very happy with this signing.

No, it's not standin pat. It's counting on your team to play the way they are supposed to and not underachieve for an entire season.

That's quite a gamble. How much of the team's play was underachievement? And did any players overachieve last year? Shouldn't we expect them to regress as well?

 

I still think standing pat as a 3rd place team doesn't make much sense.

good, if it was toby, then it would probably be sandy alomar again

KW with another brilliant move....keep it going KW

That's quite a gamble. How much of the team's play was underachievement? And did any players overachieve last year? Shouldn't we expect them to regress as well?

 

I still think standing pat as a 3rd place team doesn't make much sense.

 

This is all so very surprising to me.

I just don't like the fan perspective that says "We were great last year, no matter what the results were. With essentially the same team next year, we should expect very different results."

Heres the take on MLBtraderumors page....

 

White Sox Sign Toby Hall

According to a press release from the White Sox, the team has signed free agent catcher Toby Hall to a two-year, $3.65MM deal. There's a $2.25MM club option for 2009.

 

Hall turned 31 this year; he hit well after a trade to the Dodgers after a June 27th trade from the Devil Rays. Hall didn't like being a backup and requested a trade in July. Today's signing indicates that he just couldn't find full-time work anywhere, since A.J. Pierzynski plays a good 135 games a year.

 

Hall is a solid defender and his right-handed stick complements A.J. well. He's got a high-contact hitting style but little power or ability to draw walks. Hence, the lack of interest in him as a starter

I just don't like the fan perspective that says "We were great last year, no matter what the results were. With essentially the same team next year, we should expect very different results."

 

We won 90 games. We would've won quite a few more with legitimate back-ups at C and CF, not to mention a better bullpen.

 

I can't imagine our starters being as bad as they were last year.

That's quite a gamble. How much of the team's play was underachievement? And did any players overachieve last year? Shouldn't we expect them to regress as well?

 

I still think standing pat as a 3rd place team doesn't make much sense.

 

We didn't need a massive overhaul. This team won 90 games last year. In the mind's of the front office, the pitching staff massively underachieved. You've said that you disagree with that, or at least part of that.

 

And in the end, that's what it will come down to -- whether or not that pitching staff is actually above average this year.

 

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All that's left is to find a real LFer, or, if not, a real 4th OFer who can platoon with Podsednik. Would Heath Phillips net Willy T? He'd make a good platoon partner for Pods, and it'd be a fairly cheap one year solution stopgap, so long as Kenny made it clear that the platoon was with Podsednik, not Anderson.

Edited December 17, 200619 yr by CWSGuy406

Holy hell it's a festivus miracle.

Not til December 23rd.

 

I love this move as well. Good back up from the right side and with all due respect, Thank God it isn't Sandy.

I would love to sign Shannon Stewart now. I think he would come cheap, maybe a one-year deal with an option. Even though he has some past injury problems, we have Sweeney ready in AAA to fill in just in case. I think Pods can work as a 4th outfielder being able to play all three spot, albeit not very well. But a good hitter like Stewart would off-set Brian Anderson's hitting abilities.

Shannon Stewart is no longer capable of playing the outfield.

Love this signing as well. Hopefully, Sandy may just hang it up and stick around with the Sox as a coach.

Shannon Stewart is no longer capable of playing the outfield.

 

And I question whether or not he can be a good hitter still, either. His ZiPS projection for next year is .275/.341/.392. When you add in the bad defense and mediocre baserunning, he's worth nothing more than minor league deal.

We won 90 games. We would've won quite a few more with legitimate back-ups at C and CF, not to mention a better bullpen.

I don't know if we "would've won quite a few more [games] with legitimate back-ups at C and CF." I think better backups at C and CF would have helped us a little, but those minor positions wouldn't add significantly to the win total. A significantly better bullpen would definitely help. I don't know if the 2007 bullpen is going to be significantly better than the 2006 pen.

I can't imagine our starters being as bad as they were last year.

I don't know what we should expect about our rotation next year.

 

Buehrle - I do think he's got to be better next year. But I don't think 2006 should be written off as a complete aberration and that he'll go back to a 3.5 ERA.

 

Contreras - He had a lot of problems in the last 2/3 of the year. I worry that a pitcher over 40 will deteriorate and/or experience injury problems. It's not exactly uncommon.

 

Garland - His overall performance in 2006 was essentially what it has been for most of his career. I think that is the real Garland.

 

Vazquez - He's had an up and down career with years better and worse than his 2006. I guess I expect 2007 to be more of the same. He could do notably better or worse in 2007.

 

McCarthy - Obviously the hardest to predict. I'd put the over/under at about the same performance Garcia gave us last year. But of course there is a real chance that he could do considerably better or worse.

 

Overall, I can't say that I'm very confident that the rotation will be significantly better next year.

 

 

And, will the players who performed better in 2006 than they had in most of their career perform worse in 2007?

 

Shannon Stewart is no longer capable of playing the outfield.

And he can't hit. None of the remaining FA OFers are worth a damn. This is why I wanted KW to use Garcia to yield us a good upgrade at LF, CF or SS. If we werent' willing to sign someone like Abreu or Guillen, we needed to trade for a good upgrade in one of those positions. Of course, trade is still possible, but what is KW willing to give up? Unfortunately, I don't think KW sees making a significant upgrade at any of those positions to be a priority.

I don't know if we "would've won quite a few more [games] with legitimate back-ups at C and CF." I think better backups at C and CF would have helped us a little, but those minor positions wouldn't add significantly to the win total. A significantly better bullpen would definitely help. I don't know if the 2007 bullpen is going to be significantly better than the 2006 pen.

 

I think it definitely will, especially if we add another reliable reliever. We're going to have MacDougal for all of this year, instead of just half the year. That itself will improve the bullpen. We also won't be starting the year off with Politte on the team, who was the absolute worst pitcher in all of baseball. If Aardsma/Sisco/Logan/etc. can put together a decent year, we'd have a very solid pen.

Damn, no Widger, the key to the 2005 playoff run...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

yes I am kidding...

Alright, now who is going to be the first person to propose the Alex Rios for Heath Phillips deal?

best backup catcher we've had in a long, long time.

 

good move, KW.

Love this signing. These small sigings and trades seem to work for KW.

"I had a great conversation with Toby to explain how we view his role and he expressed how difficult a decision it was for him. He had chances to go to other clubs that may have offered more playing time, but he chose the White Sox and we are a better team for it. His desire to play on a winning team and in his words, 'Wear a Sox jersey,' ultimately won out."

 

"Playing against the White Sox in the American League, I was familiar with all that they had accomplished over the past few years and it will be an honor to wear the Sox uniform," said Hall. "Chicago is where I wanted to be."

 

Some great quotes. Love to see guys excited to play for the Sox.

I like this move, a lot. YAY! It made my Sunday!

OK, everyone...NOW SHUT UP ABOUT THE BACKUP CATCHER SPOT!!!

 

Good signing, not going to save the season but it's an upgrade when we face Johan or Lee or Captain Cheeseburger.

 

Vs. lefties:

.292 .333 .500 .833 last season, 3 home runs in 72 ab. last 3 years .297 .334 .436 .770 with 9 home runs.

This is the best signing yet. I was hoping that they would sign him. HUGE UPGRADE! This should help Pierzynski a lot!

SWEET!

3 dollars and 65 cents!

Edited December 17, 200619 yr by knightni