29andPoplar

Lots of ex White Sox prospects on the minor league free agent list. Anthony Webster, who was traded in one of the Carl Everett deals, is a FA from Texas. Jeff Bajenaru from the Diamondbacks, Gustavo Molina from the Orioles, Felix Diaz from the Red Sox, Andres Torres from Detroit, Joe Borchard from the Marlins, Danny Sandoval from the Phillies. Also Cliff Politte and Vic Darensbourg.

It doesn't work consistently though, you know that as well as I. He's hit poorly in a lot more months both in Chicago and Charlotte. Ability to work on and make adjustments maybe. There are reasons he hasn't done well consistently, I think TexSox's post sums it up nicely. At this point I'm going to end my participation in this thread because not much more needs to be said, from me anyways. Some blame the White Sox more, some blame Brian Anderson more. Nothing wrong with that, it is the nature of baseball discussion. I will say this, whether it's Brian Anderson or anyone else, the White Sox need to do a better job of bringing the right types of guys into the organization, and developing them better. Changes are afoot and I hope they are for the better. I do like how they're questioning and thoroughly evaluating everything they do. You have to get guys with the right intangibles and you have to develop them to assure a maximum return which is basically what TexSox said. And when I say "bring the right types of guys in" it absolutely applies to players and coaches/development personnel/front office. Everything and everyone.

Dick Allen, You have to remember they told him to not worry about his offense to take the pressure off him. However as time went on and he was still making the same plate discipline errors he took the "woe is me" approach. Not good. That is where a player with good makeup and intangibles pulls himself up from the bootstraps. I blame the White Sox for overestimating his talent so I suppose at one level we agree. The White Sox are not blameless in this, I agree although I think we view it (the blame) from different angles. Which is fine.

Actually I have responded to it repeatedly. He wasn't jerked around in 2006, he didn't perform. The team was trying to repeat as a winner. If anything they went out of their way to make it easier for Brian by trying to take the pressure off him by telling him to just worry about defense with the hopes his talent (which they overrated big time) would surface at the plate. To put it equally bluntly, he isn't that good. He thinks he is but he isn't. Part of being a good player is not throwing pity parties (and I apologize to the board for using that term repeatedly but it's the only way I can figure out to say it). He has done that repeatedly. Careers get short circuited that way. I realize many here don't seem to care about intangibles or greatly minimize them. However, they are important and let's leave Erstad completely out of the intangibles discussion because I realize the sarcasm meter runs high on this board with Erstad jokes. Even if Erstad wasn't available or wasn't brought it wouldn't matter. Anderson isn't very good. Neither is Erstad. The mistake the Sox made was pointed out by other posters, they misjudged (actually overrated) Anderson's talent and Erstad's too for that matter and as one poster said, there was no good backup plan. They did not and do not have any CF's in the pipeline, except maybe this Kent Gerst kid that Bureau speaks highly of and I have mentioned from time to time as a guy to watch. Again, part of talent is mental makeup and the ability to overcome failures. Anderson just kept digging himself a hole, deeper and deeper, by not listening or working on things and wanting to do things his own way. Not sure why that aspect of things isn't being acknowledged. Further I believe many here and also in the White Sox organization felt, or still feel, this guy is good because he was a 1st round draft pick and he hit for average at AAA. The road is littered with guys who hit well at AAA. A poster here pointed it out, I believe it was Chisoxfn, who said Anderson had huge holes in his swing even then. Look at Bureau's comments in the Future Sox section on swing plane and changing guy's swings. Anderson struck out a lot and he's still striking out a lot. A player has to be smart enough and willing enough to recognize shortcomings and apply them. Not only that but he has never shown to be a smart hitter. When you pick the wrong guys in the draft you can have the greatest instructors in the world and they can't make a guy a great player. It does not work that way. As Bureau said and I agree with him, Anderson was a high ceiling power prospect and good defensively. However the mental aspect and the intangibles are what makes guys successful because they know how to apply their tools and hone their craft. To be even more clear - I do not blame all of this on Brian. Again it's my opinion he was never that good to start with. A huge red flag went up for me looking at his strikeout rate and seeing him play in spring training several years ago. A big huge long swing which he apparantly had in college too, from talking to Univ. of Arizona people. And then the intangibles issues. My question is, why draft a guy like that? I will admit to having a huge bias for hitting for contact, line drives, and gap power, and strong strike zone recognition. With that in mind, Anderson isn't, and wasn't, that type of player. Thus far, his results have shown it to be true, i.e. his results haven't been good. Maybe if his intangibles were better his results would be better. But they aren't and we now have what we have.

The whole point of your post was how much BA got jerked around and how bad a move it was to plug in Erstad. Chisoxfn does a good job of articulating the Erstad thing so no need for me to belabor it. As for Brian. Perform like a big leaguer on and off the field and you get to play. Don't, and you won't. I suppose that statement can be argued all night long with but, but, but. It really sums it up though. I am not an advocate for just giving this guy away. He needs to get healthy and come in with a clean slate in terms of his attitude and from the White Sox perspective, expectations (they shouldn't have any expectations for him). Let him play in Charlotte and see where it goes, hopefully his value goes up.

I think Guillen has a strong sense, almost an absolute sense, of a players intangibles. Of course, no one is ever 100% judging a players intangibles. Let's take Owens as an example. When they sent him down, Guillen was quoted to the effect of "this guy isn't sure he belongs in the big leagues". Something like that. What he's trying to say, I believe, is he doesn't have confidence, killer instinct, warrior mentality. However you want to phrase it. Guillen feels a player needs to be 100% ready to compete, especially a young player who hasn't proven anything. Given their goal to win, he has less patience with these young players than say, a manager in Pittsburgh might. To Owens credit, he took what they told him to heart and came back and did better. He may or may not be in their long term plans but he picked himself up by the bootstraps and did better. I admire Owens for that and I believe Guillen does as well. If Guillen had his way, some of those kids wouldn't have sniffed the big leagues, not because he doesn't like young players but because all the injuries made these guys have to play. Their talent evaluators overestimated talent and confidence of several guys. Masset, MacDougal, Aardsma were all overestimated in one way or the other. All three of them internalize way way too much. Not good. These are things that should've been known before they were acquired. I believe Guillen gives veterans a bit too much rope. I also believe some of that philosophy will change because it bit Guillen and the team in the behind in 2007. Lastly, I believe the White Sox organization absolutely must insist that young players are fundamentally sound and ready to contribute before they hit the big leagues.

Agree. He needs more "kid glove" handling than most.

Completely agree with this by the way. The issue continues to be working through that frustration and channeling it the right way.

And then turned around and worked his behind off, interestingly enough with no pity parties.

Hey CWS, You might want to check your own post for useless hyperbole. I noticed this: "Nope, instead we brought in Darin Erstad, the guy whose balls were massaged by every f-ing person within the organization .... " Anderson isn't that good. There's a reason why he hasn't broken through, and despite what's claimed on this site, it has absolutely zero to do with bias or "ball massaging". If you think otherwise, that's fine by me, and we will agree to disagree.

Guillen wanted Allen Thomas to come up with a better program for those guys and others. You may know Guillen has a unique way with the English language. If Brian Anderson were half the blameless saint you paint him out to be, he'd be the starting CF for the White Sox. I'll stand by my comments too, because they aren't speculation, I've heard them directly from White Sox personnel. Maybe they were lying to me just for kicks though, who knows.

He's still here because they don't want to give him away, and "not much" is probably what the Sox could get for him right now. It's understandable. He needs to get healthy and show some talent. Unless and until that happens, the only way they'll deal him is if some other team really wants him and will pony up talent the White Sox want. They told him they didn't care what he hit for a reason, they wanted to take the pressure off him and show confidence in him. Maybe they shouldn't do that I guess. They miscalculated on Brian's maturity level though, and it was a bad miscalculation. They didn't think he'd constantly do the "woe is me" act. As for Buehrle and Freddy, they did hold them accountable. Buehrle was in the best shape of his career because Cooper told him he needed to work on conditioning more, and they took Buehrle's commitment into account with the contract extension. Freddy, we know what happened to him.

I don't think Cora will get the job because he's the only candidate without connections to the Pirates new front office. It will probably drag through next week due to the GM meetings. If Cora leaves, in my opinion Guillen will go outside of his circle for a bench coach. The hiring of Jeff Cox signals a shift in direction and I think it's a good shift. Sox brass are examining and questioning everything, as they should.

BS he didn't get a fair shot. He got the shot he earned, a competition with a veteran because when he got a golden opportunity in 2006 it didn't work out and the goal was to win in 2007 vs. coddle Brian Anderson. Actually Brian had slightly better spring stats than Erstad, not that spring stats are the be-all end-all. They were close. So given that, do you think there may have been other reasons why Anderson didn't get the job? If so, you'd be right. Maybe because one guy was a pro who was setting a good example and trying to help other players, while the other wasn't, and was feeling sorry for himself. Secondly, the TV incident wasn't during spring training. It was during a big league series, in Chicago, vs. the Cleveland Indians. There are TV's in the clubhouse. He had the responsibility to be watching film, he was watching TV instead. A manager isn't a baby sitter, the player has to take responsibility. Actually they have talked and talked and talked to Brian about making improvements in all facets of his game, especially the preparation part because he is not mature enough to handle failure. Witness the pity parties. Successful big league players don't throw pity parties. He did it in 2006, they said don't do that. He did it in spring training when he had a tough 10 day stretch, they said don't do that. He did it again sitting on the bench, they said don't do that. Then he did it upon returning to Charlotte where he started off horribly before hurting his wrist yet again. Do you see a pattern here? Sox brass does. His attitude and approach is a lot worse than most White Sox players. Yet he continues to want to do things his way, at his pace. They thought by keeping him as a reserve, he could help the team win and step in if necessary. He was too busy feeling sorry for himself to improve and earn another opportunity, so they sent him down. So what does he do? Pity party #3 in Charlotte. Bottom line they have been working with this guy since he came into the organization on all sorts of things. Frankly the biggest mistake might have been drafting him. If a guy is obviously high maintenance and wants to do his own thing, maybe it is a good idea to shy away from said player and not bring them into the organization. If you don't believe any of this and want to think there's a conspiracy theory to hold Brian Anderson down, that is ok by me. However, I wouldn't be spending my time typing this stuff if I weren't aware of a lot of this from talking to people who have always been very forthright.

No actually they didn't screw Anderson, unless you define a screwing as giving a young player an opportunity. He was more than a little over his head, and in large part it was due to Brian himself. All those things I have posted and others have posted. To succeed in the big leagues, you work harder than the other guy, you prepare harder than the other guy, you watch film so you know what guys tend to throw once you've swung at 2 bad pitches and are 0-2. Further it is absolutely untrue he did not get any shot in 2007. The same bad habits and the same "I'm talented and I'll just let my talent rise to the top" mentality bit him in the ass. Anderson is not a kid. Players have to take responsibility. Blaming the manager for Brian Anderson watching TV is mind boggling. The guy admitted to throwing a pity party in 2006 when things weren't working out, throwing a pity party in 2007 when things weren't working out, and now whining to the press. When exactly does this board lay the blame at the players feet when things don't work out? The team leaders are the guys who try to help Anderson, even Erstad was trying to take him under his wing in Tucson, show him how to be a pro, etc. But Brian does things Brian's way and if a TV show is more important than watching film, well that's Brian's way. I bet if you look at all the other 29 teams, you will see players unhappy when they leave. This is not unique to the White Sox. It happens. Conversely, there seems to be quite a number of players, marquee and otherwise, who seem to like it here and others who want to come back. Almost all the coaches are former White Sox players who seem to like it here, many players are unhappy when they're traded, so stuff like that goes both ways. The reason why players like Owens, Fields, Richar are (probably) in Sox plans and Brian Anderson (probably) isn't is in large part due to how they approach the game, how they prepare, all the things discussed here at length in this thread. It boils down to those guys wanting to get better and getting after it vs. pouting. If anyone got screwed, it was the fans and the good players on the team who deserve a better CF and teammate than Brian.

On one level I agree, it doesn't matter. On another level it does, and that's the notion the White Sox screw their players and purposely derail their careers. Some of that type of stuff has been said in this thread and it's nonsense. Some young players do everything they can to get better and use every tool available to help them improve. Some don't, and Anderson is in that group. I like guys on the team who will fight through adversity, work hard, and do their best to prepare.

The organization neither screwed him or lied to him. He'd been told multiple times the work he needed to put in to get better, he didn't. This is a guy who watches TV in the clubhouse instead of studying film. The White Sox are not in the business of wanting their players to fail. It's no one's fault but his own that he's acting unprofessionally.

Rudy The Great re-signed with Texas, a 2 yr. deal.

Hey I know that lovely creature in your avatar is distracting and all, but ...

There you go, exactly right. Not to keep harping on this, but the only way to do that is to go out of the way to draft CF prospects and keep running them through the pipeline. EVERY team is looking for good CF's and if they aren't they will be, with precious few exceptions. The Sox are now in a position where they have to arguably overpay a FA CF, or trade pitching to pry a younger guy from another team. Not the best scenario.

The thing is this, just because the BoSox have Ellsbury ready to go does not mean they have to take scraps for Coco Crisp. Crisp has value to other teams. He's affordable, is a good ballplayer (not great but not marginal, he can play in this league), and can play decent CF. Personally I wish the White Sox would aim higher, or better yet develop a few CF's. But Boston is not going to give Crisp away for marginal minor league prospects. There are several teams who would want him and can use him, Boston will cut a good deal for him if he's traded, which I think he will be.

I'm somewhat surprised Tony Pena's name hasn't been mentioned as a candidate in Pittsburgh. Maybe it will now that he didn't get the Yankee job.

Williams and Guillen want backups who: play contact baseball, i.e. not K a lot show more athleticism and speed and can steal bases won't get hurt all the time won't throw pity parties when things don't go their way know how to work the count and make a pitcher work fit well in the clubhouse That rules out Erstad and Anderson.

These two moves are not a surprise. Cutting loose Podsednik and Cintron is next. White Sox can and hopefully will get better players than all four of these guys.

Per the Score, Hahn has withdrawn from consideration for the St. Louis GM job and will stay with the White Sox.