skill... Throw in Alexei Ramirez and you've got a whole club of hackers without big power.

No longer are the Sox a one-dimensional homerun hitting team; they're one-dimensional in a completely different way now. Unfortunately, that dimension does not put it on the board, Yes! Swinging at virtually everything and generating little power might work if you had a bunch of guys who knew how to find their way on base, but with this crowd, it's going to be a long summer of hoping for breakout seasons from Beckham, and Ramirez and for Quentin and Teahen to regain the strokes from their respective breakout campaigns.

* * * * *

I feel like I should qualify my position on the DH-by-committee and Ozzie in general before continuing any further.

You could see the Sox move to a "more athletic" DH coming from a mile away. As soon as Thome was sent to the Dodgers, I was busy constructing a somewhat DH-less lineup in my head. e-Gus can back me up on this from our conversation prior to Teehen's, I was all for going in a a more Angels-like direction. The key was in getting 10, not 9, starting-capable regulars, with a few of them having some positional flexibility. Anything less than 10 starting-capable players meant you would, more often than not, be swapping in a bench bat for whoever was playing DH on that day.

You can win without a DH in the AL, but you need good pitching (which the Sox had/have), good defense (they're probably better than last year, but had only one way to go), and an abundance of above-average bats. Unfortunately, all of the Sox additions have been of the usually average (Teahen, Rios, and Pierre) and average-at-best (Jones, Kotsay) variety.

Even more unfortunate is the average-at-best category has essentially been handed full-time DH duties. The addition of Thome wasn't some type of zero-sum game to the White Sox bottom line, even if it might have been for Jones and Kotsay's at-bats. I'll wait for Colin to crunch the numbers, but there isn't any debating that Thome is a better run-producer than even a platoon of Jones/Kotsay. And there's no debating that the Sox would be a stronger team with them being ready to step in to prevent a collapse should one of the real 9 starters go down. As it is now, the Sox are essentially playing a man down, as they did in the final month of the season without Thome last year.

Ozzie's "All The Pieces Are In Place" Moment

Back in the day, Dave Wannstedt, then the embattled Bears head coach, told reporters "All the pieces were in place" for a Super Bowl run. He had finally been allowed to make the Bears over in his own image, including the unjust jettisoning of Kevin Butler who had to "compete" for his job as place kicker with undrafted (and woefully ineffective) free agent Carlos Huerta. Butler was the last remaining Bear from the Super Bowl and consequently the last remaining connection to the Legend of Ditka, a shadow Wanny had desperately been trying to crawl out from under. Huerta would famously flop, missing a FG in all three of his games before being cut. But the damage was done.

Wanny had, in an attempt to make the Bears his team, made them weaker in a way that was completely obvious to anyone not named Wannstedt. It was (arguably) the moment he signed his ticket out of town, although it would take another couple of years for the axe to fall.

So here's Ozzie, a manager by title, who famously argued for hours with Kenny Williams during his initial interview for the job. It's no secret to anyone that he has a desire to make a team in his own offensive image (need I remind you that image is not that good even for a shortstop?) But what Ozzie has lacked in new-school sabermetric acumen, he has made up for with a deft touch with his pitching staff and an affable demeanor that deflects attention from his struggling players. On the whole, he's been one of the better managers in baseball during his tenure.

But making personnel decisions is not, and should not be, Ozzie Guillen's job. Ozzie is largely responsible for the Sox tendency towards a 13 man pitching staff, a tendency that removes innings from better relievers and gives them to the worst pitchers on the staff. In many ways the DH decision is much the same, only worse.

Thanks to Ozzie the Sox have decided to forgo resigning one of their best bats last season because of the desire to get more at-bats for the entirely mediocre (and nearly aged as Thome) bench guys. And unlike the bullpen scenario, these guys are going to be counted on to play every day, and there isn't any fall-back option. It's sink or swim with the (former) bench guys. More than likely, sink.

Adding insult to non-signing, Minnesota is rumored to be interested in Thome. So the Sox could lose one of their best players, play without a DH, give also-rans the DH duty, and watch Thome sign with their biggest rival. Every turn you take looking at this non-signing just makes it worse.

Ozzie has been insulated against much local criticism because of his personality and his other assets as a manager. But after this latest decision, I know of at least one blogger who will be out for blood when the Sox offense predictably struggles. This non-move is nothing but an I Can Make A Team In My Own Image ego trip, and I, for one, could do with less ego and more smart decisions coming from the White Sox brass.

Special thanks to all 500 of you who have become fans on Facebook. You can also follow me on twitter @SouthSideCheat and larry @southsidelarry

Thome is done with the Sox, will move to team that understands value of not using a series of bench players as the DH

2010-01-26T01:18:44Z

Thome is done with the Sox, will move to team that understands value of not using a series of bench players as the DH

FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Will He or Won't He?

2010-01-25T17:30:35Z

More photos » Nam Y. Huh - AP

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Use this thread to get mad at Ozzie playing GM and denying you an American League offense...

Or maybe, just maybe, celebrate the Gentleman Masher's return.

"Whoever wants to come to the White Sox as long as I'm here is not going to be a full-time DH," Guillen said after a brisk question-and-answer session with fans. "Nobody. I don't care who it is.''

GM Ozzie.

"If we sign somebody, and we've said this all wintertime, we don't want them to just DH."

2010-01-24T03:13:33Z

"If we sign somebody, and we've said this all wintertime, we don't want them to just DH."

Sound Familliar? Click to find out who said it

Committee of Dunces

2010-01-23T02:14:30Z

More photos » Nam Y. Huh - AP

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I keep waiting for the other Thome to drop in the White Sox DH Saga, so, among other reasons, I've kept quiet on the whole Sox-Need-A-DH discussion. I mean, what do you need to add aside from, "Duh, this ain't the NL." One look at the NL record vs. the AL in interleague should tell you what happens when you try to play baseball a batter short.

Well now, reading the twitter instead of hoping for Kanye to make the Haiti telethon a relevant pop-culture moment, I see that Kenny seems to think that the Sox DH-by-committee is similar to the approach the Angels have used in their recent domination of the AL West, which, you know, hasn't exactly had a second team since Mulder, Hudson, and Zito left the AL.

So let's take a look at the Angels DH's over the last three (arbitrary) years. Click years for full split breakdown

2009: Some guy named Vlad takes nearly 400 PAs at DH. Nobody else makes 75 appearances. Result: .296/.348./469

2008: Vlad and Garrett Anderson largely split duties, with others taking remaining 200 PA. Result: .271/.330/.437

2007: Vlad and Shea Hillenbrand split 360 PA, with others taking up remaining 300 PA Result: .257/.315/.391

Without question, the best result is from the year the Angels only said they had a DH by committee, giving Vlad the bulk of the work. In '08 things worked out alright, essentially getting league average DH output, but they weren't in any hurry to bring back the floundering Anderson. '07 is just an outright disaster.

Which category do you think a crew which features Omar Vizquel, Mark Kotsay, and the bloated corpse of Andruw Jones getting the lion's share of the reps will fall into?

John Sickels on Jared Mitchell

2010-01-21T20:33:11Z

John Sickels on Jared Mitchell

Jared Mitchell, OF, Chicago White Sox
Bats: L Throws: L HT: 6-0 WT: 190 DOB: October 13, 1988

In terms of pure tools, Jared Mitchell was one of the premier talents available in the 2009 draft. The 23rd overall pick, he earned a $1,200,000 bonus. He could have gone even higher if he had concentrated on baseball in college: he also played football, and didn't turn his attention towards baseball full-time until last spring. As a result, he was rather raw as college players go. Even so, he made dramatic improvements last spring, as his LSU numbers above show: note the improved power production along with a much higher walk rate last year compared to 2008. Mitchell is an amazing athlete with excellent speed and plenty of physical strength. He doesn't show much home run power yet, but many scouts think he'll develop at least 10-15 home run power to go with 40-50 steal potential. Unlike most raw tools players, Mitchell works counts and draws plenty of walks, boosting his on-base percentage. His swing is very smooth at times, but he goes through phases where he can't make contact, giving him a high strikeout rate that could be an issue as he moves up. He is still learning how to steal bases, and scouts have sometimes criticized his outfield routes, although I think the latter issue is overblown and reviews on his glovework in the Sally League were positive. He's intelligent and coaches praise his makeup and work ethic. I really like Mitchell a lot, and while he has work to do refining his game, his upside is very high and I think he's already made a great deal of progress refining it. My main worry is that the White Sox will rush him before he's ready. Grade B.

Your Savior Update

2010-01-21T01:06:00Z

More photos » Nam Y Huh - AP

How does Gordon feel about Thome coming back?

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How does he look?

"Gordon looked like Gordon,’’ Walker said. "His swing is fairly low maintenance. It’s about the mental battle for Gordon. His big challenge now is to move over to second base and understand that mental battle of a long season.’’

How is his defense?

"I feel like I got where I wanted to be in those three days,’’ Beckham said. "All I need to do at second base is relax. Joey was happy after the third day. He mentioned it was all worth it because of that third day.

"The main thing is the double-play feeds around the bag. Make sure you’re quiet with the feet and always going toward first base on the throws. But you can bet we’ll be out there before every home game doing a lot of early work. I think I should be very good by the time we get to June. I don’t see it being a problem.’’

Does he know the future?

Beckham had been out and about one fall afternoon when he noticed a text from teammate, and good friend, Chris Getz that simply read, "There are rumors that I’m getting traded.’’

"I read it and I was like, ‘What, c’mon,’'' Beckham recalled this week. "I was thinking it was just another one of those wild baseball rumors, so I sent a text back to Chris and told him, ‘Don’t worry. No way that’s happening. You’re too valuable.’ ‘’

Cowley