2010 free agency and Thome

[Princess Dye]

Refresh my memory as to whether or not we have a totally clear picture of things...

 

...Thome was still good, wanted to be here, would've been here cheap...

 

..but Guillen preferred Kotsay and a rotating DH, so the Sox front office went along with it?

 

 

 

Is it basically understood that this was Guillen's call? Do we infer that Kenny allowed Ozzie this amount of rope? Perhaps in order to mount a future case against the quality of Ozzie's judgment, or is that just something juicy enough for message boards and little else? Was the Sox front office fully on board with letting Thome join Minnesota?

 

Of course he had been traded the year prior, but it was more of a chasing-the-ring thing, as opposed to bad vibes. To be fair to Ozzie, Kotsay had been good with the White Sox..but a legit look at his career arc should've made it clear he'd return to suckage...whereas Ozzie often is guided by passion and principle instead of substance.

Edited November 11, 2013 by Jose Paniagua

[Dick Allen]

Refresh my memory as to whether or not we have a totally clear picture of things...

 

...Thome was still good, wanted to be here, would've been here cheap...

 

..but Guillen preferred Kotsay and a rotating DH, so the Sox front office went along with it?

 

 

 

Is it basically understood that this was Guillen's call? Do we infer that Kenny allowed Ozzie this rope in order to mount a case against his judgment, or is that just something juicy enough for message boards and little else? Was the Sox front office fully on board with letting Thome join Minnesota?

 

Of course he had been traded the year prior, but it was more of a chasing-the-ring thing, as opposed to bad vibes. To be fair to Ozzie, Kotsay had been good with the White Sox..but a legit look at his career arc should've made it clear he'd return to suckage...whereas Ozzie often is guided by passion and principle instead of substance.

It was actually on the show the Sox did on MLB Network. Thome wanted to come back and would have played for $1 million. Ozzie wanted more flexibility with the DH position. JR said Ozzie should get the type of team he wanted to manage. Thome went to the Twins, had a great year. The Sox power was short, needed a left handed bat, and wound up with Dunn in 2011.

Edited November 11, 2013 by Dick Allen

[Balta1701]

It was actually on the show the Sox did on MLB Network. Thome wanted to come back and would have played for $1 million. Ozzie wanted more flexibility with the DH position. JR said Ozzie should get the type of team he wanted to manage. Thome went to the Twins, had a great year. The Sox power was short, needed a left handed bat, and wound up with Dunn in 2011.

One other detail was that Kotsay had arrived late in the previous season, Ozzie liked his "leadership" and insisted he be retained. He was re-signed in October of that year, filling one of the roles on the bench.

 

Since he wasn't really useful in the OF, that meant the White Sox were going into the next season with a national league style pinch-hitter on the roster who could occasionally play some 1b. The decision to sign him made it really hard to sign Thome as well because that would use up roster spots needed for guys who could play the field.

 

It wasn't the key factor, that was Ozzie wanting to rotate the DH position, but the fact that an NL style pinch hitter was already under contract probably played into the decision.

[buckweaver]

Great thread...one more thing to hate about Ozzie...it's his fault we got Adam Dunn!

[jhonnydanks]

Didn't he end up hitting a monster walk off dinger against us that year in Minnesota off Thornton? That was awesome.

[witesoxfan]

Didn't he end up hitting a monster walk off dinger against us that year in Minnesota off Thornton? That was awesome.

 

Just a blast. That sucked so much

[JohnCangelosi]

Didn't he end up hitting a monster walk off dinger against us that year in Minnesota off Thornton? That was awesome.

That ball is still going

[Kyyle23]

That ball is still going

 

Yea, that was "95 mph straight heater, meet 160 mph straight bat. Good bye".

[caulfield12]

That was the year of Thornton's death as an elite reliever.

 

The All-Star game implosion, then Thome.

[LittleHurt05]

Didn't he end up hitting a monster walk off dinger against us that year in Minnesota off Thornton? That was awesome.

 

Thanks Ozzie. Hope you enjoyed your time with Mark K.

[Princess Dye]

That ball is still going

 

 

My friend took a train to Minnesota to watch that game. Then took the train back.

[witesoxfan]

My friend took a train to Minnesota to watch that game. Then took the train back.

 

I did that for the Jenks game that year too. I was with my girlfriend. It was not a good time.

[ron883]

Jack*** ozzie botched that one big time. That's when people realized he is severely lacking in the strategic side of baseball. That's also when many people realized he was a lousy manager.

Edited November 14, 2013 by ron883

[jamesdiego]

Thanks Ozzie. Hope you enjoyed your time with Mark K.

 

 

And Kotsay's wife I miss her

 

 

I just remember Ozzie turning the tables on the Thome fiasco, whining non stop that he was getting blamed when it was an organization decision not to bring him back. He just was to coward to man up to his call

 

 

 

 

[Vance Law]

I consider that the single worst move I've ever seen the Sox make. Thanks, Oz.

 

If you make the assumption that if the Twins don't get Thome, they use a replacement worth 1 WAR, the difference between one team getting Thome vs. the other was about 7 wins. Twins won the division by 6.

 

 

 

 

[Quin]

I still think that decision cost them the playoffs that year.

 

Which directly led to Hudson being traded and Dunn being signed.

[Princess Dye]

I did that for the Jenks game that year too. I was with my girlfriend. It was not a good time.

 

what was the "jenks" game? cant remember

[witesoxfan]

what was the "jenks" game? cant remember

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