Where did everybody go?
Are the White Sox contenders right now? Well yes, I guess they are. As I type this, they are 2 games back of the Tigers and a half-game up on the Twins in the AL Central, arguably the worst division in baseball history not counting the 2009 NL East. In addition, they’re potentially a week away from getting Carlos Quentin back. That starts a chain-reaction of potentially positive things.
- It strengthens the lineup, since a healthy Quentin is the team’s best hitter.
- It moves Scott Podsednik from LF to CF, where his 98 OPS+ isn’t a complete embarrassment.
- It makes Brian Anderson a 4th outfielder again and puts Dwayne Wise in the minor leagues. Asking Brian Anderson and Dwayne Wise to split starts in CF while Scott Podsednik is playing left is no way to run a ballclub. Well it’s no way to run a successful one, anyway.
GM Kenny Williams finds himself in an unenviable position right now though. It’s clear that they have nowhere near the talent of the Red Sox, Yankees, or Rays. While it’s true that they could potentially fluke their way to 4 wins in October against any of those teams, a lot of things would have to go right for that to happen. For one, they’d have to catch Detroit and hold off Minnesota over the next 3 months. For a team that’s barely won more games than they’ve lost up to this point, it’s tough to feel comfortable making that kind of prediction. So where does that leave them? Are they buyers or are they sellers?
I guess they answered that question on Tuesday when they traded minor league INF Brandon Allen to the Diamondbacks for reliever Tony Pena. Brandon Allen was probably the White Sox’ 4th or 5th best prospect in the minors. He OPS’d .922 in 2008 and was hitting .285/.352/.437 between AA and AAA so far this year. Presumably, that makes them buyers. I mean you don’t trade away a prospect for a 7th inning reliever if you’re a seller, right?
Wait, is that really what they just did?
Yes it is. Last night Kenny Williams traded an actual prospect for a right-handed 7th inning guy. And this particular 7th inning guy isn’t even someone who’s having one of those fluke reliever seasons that you ride until his arm falls off like Michael Weurtz or David Aardsma. No he got Tony Pena, a guy who’s given up 41 hits in 34 innings. Granted that includes a .342 BABIP, but is this really a guy the White Sox should be trading actual prospects for? It’s not like they have an abundance of solid pro prospects in the minor-leagues right now to choose from.
If they’re buyers, they should go all out and be buyers, in which case I would have no problem with them trading away prospects. But taking a 23 year old power 1st baseman who is probably one of only 3 or 4 guys in their entire system who will some day be in the majors and trading him for a 7th inning reliever who isn’t even dominant is just silly.
Some White Sox fans will be comforted from hearing Ozzie Guillen’s defense of the trade when he said “people will say we have to bring in so-and-so, but if we make a move, it will be to resolve what we need. When we got [Geoff] Blum [at the deadline in 2005], it was because he was what we needed.” So in Ozzie’s eyes, this trade is similar to the one they made in 2005 when they added Geoff Blum. But is that a fair comparison? Not really. What Ozzie failed to mention in that quote was that at the time of the Blum trade, the White Sox had a double-digit lead in the division and were on pace for 100 wins. That’s not the case today. This team is so much more flawed than their 2005 team, so making comparisons between the two trades is horribly misguided, if not a downright lie to fans who don’t know any better.
So what the hell are they doing? No for real, I’m asking honestly. Where are they going from here? It’s not this particular trade that I hate as much as it proves to me that Kenny Williams thinks the White Sox are good enough to win right now as they’re constructed. And that just makes me nervous.
My final grade? B- on merit, but a D for its overall philosophy.
Our pen sucks dog balls. I like the trade even though Ive never seen Tony Pena play. He has to be better than anyone in our shit Pen. Hes a Latin so he speaks Ozzies language, Right?
That’s racist
Why did they trade that solid prospect to Arizona for Tony Pena who’s already had his good stretch of the season. His 3 month bad stretch started a week or two ago.
Que?
Tampa, Tony Pena becomes the White Sox’ 5th best reliever behind Bobby Jenks, Matt Thornton, DJ Carrasco, and Scott Linebrink.
And yes, he is Latin, but that also means he has a low baseball IQ.
Now THAT’S racist.
eso es racista
oye Como va
Is Kenny wearing Timbs?
/possibly racist
No but he bought those sunglasses on layaway.
/I ain’t scared of you motherfuckers’d
Kick it!
Why the fuck didn’t the Yankees trade for Pena!?!?!?
/TBL’d
Little known fact: Tampa wore that same ensemble to his homecoming dance.
Isn’t Brendan Allen (possibly not his name) supposed to be good? I’ve heard things about someone who’s name I don’t remember.
i give this trade a meth +
Solid commentary, Monty. They don’t call you the best color man (that is racist) in the business for nothing.
Brandon Allen probably won’t be anything special. But even if he turns out to be, that’s not really the reason this is a bad trade right now. The reason it’s a bad trade is because trading for relief pitching in order to provide depth (or even trading for relief pitching at all) is fucking retarded. Unless the return was Jonathan Broxton or something, there’s probably 2 or 3 guys the White Sox could have found in their own minor league system who could have provided the same return that Tony Pena is going to provide. So basically, they gave away a prospect.
what would kenny williams know about running a successful franchise?
having ozzie as your manager is like not drinking all night and giving your keys to your friend who was pounding shots for hours to drive you home.
so what you’re saying is being a white sox fan is akin to supporting drunk driving?
shame on you…sinner.
having Eric Wedge as your manager is like having a Bentley, but painting it yellow.
And then letting a dog drive it.
having eric wedge manage your team is like asking helen keller to be your chauffeur.
having eric wedge manage your team is like Fucking Kim Kardashian and finding out she has AIDS immediately after.
not really…because at least for that 3-30 minutes you’re fucking her, it’s not half bad.
eric wedge is like fucking barbara streisand and finding out she has the clap. the clap is worse because you live your whole life knowing that you got the clap from striesandra.