Sox-O-Meter: Buehrle, Floyd, Danks... Then Who?

While I still am holding on to the thought that the White Sox will surprise us all and announce a major pitching acquisition before the start of Spring Training, this undying faith took a major blow Wednesday afternoon when Scott Merkin over at whitesox.com published this nugget of negativity.

Cooper is left to work with a starting five of Mark Buehrle, John Danks and Floyd, rounded out by an inexperienced duo picked from the group of right-handers Jeff Marquez and Lance Broadway and southpaws Clayton Richard and Aaron Poreda.

Fucking great. I'm sure somehow, some way, the Sox will bring in at least 1-2 more guys for the open audition, becuase there's no way any sane person could look at this list of names and really think they could hand 64 starts over to them and not suffer an ill consequences, regardless if that violates the new Sox manifesto of getting younger, faster, etc. However, since those moves remain unseen, let's take these 4 through the S0x-O-Meter and determine who, today, would be the best choice to round out the final two spots in the rotation. As always, the scale is from 1-5, 5 meaning this guy's gold and 1 meaning I wouldn't guarantee him a spot in Birmingham's rotation just yet.

JEFF MARQUEZ
The 24-year-old righty was acquired by the Sox in the Nick Swisher deal earlier this off-season and appears to be the front-runner of the group to grab at least one spot in the 2009 rotation. He predominantly features a sinker and change-up (and now that he's here, probably a cutter, too) and has routinely been mentioned as a decent Yankee prospect for the last few years. However, he never cracked the big league roster in New York, which is minor cause for concern considering how mediocre the Yankees starting rotation has been the last few years.

In 2007 and 2008, the Yankees gave starts to the following worthless pieces of shit: Darrell Rasner (26), Philip Hughes (21), Sidney Ponson (15), Kei Igawa (13), Ian Kennedy (12), Carl Pavano (9), Tyler Clippard (6), Matt DeSalvo (6), Alfredo Aveces (4), Dan Giese (3), Jeff Karstens (3), Chase Wright (2), Brian Bruney (1), and Sean Henn (1). Are you telling me that the Pinstripes wasted 122 combined starts on these 14 guys and never once thought that Marquez couldn't possibly be any worse? You don't even want me to go over the list of guys that just made an appearance in the Bronx (it's horrific like a car crash).

Don't be mad at me when I look at Jeff's slow progression through the minors and his unpleasant K/IP rate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (0.41 K/IP) coupled with the apparent lack of urgency the Yankees had at promoting him ahead of trainwrecks like Kei Igawa and you can see why I'm not rushing out to get my customized Jeff Marquez jersey. That said, as a sinkerballer, his pitching style would translate best to Sox Park and with over 560 innings logged in the minors he's the most experienced of the 4.





Unfortunately, it looks like Marquez might be the best bet of this foursome. Blegh.

CLAYTON RICHARD
You all know the Clayton Richard story by now... Former backup quarterback at Michigan, gave up football for baseball, drafted by the Sox in the 8th round of the 2005 draft, mediocre prospect who rocketed up the organizational ladder in 2008, started the 2008 Futures Game for Team USA, almost went to Beijing for the Olympics, and would have started Game 5 of the ALDS against Tampa Bay had the series lasted that long.

Talk about a whirlwind. After Clayton's somewhat dominating performance out of the bullpen in ALDS Game 1, a lot of people got on the Clayton Richard for 5th Starter Bandwagon. You're going to have to mind with me while I play spoiler...

1. As good as Tampa's offense was last season, they had the 2nd lowest batting average against lefties in the American League. I'm sorry, but it may have just been the case of a guy taking advantage of a really good matchup.
2. Though the last 3.1 innings of his season were great, I don't see how that suddenly negates the previous 47.2 innings he tossed during the regular season. I mean, he was never particularly good... Aside from the six shutout innings he threw against Seattle on August 19, what is there that really says "this guy is built for the Major Leagues?" Perhaps now I should mention that the Mariners had the 2nd least potent offense in the American League, averaging 4.15 R/G?

It's not that I don't like Clayton Richard, because that wouldn't be true. It's that I don't like him in the starting rotation. I just don't look at Richard and see a guy that will give you 6+ innings of quality work every 5th day on a consistent basis. Unfortunately, the Sox are in a situation right now that Richard will likely have to start because, quite frankly, the other options are far, far worse.





An arm that's better suited to the bullpen will be forced into the rotation. Hopefully this doesn't ruin him.

LANCE BROADWAY
After a fiery start at the end of the 2007 season against Kansas City, it looked like maybe Broadway, the Sox's #1 pick in the 2005 Draft had arrived. Unfortunately, it looks like Lance need to be limited to just games against the Royals. In 11.1 IP against Kansas City, he has allowed just 2 earned runs in 2 starts and netted 2 wins. Against the rest of the Majors? 11 earned runs in 13 innings... 7.62 ERA. Even at the minor league level, Lance has never put up eye-popping numbers. Even in 2006 for the Barons, when he had an sub-3 ERA over 154 innings, his peripherals weren't outstanding (111 K in 154 innings, for example). Broadway will be 26 years old at the end of this season, so it's nearing time to shit or get off the pot with him. If his audition toward the end of 2008 was any indication, I don't know if he'll ever be ready to be a consistent starter in the Majors, and unlike Richard I don't see much potential value for him out of the bullpen. While I'd give him the chance to win a starting spot this Spring, I'd be willing to believe that some other team out there will be desperate enough for starting pitching that they'd take a flyer on Broadway. I'm not anticipating a major haul for him, but there is a logjam of crappy starters in our system right now.






AARON POREDA
I don't know what to think of Aaron Poreda. On the one hand, you have a guy who was a high draft pick of the Sox during a time when they were notorious for selecting "safer, low ceiling" guys that for the most part, have failed to pan out at the Major League level. But, oh, that fastball. And he's a lefty! It's not like I don't know why the Sox are so infatuated with Poreda. That said, the kid's never pitched above the AA-level and of these four, he's easily the youngest at just 22. There's plenty of time for him to continue his development, and by all accounts, aside from that plus-fastball, he still features very little Major League quality stuff. I'm not going to get too deep into it, because a) this blog has been going on for some time and b) I have no interest in seeing Aaron Poreda at the Major League level next year, barring some dire emergency.





The million dollar question for the White Sox Player Development team continues to be if they can teach Poreda enough of an arsenal to become a dominant starting pitcher, but if not he can still be groomed to be a reliable lefty out of the bullpen. I certainly hope the Sox don't mortgage his promising future for short-sighted goals.

Sox-O-Meter... The Vazquez Trade

After plenty of speculation, rumors, and hearsay, the White Sox and Braves officially finalized their 6-player deal that sent Javier Vazquez from Ozzie Guillen's doghouse to the middle of the National League East (still trying to figure out whether or not Javier got the raw end of this deal). I'm going out drinking a little bit later, so let's get right to the nitty gritty. 1st part of the Sox-O-Meter measures how much I'll miss the guys that we're saying good-bye, too; 5 Sox mean I'll be holding a candlelight vigil outside of the Cell later this week, 1 Sox means I would stuff the guy in a box and maybe send him Express 2-day mail to Atlanta... If the Sox would let me.

JAVIER VAZQUEZ

I know that everyone is ready to shit all over Javier because his last four starts in a White Sox uniform (the last, of course, being his Game 1 Meltdown in the ALDS) were god awful: 4 G, 0-4 record, 24 ER, 16.1 IP, 13.22 ERA, 24 H, 8 BB 1.960 WHIP, and 18 K.

Ouch. Of course, the book on Javier has always been a guy with A+ stuff and F- balls and his meltdown in 4 of the Sox's biggest games didn't do much to discredit that reputation. But this is still a guy who over the last 9 years has averaged 216 IP and 193 K every 162 games. Those kind of pitchers don't just grow on trees, and for all the huffing and puffing that Javier was a April/May pitcher, I never got the memo that stated games in April and May meant less in the standings than games in September. Yes, he wilted under the pressure, but he still showed up and ate a lot of innings and preformed, at worst at the league average. Unfortunately, I think a lot of people are getting caught in the "Javier Sucks" hype that started when Ozzie called him out, escalated when Javier stupidly said he'd rather spend his time on a beach in Puerto Rico, and was sealed when he performed with the same effectiveness of a BP pitcher.





Look, I knew this was a move that was going to be made back when Ozzie Guillen publicly mused he would start Clayton Richard over Javier had the ALDS made it to a Game 5. Once you're in the Ozzie Doghouse, you don't come back out, but right now there are two very big holes at the back of the White Sox rotation, and unless the Sox add another starter to help shore up the rotation, I have a bad feeling that a lot of people will be pining for Javier by midseason.

BOONE LOGAN
Awesome name. Awful pitcher. Does anyone remember that on June 14, Logan had an ERA under 1.90 and he still finished with an ERA approaching 6? Do you realize how bad you have to be to raise your ERA 4 runs over 18.1 IP? 23 ER, a FOUR HUNDRED BAA, an OPS Against of 1.211 (for comparison, the all-time career OPS leader, Babe Ruth, posted a 1.163 during his career). The fact that Boone's a lefty doesn't even save him now, Matt Thornton's impressive season and Aaron Poreda's probable move to the bullpen mean the Sox have no need for more left-handed arms, especially left-handed arms that only get about 55% of opposing batters out.





Not only would I not ship Logan Express to Atlanta, I would probably first mail him to Prague just so he had to sit in the box for a few extra days.

All right, now we're to the 4 players we get back. Again, the Sox-O-Meter is on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being I'm psyched for this guy, 1 meaning, I have no idea why he was included.

TYLER FLOWERS

The centerpiece of this deal from the Sox's perspective, and Kenny Williams called him a potential All-Star. Plus power. Plus power. But unlike the Sox's previous dabbles with power prospects (Joe Borchard), Flowers seems to understand that concept known as the "strike zone." Last season, in the Carolina League, he posted a .427 OBP and walked 98 times, while still hitting 17 HR, driving in 88 runs, and slugging .494, 5th best in the league amongst guys who spend their entire season in the Carolina League. It would also be nice to point out now that Flowers played insanely well during the AFL, hitting .387/.460/.973 with the Mesa Solar Sox.

The one downside to Flowers I've read have been some questions about his defensive ability behind the plate, but luckily the Sox will likely be shedding Jim Thome after 2009, Paul Konerko after 2010, and Jermaine Dye either after '09 or '10, depending on whether or not his option is exercised. Looks like there'll be some room for him.





Kenny hit a home run here, acquiring a guy with a monster bat who fits in much better in the American League.

BRENT LILLIBRIDGE
Lillibridge absolutely fell apart at the plate last year. After hitting between .275-.300 for most of his first three seasons in the minors, he posted a .220 BA in 90 games in AAA Richmond and then a .200 BA in 29 games with the Braves. Williams called him a supersub in the same style as Pablo Ozuna, but for all the crap Ozuna got around here, he still hit .290 in his 3 1/2 years with the Sox... Looks like big shoes to fill for Lillibridge. Considering the Sox lineup right now might have as many as three gaping holes (Getz/Nix at 2B, Fields at 3B, Anderson in CF), there's only so much offense you can give up.





Whatever, I don't expect anyone to recognize the name Brent Lillibridge in 5 years, except for the high school kids back in Everett, Washington that he'll be coaching by then.

Drinking time now... More to come later. Check back tonight or tomorrow!

Sox-O-Meter... The Ken Griffey Trade

Well, by now everyone's certainly heard that the White Sox acquired Ken Griffey, Jr. from the Reds today for Nick Masset and Danny Richar. Let's analyze!

1 Sox = getting/giving this player will not do well for the White Sox, 5 Sox = Having/unloading this player will be awesome for the Pale Hose.

KEN GRIFFEY, JR.
Obviously not the player he was even a few years, ago but can still be an impact bat. He still gets on base at a .355 clip, but he's only slugging .432 this season, down over 100 points from his career average and 50-60 points below both of his last 2 seasons. All this despite playing in the bandbox known as The Great American Ballpark.

PROS: Despite some injury troubles in Cincinnati, he's been remarkably healthy the last 2 years, playing in 246 of the Reds' 271 games in '07 and '08. As I said, I still like his OBP and his 61/64 BB:K ratio is something that is sorely lacking on this team. For reference, that is 1 walk for every 1.05 strikeouts. Meanwhile, the Sox have collectively walked 372 times and struck out 667 times; a walk every 1.79 strikeouts. The Reds are picking up a chunk of Griffey's contract and the Sox really didn't give up much to acquire him.

CONS: Well, I don't know where he's going to play. Griffey has not played a game in CF since September 4, 2006. He's been in RF for the last 2 years, and while his numbers are still all right (7 outfield assists... Nice), I don't know if Old Legs is really the answer the Sox were looking for defensively. Sandwiched between Quentin and Dye, that's got to be one of the league's slower outfields, but the White Sox play in one the smaller outfields.

VERDICT


A nice pickup, he's another left-handed bat to break up the righty dominated middle of the Sox order and if the rumors are true, he's replacing Paul Konerko in the lineup. Couple that with the reduced salary the Sox are paying and the fact that Williams didn't have to part with any big-time prospects. A classic low-risk, high-reward trade.

NICK MASSET
Masset came to the Sox in the McCarthy-Danks trade and was never able to wiggle his way into the Sox rotation. Though he's only started a pair of games, he's looked good in both. Of course, we remember his memorable win over Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs last season, but in his time in the White Sox bullpen, Masset had his successes and failures.

PROS: Not a whole lot from the White Sox perspective. Masset struggled in the bullpen and with 4 veteran starters ahead of him and a handful of more intriguing pitchers behind him, Masset was never going to get a chance to pitch every 5th day in Chicago. He may be able to win that opportunity with the Reds.

CONS: Again, not that many. Granted, the White Sox bullpen has been a mess lately, but Masset's not the answer. His career ERA in the bullpen is 5.75 and a whopping 8.31 in the 2nd half of the season. I think Nick still has a promising future if he can learn how to harness all his pitches, but he wasn't going to be a key guy for the Sox in 2008.

VERDICT

I mean, he's still on the 25-man roster so the Sox obviously felt he was better (or at least, more polished) than the arms in Charlotte and Birmingham, but his future is not with this organization.

DANNY RICHAR
Though he looked to be the starting second baseman when Spring Training started in February, visa troubles and injuries completely derailed his season. Currently he's hitting .262/.321/.427 with the Knights.

PROS/CONS: Richar made himself expendable and the White Sox suddenly find themselves flush with middle infield talent. Alexei Ramirez is obviously a keeper, he's had a great rookie season in Chicago with presumably a few years of maturing to go. Chris Getz is having a nice little year in Charlotte and has made himself a fan favorite of Sox farmhand watchers. Hell, 1st round pick Gordon Beckham may only need a few seasons of seasoning before he's ready to debut in the Show, if he's as good as the hype. Double hell, even Juan Uribe, who is a superior defensive infielder has even looked somewhat competent with the bat since getting PT to cover for Joe Crede.

All in all, middle infield is a position of depth and strength for the White Sox. While Richar might have been a nice option at 2nd base if Orlando Cabrera doesn't resign with the Sox (which he reportedly won't), it's not like the cupboard is bare. Williams has supposedly been taking a long hard look at Orlando Hudson, the Diamondbacks second baseman who will be a free agent this winter. OK, so the last 2 FA's Williams targeted were Torii Hunter and Aaron Rowand, and we know how that worked out, but there are a lot of options, with or without Danny.

VERDICT

No real loss here. Danny's a nice talent, but he's not a blue chipper, and if he's the pivotal player you give up in a deal, you can't be very upset.

Sox-O-Meter: Potential Trade Aquisitions

Ah yes, the last few days of July. Must be time for trade rumors to swirl. Kenny Williams and the Sox have watched from the sideline while CC Sabathia, Rich Harden, Joe Blanton, and others have been moved to contending teams. Now, about 10 days before the trade deadline, with the Twins nipping at their heels and the Tigers stubbornly refusing to fall from viewing distance, the Sox have been an active name in trade rumors. But are there any deals out their worth taking? Let's see...

1 Sox... (Sock?) = Steer clear, 5 Sox = Bring it home, Kenny.

A.J. BURNETT
Of all the pitchers supposedly left on the open market, Burnett is probably the most enticing. He's having a bit of a down year (10-9 but an ERA of 4.84), but he's still striking out just about 1 batter per inning.

PROS: In relatively limited action, he's owned the Twins to the tune of a .182/.207/.309 line, and he's pitched well against Detroit.

CONS: Though he's signed through 2010, his contract allows him to opt out of the deal after this season if he likes, and given the current market for starting pitching, he'd likely make a king's ransom in the free agent pool. Also, Burnett is a notorious health risk and has not pitched 200 innings in a season since he was 28 in 2005. The Blue Jays have also said they're not interested in dealing Burnett, and with plenty of other teams looking for starting pitching around baseball, it will probably take an offer the Sox simply cannot produce to lure him from Toronto.

VERDICT:

A live arm that would certainly help the rotation, but will ultimately be too expensive both in the short and long term.

JUSTIN DUCHSCHERER
Though Oakland used Duchscherer as a reliever for the last 4 seasons, Duchscherer's responded brilliantly to his move to the rotation. An All-Star selection, he's pitched 115 innings and has a microscopic 1.87 ERA. Already having dealt Rich Harden and Joe Blanton, the A's are in a full "Sell Now" mode.

PROS: Hard to argue when you add the American League's best ERA to your pitching staff. Salary is just over $1 million, very friendly to acquire. Even though he is a free agent after this season, unlikely will be a Type A Free Agent thanks to his years spent in the bullpen, so would not cost the Sox potential draft picks the way A.J. Burnett would. Finally, would replace Mark Buehrle as most misspelled player's name on the Sox.

CONS: Plays in Oakland, in one of the most friendly pitcher's parks in the league. As of today, has thrown 115.2 innings, 30 more than his previous career best. Low strikeout-to-innings pitched ratio also doesn't bode well for life at the Cell.

VERDICT

A risky gamble, and not one I'd necessarily be willing to take.

DANIEL CABRERA
Granted, his name hasn't been thrown around much at all this trade deadline season, but you don't have to have that great of a memory to recall the days when the Orioles always seemed to be willing to part with the 6'7'' Dominican. Even in this his "break-out" year, Cabrera's ERA is still 4.57 and his career ERA is just a shade under 5.

PROS: At only 27 years old, there's still a lot of room for him to grow. Is also signed until 2010, so he wouldn't be a temporary fixture in the rotation. Seems like the kind of guy Don Cooper has had a string of successes with; plenty of people rave about his potential, but he never seems to be able to put it all together.

CONS: Its impossible to tell what the Orioles are thinking. They trade Erik Bedard in the off-season to Seattle for prospects, but then they balk at trading away Brian Roberts? As long as Peter Angelos is running the ship, no one will ever know exactly what the mood is in Baltimore.

VERDICT

If the Orioles hint he's available and they don't ask for the farm and the kitchen sink, I think he'd look great in silver and black.

GREG MADDUX
Yeah, that Greg Maddux. If you haven't noticed the Padres are terrible and one thing terrible teams don't need are aging pitchers.

PROS: Still pitching a ton of innings, currently on pace to top 200 innings again. Couldn't hurt to expose young pitchers like Floyd and Danks to his knowledge of the game, right? Plus, he'd be another savvy veteran not intimidated by the bright lights of a pennant chase and baseball in October.

CONS: Has a full no-trade clause and is rumored to not want to leave the West Coast. Despite longevity, his ERA has climbed over the past two years, despite playing PETCO Park, which is slightly smaller than the Grand Canyon. He's still 42 years old, and will eventually break down, right? His agent is Scott Boras and his current contract is only good through this season, so he probably wouldn't be more than a 2-month rental.

VERDICT

I'm not really sold either way. On the one hand, he probably still is a better option than what the Sox have in their system right now. On the other hand, his glory days are long, long behind him.

finally...

FREDDY GARCIA
Not having pitched since last season in Philadelphia, he should be well rested right? Garcia and his agent will be holding an audition for him on August 5, and yes he wouldn't come via a deadline trade, but he still believes he's got what it takes to help a contender out during a stretch run.

PROS: Already familiar with the Sox coaching staff and most of the players, he'd probably be the easiest to fit into the grand scheme of things. Freddy also became a fan favorite in his brief time here and when healthy, he's always been a big-game pitcher.

CONS: Really unsure about his arm, and despite the buzz he's been getting recently, there's still a lot of doubt as to whether he can ever be the same pitcher he was in his prime. Baseball history is littered with failed comeback of power pitchers turned finesse guys due to injury, and most of us remember watching Freddy try to locate upper-80's fastballs in 2006, only to serve somebody a meatball right over the heart of the plate. Plus, with a lot of other teams looking at Garcia, it's pretty likely someone will overpay for his services.

VERDICT

I doubt the Sox will bring back Freddy, but I'd hope they don't discount him completely. I don't think you can question his heart or desire, but you sure can question his right shoulder.

As always, thanks to baseball-reference.com for the stats, MLB Trade Rumors for most of the names I dropped, and MLB4U.com for contract information.