WHITESOXRANDY

Since Ozzie has been the manager, 2004, no Sox team has had a better second half record than the first half. We all know that the Sox are not going to the playoffs. However, KW is as pigheaded as they come so he will very likely make very few changes. Although I cannot see how he can not trade Jackson. Even KW can't be that dense. If it were me, I would trade Quentin, Buehrle, Pierre, Jackson and Teahen for the best prospects available. Ofcourse, this is only of value if you plan to upgrade player development, increase scouting and invest in international signings. That's what is called a rebuild. The Sox organization has no philosphy resembling this. This would require J.R. to have a philophy change and he would have to start over with all new front office personnel. Since hell isn't freezing over I will expect more of the same in years to come.

Some interesting comments on here. For those of you that asked why Quentin is involved in this you should understand that I am not suggesting anything. What gave me this idea was looking at the AAA stats and seeing that Viciedo, Milledge and De Aza are all mashing right now and playing well. Then, I saw Danks who is not hitting as well but better and he is clearly the best defensive OFer in Charlotte and maybe in Chicago. So, the idea came, what if we had these 4 in Chicago right now? Assuming Danks would play CF regularly because he couldn't be platooned with Milledge or Viciedo (maybe Lillibridge) and De Aza would be the regular RFer with Milledge and Viciedo splitting LF and DH. My thinking is that Danks probably wouldn't produce even Rios numbers offensively and Rios does have the potential for a lot more. I have a feeling that De Aza would do pretty well right now if brought up and his production only exceeded by Quentin. However, he would be a good threat on the bases. Milledge's bat might surprise some. I guess my point is that the Sox probably wouldn't lose much if they changed out these 4 right now which is sad considering the salaries involved.

Hypothetically, would the Sox do as well or better if Dunn, Rios, Pierre and Quentin were replaced by Danks, De Aza, Milledge and Viciedo? They make about $ 40 mil. less. lol What do you think?

Right. Or, how about, Jackson, Rios, Peavy, Sale, Dunn and Beckham for Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon ?

You can fantasiza all you want but NO team is gonna take Rios, Dunn or Peavy off the Sox hands. That's ridiculous to even think of it. First of all, Peavy isn't healthy. So, what bone-headed GM would make a trade for an enormously expensive injured pitcher? Oops! Secondly, although Dunn will hit better eventually, he never would have been worth the contract the Sox gave him in the first place plus a number 1 draft pick? No team is gonna pick that up especially until he rakes for a while and then the Sox won't want to deal him. Rios contract is just too long for any team to take that on. Not gonna happen.

Good post.

If Ozzie is fired Chicago will be a whole lot quieter. Maybe my ears will hurt less. But, the team won't be any better. Now, if KW were to get canned, and the right guy brought in to run this organization things might change for the better.

There is nothing of substance that can be done. Do you just want a coach fired to say that they did? It won't change anything. As far as the players go, the bed has been made. This is it. Dunn and Rios will either produce more or they won't and that will be the story. These two are unmoveable and are too expensive to bench. So, it's live or die with them. The rest of the team is pretty much playing the way they play. Maybe, you could hold out hope for Beckham getting hot or Peavy being consistent. That's about it. Bringing up Viciedo isn't going to change anything either. Firing Ozzie won't change anything. Dunn and Rios won't hit better for another manager. What should happen is a complete gutting of this administration in it's entirety with a whole new team president with a focus on international signings, scouting and player development. Sorry....I drifted into dreamland for a minute. Nothing will happen.

Exactly. That's why De Aza is more help right now. He has a lot more experience and is hitting about as well and other facets of the game are better. I didn't say that De Aza's career would be better.

Well, considering that he is basically hitting the same as De Aza and De Aza plays better defense and can steal bases, right now De Aza would help the Sox more. Viciedo is likely to be a pretty good DH. He'll never make an all-star team. That's my prediction. A good hitter, not a great one. Maybe, he will last in the outfield for a while before he gets moved to DH. For comparison, I will go with Jose Guillen.

I'm not saying that I agree with everything Cowley has written however I will say this: 1. I think that since the end of the 2007 season until now Kenny Williams has been the worst general manager in baseball. 2. Viciedo would not make a difference on the Sox right now unless he was replacing Dunn which the Sox cannot do for obvious reasons (KW's screwup). 3. The Sox have no one in the minor leagues that would help the team - pathetic. Their system is a joke. There isn't anyone there that is going to be a star. This is on KW. 4. Ozzie is an excellent manager that would have many job offers. I don't believe that KW would be offered another GM job ever. 5. This franchise will continue to go down hill as long as KW is the GM.

Since when has any talent come out of Latin America? The Sox don't need to waste lots of money on those guys. They go after the more cost effective types like Jake Peavy, Adam Dunn and Alex Rios.

De Aza would probably help the team more since his line is very close to Viceido's now and he plays better defense, can steal bases, has more experience and is left handed.

Unquestionably, Ozzie. Kenny Williams has been the worst general manager in baseball since the end of the 2007 season.

Yep, he's on fire. His average is all the way up to .178. And, he only struck out 3 times today. I guess having him play the field more is really making a difference.

They should immediately move that kid up. He's bored and just messing with this league. He's ready. Move him up. The kid is gonna be awesome.

Not to worry. The Sox are great at getting guys to cut down on their strikeouts!

Interesting tidbit: While looking at the Southern league batting champs in the last decade I discovered that they were all older than league average like Kuhn 24-29. However, one current White Sox player finished 2nd with a .343 average at the age of 21 back in 2000. Can you guess who that was ? Hint: He's currently batting .179.

And, your point is ? My point is that the Sox have nothing in the minor leagues. They might as well scrap the whole thing for what it's worth. The Sox might have one player that maybe could be an impact player at the Major League level one day. That's it. It's a worthless farm system. Viciedo is the only one right now that might have a memorable big league career. And, he isn't even a slam dunk to do that. The Sox whole minor league stable isn't worth 1 legit A rated prospect. It's a joke.

Thanks for the reminder that all these stats that we are looking at is for MINOR league baseball. Some seem to think that this somehow translates into the same in the big leagues. De Aza is the perfect example. I don't think Danks would do any more for the Sox right now than even Alex Rios in a slump.

Are you worried that, for once, the White Sox might not be rushing a prospect? They've already messed up Beckham, Sale and Morel.

Unbelievable how the Sox have no minor league pitching help. This is a joke. They have to be the only team in baseball that can't bring one decent pitcher up from their minor leagues. Imagine how lucky the Sox have been. Many teams go through so many injuries each year that they need to pull up 4 or 5 pitchers from their minors. Amazingly, many of these teams have excellent pitching prospects that actually pitch well while they are up here and some stay!

All I know is that I'm tired of seeing this act over and over again of acquiring very expensive stars that have peaked for our pitching prospects and draft picks with little regard for investing in the franchise and player development. Right now, I would be more excited about my team if we were Tampa, K.C. , Oakland, Cincinnati, Florida, Toronto, Washington..heck even the Cubs have exciting young players at the Major League level and some more on the cusp.

It's not that I thought Dunn would suck this bad. And, I didn't mind the fact that the Sox signed him. I just knew that they paid him too much yearly and for too long a period because let's face it, Dunn already looks like he's 45 playing in a beer league. Secondly, I knew the Sox needed some of that money for other players - particularly J.J. Putz. That pissed me off to see him go to Arizona for $ 5 mil. a year and ofcourse he's 15 for 15 now. That alone would have changed this season. Kenny did not need to throw that kind of money at the DH spot - and ONCE AGAIN for a guy (Dunn) that was NOT a great hitter. And, even at his best has a skill set that is very very limited. He's the anti-Lillibridge.

Yeah, I took quite the beating all winter long.