The Off-Season Transactions Thus Far

The off-season, now about halfway over, has been very dramatic and rumor-filled, if not excessively busy. The following is an analysis and 'grade' of the biggest White Sox stories since the World Series:

1. Letting Scott Podsednik, Alex Cintron, and Darin Erstad go - In the 2005 season, there was no bigger Podsednik supporter than myself, and no Sox fan can dispute his effectiveness at the top of our order during our World Series run. However, he broke into the league as a (I think) 27-year-old rookie, and as such it can be assumed the peak of his career was his 2004 season with the Brewers and 2005 season with the Sox. His stolen base success rate had dropped dramatically from his stellar 2005 campaign, no doubt due to his increasing proneness to injury. Jerry Owens is the same style of player, only younger, cheaper, and (now) more successful on the basepaths, so their was no need to keep Podsednik around. Cintron, meanwhile, had some clutch hits in his time on the South Side, but his 2007 season was so poor, even by Sox standards, that Kenny had little choice but to let him go. No loss here, particularly with the excess of middle infielders created by the Cabrera and Ramirez acquisitions. Same goes for Erstad, who would have been a solid acquisition by KW had he not been injured so frequently.

Final Assessment: This was a no-brainer, as each of these players had exhausted their time in Chicago. There will always be a spot in our hearts for Scotty P. (hence the painted seat in center to mark his walk-off in the WS), but he would be of little use next season.

2. The Garland-for-Cabrera swap - I'm torn on this trade, just because there is no way properly judge it until the season. On one hand, Cabrera is a clear offensive upgrade at the shortstop position, particularly in the Ozzieball system. His OBP and OPS are probably not as high as Ozzie or Kenny would like out of the 1 or 2 spot, but he does do a good job of getting on base, creating opportunities with his feet, and collecting clutch hits. I was also never entirely sold on Garland--people have said he had the best stuff on the team since 2003 or so, but he was far too hittable and his win totals in 2004 and 2005 (36 total, tied for Chris Carpenter for best in the Majors, as all Garland supporters incessantly remind us) were highly misleading given his ERA totals (anybody who tallies 18 wins in consecutive seasons should be given automatic consideration for the Cy Young; not Garland). However, while Garland was not and will never be a staff ace, he is a strikingly solid number-3 starter. Contreras is becoming a joke, and Gavin Floyd should never be a starter on any major league team, particularly in the competitive AL Central. Shortstop was a position in need of an upgrade for the Sox, but it was nowhere near the most pressing issue for. Uribe gives you pretty good pop out of the 8 or 9 spot (though I do think he will be incredibly valuable in a utility role, see below), whereas Garland's absence creates a huge void in the middle of the rotation.

Final Assessment: A few things need to happen for this trade to ultimately work out favorably for the Sox. First, we need to sign Cabrera to a two-,three-, or four-year deal. There is no benefit to a swap of one-year contracts unless a.) you resign the player you receive at or below market value (given pending free agency), b.) he helps you contend for that one year, c.) his contract opens up significant cap space, or d.) you trade him before the deadline to a contender for young talent. Because Orlando's not necessarily the impact player teams look for at the deadline (even though he did go to the Red Sox in July of 2004) but still a very solid shortstop, the Sox need to seriously consider grabbing him through 2010. Secondly, we need to give up on Gavin and hold a heated Spring Training competition between Gio Gonzalez, Lance Broadway, and Jack Egbert for the 5th starter's spot. I've only seen Gio pitch on YouTube, but you can just tell that he has the stuff to be a big-game pitcher. This 5th starter has to be at least moderately productive to give us a fighting chance of making the playoffs, though I am starting to think it may be beneficial to sacrifice fifteen to twenty games just to give them the big league experience. Lastly, and most obviously, Garland has to have a mediocre season for the Angels. If this is the case, we probably wouldn't have tried to resign him in free agency, and we would have gotten 50 cents on the dollar for him before the trade deadline. As it stands now, however, this trade appears to have done more harm than good.

3. Signing Scott Linebrink to a 4-year, $19+ million deal - I hate to admit it, but I'm very pessimistic about this acquisition. His stats show that he's clearly on the decline, and this happened in pitcher-friendly PetCo Park. There's no questioning that we overpaid dearly for him (as if $19 million wasn't enough, we lose a second-round pick; I would have much rather just gone into our farm system and settled for something cheaper, though less effective), and I'm terrified that he's going to get shelled at The Cell. He reminds me a lot of Dustin Hermanson a couple years ago--will probably fool hitters at the beginning of the year, but there is no way he is going to last a whole season, let alone four, staying healthy and acting as a solid bridge between the bullpen and Bobby.

Final Assessment: No doubt it upgraded our anemic bullpen, but it came at far too high a price. Will ultimately hurt us.

4. Trading Chris Carter for Carlos Quentin - Again, it's very tough to immediately judge the impact of this trade on either team, as the players are in such different stages of their respective careers. While Carter will likely be a good to very good power hitter with some time, Quentin looks like he can be a very effective platooning outfielder as early as Opening Day. Though injuries have limited his ceiling, I'm hesitantly optimistic about his ability--there's no denying he has the potential to be a major contributor.

Final Assessment: With first base solidified and the outfield in serious question, I'm tempted to think that this sacrifice was worthwhile. It will turn against us, however, if Carter becomes the next Konerko, while Quentin develops into a career utility player. Starting to sound like the Chris Young for Javy Vasquez trade (though I'm still a defender of KW on this one)...

5. Resigning Juan Uribe to a one-year deal - Contrary to the majority of baseball critics and experts, I hated this deal before we brought in Cabrera, and love it now. He's shown that he has the offensive pop to be an everyday player, but that his ability is limited by his impatience at the plate. He also played a significant amount of second base in Colorado, should Richar slip up. Couple these facts with his knack for coming up with big hits every so often, and he immediately becomes one of the best reserve middle infielders in the league.

Final Assessment: Putting Juan in a more limited role should, oddly enough, maximize his output, and I am confident that his improvements at the plate will be one of the big storylines for the White Sox in 2008.

6. Signing Alexei Ramirez to a 4-year, $4.75 milion deal - I cannot begin to describe my excitement about bringing Alexei on board--I was keeping my fingers crossed since I first heard about him in November, and became more optimistic when we missed out on Torii and Aaron. Again, I've only seen him on YouTube, but from what I hear, the kid can flat-out play. With a little bit of time and coaching he can be a legitimate 5-tool player, and he gives us an immediate boost both in the infield and outfield. Watching his swing and swagger, he reminds me a lot of a young Alfonso Soriano; this should bring ecstasy to the hearts and minds of Sox fans everywhere, but surprisingly enough, this deal has gone very much under the radar of baseball followers, no doubt due to the fact that nothing is final until he passes a physical (should be in the next week or so). I understand that Cuban ball is essentially the equivalent of Single A ball, but he showed that he can hit in the WBC, and I really see Contreras helping him to seamlessly assimilate into the White Sox organization (glad Jose is good for something at what we're paying him). I can't remember the last time I was this excited about a KW pick-up.

Final Assessment: Extremely low-risk financial investment with a potentially astronomical reward. I know I'm in the minority camp, but I see this kid becoming a star, even if it's not with the Sox.