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Swish…Two Points |
I welcome Nick Swisher to the White Sox with open arms. He’s a grinder, full of emotion and all in all seems like a nice guy. He hit about 23 HRS at MacAfee which is a nightmare park, so hitting about 35-40 at the cell should be no problem.
Did we trade away the future pitching of the organization? Yes. Yet things must be done NOW. Simply put, either we fold our tents and go west while the Tigers and Indians clean house, or we go back to our motto in ’06, win or die trying, and be the David against the Goliaths in the AL Central.
Is Gio Gonzales the man? Maybe. I know this much. We have heard so much about him, but he still has yet to make his major league debut. He is going to AAA before he comes to MLB so he is still on the shelf. And who knows, maybe Kenny will try to find away to pry him away from Oakland. Is De Lo Santos for real? He looks good, but do we know for sure? Ryan Sweeny is a decent outfielder, but these guys are prospects, that being the key word.
When you sign a guy like Nick Swisher, you know what you’re getting. A full-fledged baseball player that will give you all he has to win. Here’s a guy who can play any position in the outfield as well as first base, giving some depth there. There is no guarantee that Gonzales or De Lo Santos play this year. Hell, they may stink up the joint in Oakland. My question still as I said before. If Gonzales is so great, how come the Sox haven’t looked at him yet in the major league level. Sweeny going is a no brainer. If the Sox want to make a real run for the playoffs, Swisher can help. And the biggest bonus is look at his contract. He is making under $10 million for the first three years, and a little more for the fourth. So the Sox have this guy for the long haul.
It is a great move by Kenny but he needs to find a way to rebuild the farm system. If you don’t have a good farm system, then you need to spend money and Reinsdorf has already proven, the White Sox won’t spend. Now here are some scenarios I would like to introduce that the Sox should do to get them closer to contending with Detroit and Cleveland.
1-Trade Joe Crede for a reliable starter. I am not buying the rotation. (Buerhle, Vazquez, Contreras, Danks, and Floyd.) Contreras is a question mark but I think he will come around this year. Danks will be fine as a 4 or 5. Can lightning strike twice with Vazquez? Will he have the same year as he did last year? Buerhle will get you 15-17 wins this year, but Gavin Floyd? I hate the fact he is part of the rotation as his numbers from last year were horrible. So why not chase after Bedard or Blanton? Crede, once it is proven he is over the injury, will be a great addition to any team seeking a third baseman.
2-Go back to the farm system bank and trust for Blanton. So Beanie is looking for prospects, shall we give them a few more for Joe Blanton? Once again, see number one for the starter explanation. Blanton is a very good starter and could help the Sox contend. You look at Detroit and you have what can be considered the best rotation in baseball. Verlander, Rogers, Bonderman, Robertson, and now the D Train. Cleveland has a great ace in CC Sabthia, along with Westbrook, Carmona, and Paul Byrd who works well as a 4 or 5. The bullpen is hurting a little bit in Detroit with Zumaya gone, but the starters may be able to go the distance. The Sox need to match the rotations of these two teams as much as they can and although I am a fan of John Danks, Gavin Floyd will get you nowhere.
3-Use Pablo Ozuna as you lead off guy and play him at second. Pablo is a gamer. He gets on base a lot, can steal, and has that mentality where he is here to play baseball. The two concerns are, can Pablo handle playing in an everyday situation, and how will he be health wise since his injury at Tampa. Pablo is a good answer, and so would Jerry Owens if he competes well against Carlos Quentin.
4-Hopefully the rumors are true and Konerko will be on his way out West with Ervin Santana and Kendrick/Figgins come here. Look, I love Paulie. However, we wait around for his bat to get hot, he clogs up bases because he is so slow, and he has shown he has poor judgment as he tells Kenny “we can play as we are” in 2006. He really never accepted the “captain” badge and he may be the strong silent type, but this team needs fire! They need people who are going to energize the team once again. Check this out, if you put Kendrick at second, you can play Fields at first, and resign Crede. If Figgins comes over the same is true but you trade Crede. Konerko is a huge key to helping this team get better.
I am excited to see if Kenny redeems himself for the entire year of 2007. We’ll see.
JAE
