QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 23, 2009 -> 11:17 AM)
While I criticize KW from time to time (mostly because there are so many people who think he can do no wrong) picking out 2 trades in 9 years is a bit ridiculous. Everyone screws up. I still think in the long run the Swisher trade isn't as bad as you think. He's not a CF and didn't have a place to play on the White Sox. They got out of his contract. We'll see how he does the next several years. Rios probably isn't a White Sox if Swisher is around, and he's a better player, and they did use the money they saved this year to sign Viciedo. The Foulke trade was bad at the time, the Sox may have won the WS in 2003 or 2004 if they kept him, but Cotts did help them win in 2005 even if Koch was done when they acquired him. May vs. did, I'll take the did anytime.
So many bad trades wind up decently. When Hawk was GM, he was criticized for trading Bobby Bonilla for Jose DeLeon. DeLeon was a decent pitcher who eventually turned into Lance Johnson. A guy that helped the Sox win a lot of games. Hawk supposedly ruined the White Sox, a team not good enough to win previously when they had Britt Burns (who never pitched again) and Tom Seaver (who didn't wan't to play in the midwest anymore) and Bob James (who fell apart) leading their pitching staff in 1985. He also acquired Ivan Calderon for almost nothing, and Calderon help the Sox have a great season in 1990, before he was turned into Tim Raines. He was also criticized for turning over the scouting dept., the department that drafted Kurt Brown over Barry Bonds.
I'm using Hawk as an example of grading the Swisher trade. Its waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy to early to grade it. Granted Betemit and Marquez aren't long for getting paid to play baseball, but what if Viciedo becomes a star? What if Nunez becomes dominant? Perhaps those are longshots, but what if Rios outplays Swisher for years? That's almost a guarantee.
Good post, Dick. We can probably have a separate thread on Kenny's deals. He does make it interesting, but the Foulke trade was bad, Neil Cotts' 2005 contribution notwithstanding. He should have known better than to acquire Koch, then give him $12 MM. Then the Swisher trade -- I wish Kenny would not even talk to Beane. I never understood giving up on Sweeney, especially since he can play CF. Gio, too. All of the Carl Everett and Alomar deals were so-so. Kenny has a habit of getting over the hill players like them; also, Darrin Erstad, who was an embarrassment. He throws worse than Pods. Same with Betemit. I thought he gave up way too much for Thome, given that we did the Phillies a huge favor by taking Thome, since all they had was Ryan Howard ready to go. There were others, some of which I forgot. Although it doesn't sound like it, I like Kenny.
