SB Nation - Scott Linebrink

Rosterbation-Mania!

U-God — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:18:10 -0000

More photos » by Ted S. Warren - AP

Raise your hand if you want to play for the White Sox next year. Esteban, please put your hand down. Seriously though, Esteban, you aren't welcome. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

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Over the past couple days, and inspired by the infamous U.S.S. Mariner post and the on-going reader input over at Sox Machine, I've been putting together my off-season plan. I tried to keep it as realistic as possible (no video game trades), especially in terms of payroll. Feel encouraged to leave your own roster plans in the comments section. U-God's 2010 plan lies after the jump.

Free Agent Acquistions:

DH- Nick Johnson, 1 year/5.5 mil

I love Jim Thome and always will. He is my back-up plan. With that being said, I would be thrilled if KW went out and got Nick Johnson. The 31 year old lefty has a career .849 OPS fueled largely by his .402 career OBP. Johnson also allows us to rotate Paul Konerko and Carlos Quentin in at DH as well. He does come with injury-risks, but using him mainly as a DH in combination with one of the premier medical staffs in baseball should counteract that. The injury risk combined with the down market should allow the Sox to grab him at a reasonable price for a year.

RF- Marlon Byrd, 1 year/4.5 mil

Byrd would be a very refreshing change of pace out in rightfield. He has posted an OPS above .800 each year since joining the American League and has been an above-average defender in right as well. His career high 20 homers last year will guarentee him a raise, though probably a modest one. Byrd also provides a nice stop-gap for our outfield prospects.

C- Brian Schneider, 1 year/1.5 mil

Schneider's days as a starter are over. He's a lefty-catcher who has had good success stopping opponent's run games (38 CS%). Being a backup drops his price tag and lowers his risk of getting hurt again.

1B/OF- Mark Kotsay, 1 year/1.5 mil

Bring him back. He was good after we traded for him and gives Ozzie more flexibility with his bench and lineups.

Contract Extension:

Offer John Danks the Jon Lester deal (5 years/30 mil). It's a back-loaded contract that buys out John's arbitration years and allows him to hit free agency at age 31. It may take more money to lock him up, but for simplicity's sake, I'm just going to use the Lester deal.

Batting Order:

DH- Nick Johnson, 3B- Gordon Beckham, LF- Carlos Quentin, 1B- Paul Konerko, C- A.J. Pierzynski, CF- Alex Rios, RF- Marlon Byrd, SS- Alexei Ramirez, 2B- Chris Getz.

That OBP in front of Beckham gives me dirty thoughts.

Bench:

C- Brian Schneider, 1B/OF- Mark Kotsay, UTIL- Jayson Nix, OF- Alejandro De Aza

Nix gives pop off the bench and De Aza gives Ozzie a speedy pinch-runner for late in the game.

Starting Rotation:

Jake Peavy-RHP, Mark Buehrle-LHP, Gavin Floyd-RHP, John Danks-LHP, Freddy Garcia-RHP

I like the idea of having Peavy and Garcia pitch back to back.

Bullpen:

Bobby Jenks-CL, Matt Thornton-LHP, Scott Linebrink-RHP, DJ Carrasco-RHP, Tony Peña-RHP, Jhonny Nuñez-RHP, Randy Williams-LHP

I wanted to trade Jenks, but his value is too low right now and I don't want a repeat of the Nick Swisher trade.

Other Costs:

$1 mil buy-out for Jermaine Dye

$.35 mil for Mike MacDougal, damn him

Team Payroll:

$96.65 mil, only .55 higher than last season's opening salary. All figures (except my FAs and arbitration guesstimates) taken from Cot's Baseball Contracts.

Searching for a Skipper, Part Two

davoag — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:35:07 -0000

More photos » by Luis Alvarez - AP

4 months ago: In this Aug. 12, 2008 file photo, Washington Nationals manager Manny Acta waits as umpires talk with each other during a baseball game with the New York Mets in Washington. Acta is out as manager of the Washington Nationals. Acting general manager Mike Rizzo confirmed the firing Monday morning, June 13, 2009, in an e-mail to The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez, File)

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When the Astros confirmed that Manny Acta would be the first candidate brought in for an interview, it began what could be a very open managerial search. This is good for us in that we can get an in-depth look at each potential skipper. So, let's continue this with a look at former Washington Nationals manager Manny Acta.

Acta was signed as a 17-year old first baseman out of the Dominican Republic by the Astros in 1986. He advanced as high as Double-A in both 1989 and 1990, playing 77 games there and batting .194/.194/.258. Acta played 370 games in the minors and had a career line of .241/.241/.299, including his final season at Low A Burlington, where Acta was a player-coach at age 22. Two years later, in 1993, Acta got his first managerial job with Houston's short season New York-Penn League team, the Auburn Astros. Over the next eight seasons, Acta put together a record of 419-432 with four winning seasons, including two straight at his highest stop, High A Kissimmee in 1999 and 2000. Acta also won a Florida State League title in 1999, coaching players like Morgan Ensberg, Brad Lidge, Keith Ginter and Wayne Franklin. In 2000, Acta coached Roy Oswalt, Tim Redding and Jeriome Robertson.

Acta started coaching in the winter leagues in 1999 as well, starting out in Caracas in the Venezuela Winter League before moving to Licey of the Dominican Winter League in 2002. Acta spent 2001 as a coach on the New Orleans staff, when it was still the Triple-A affiliate of the Astros. Players on that 200 team? Astros Pacific Rim scouting director Glen Barker and Lance Berkman, along with former Astros Scott Elarton, Roger Cedeno, Julio Lugo and Scott Linebrink.

Acta was just 33 years old when he was hired as the Washington Nationals new third base coach under manager Frank Robinson in 2002. Acta steadily moved up in the eyes of the Nationals until he was given the mangerial job after Robinson was fired following the 2006 season. Acta also managed the 2006 Dominican Republic entry into the World Baseball Classic, coaching Astros free agent Miguel Tejada and Angels free agent-to-be Vladimir Guerrero as well as former Astros farmhand Francisco Liriano.

So, that brings us to his stint as Washington's manager. In 2007, Acta saw the team to a 73-89 record but revived the career of Dmitri Young. Da Meat Hook even was selected for the All-Star game that July. The Nationals were not great that season, but that was partly because the team had a 4.58 ERA and a WHIP of 1.48. Of course, his starters ERA was 5.11, which makes it hard to win any games. Acta used his bullpen for 590 2/3 innings with an ERA of 3.81, which we will revisit later on. The other telling stat about his pitching staff is in the 73 wins, the team's ERA was 2.91 while in the 89 losses, it was 9.02. Big difference, huh?

In 2008, the team's ERA jumped up to 4.66 but the starter's ERA was still too high at 4.97. His bullpen threw less innings at 553 1/3, but had a slightly higher ERA at 4.18. The team itself lost 102 games and had just 28 saves in 34 save situations. Offensively, Acta got surprisingly good seasons out of shortstop Christian Guzman, second basmean Ronnie Belliard and outfielder Elijah Dukes. Young had another good season, with an OPS of .794, but Acta was hurt by the roster machinations of GM Jim Bowden.

All those roster moves came to a head in 2009, when Acta and outfielder Lastings Milledge had a very public feud. Milledge was sent down to the minors after playing just seven games. Reportedly, the reason was Acta didn't like how Milledge behaved in meetings and that he had a generally surly attitude. This did not endear Acta to management, and he was let go halfway through the season.

The Nationals never had much talent, but Acta did show a knack for getting good performances out of other team's castoffs. He also didn't overuse a bullpen, and got similar results to the Astros this season (534 1/3 IP, 4.13 ERA). I'm not sure whether he would affect the staff positively or negatively, but he's definitely familiar with some of the pitchers and knows how to not go all Joe Torre on his relievers.

The Milledge incident is also interesting, because it suggests Acta is willing to call people out and hold his players accountable. Of course, it also reminds me a little of how Cooper acted with this team, and we know how that ended. So, I'm sure this incident will be discussed in more depth during the interview with Wade and Co.

I brought up all the players he's coached or is otherwise familiar with to illustrate how the Astros might accept him or how he might handle the current roster. If Berkman and Oswalt are both considered the 'Faces of the Franchise', and they both turned on Coop, it's important to get them on board with the hire. Will their familiarity with Acta help? If Acta can get those two to support his style or his accountability methods, it would go a long way to setting up a successful culture on the team.

One interesting quote from this 2007 interview with Acta was regarding his influence on the organization as a whole:

I’m kept in the loop on everything that’s going on, and I have a say in how we want things done down there. I take a lot of pride in having continuity throughout the organization, all the way from rookie ball to the big leagues.

This is very interesting, since it's not a job the Astros have asked from their big league skipper in quite a while. Sure, the coaches will make a call on when to bring guys up or who makes the roster in spring training, but setting a tone in the minor leagues? Continuity at all levels? That's something the Astros have lacked since Hunsicker left in 2004. Now it seems like Bobby Heck and Ed Wade both set the tone for player development. Where would Acta fit into this scheme?

Another interesting quote from the same interview about his bunting strategy:

Bunting is pretty outdated. Everybody scores so many runs nowadays, it doesn’t make sense to play for one run unless it’s late in the game and it’s close. I hardly ever bunt early in a game, unless it’s with a pitcher. A big inning can win you a game. One run in the third inning can’t, unless you have Pedro pitching.

And of course, his pick for the best pitcher in baseball:

Roy Oswalt. He’s just tough as nails. He comes at you like nobody else. That’s a tough place to pitch, and he’s been very consistent.

Acta is also very interested in using sabermetrics to make better decisions, which is very interesting to the people around this blog, we heady baseball fans. I'm not sure whether this is a good or a bad thing, but it may help get all those bad OBP players out of the every day roster. Nothing drives me crazier than all the guys with OBP under .340. But that strays from the point. Acta is a young guy, who's failed in his first job and is looking for some redemption. Sounds a lot like Bill Belichick after the Cleveland fiasco but before New England. Does that make him the best candidate? No, because he still has done nothing to be successful at the big league level. He does make for an interesting candidate, though.

White Sox conceding 2009 season?

Eli Greenspan — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:54:10 -0000

More photos » by Mark Duncan - AP

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It appears that the White Sox are conceding the 2009 season, ESPN.com's Buster Olney is reporting.

The White Sox have made it known around the league that veterans Jim Thome, Scott Linebrink, and Jermaine Dye are available for trade.

The team distributed a memo to a number of teams in the league on Monday informing them that some Chicago veterans are available in trade, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.

The player with the best chances of being moved is probably Scott Linebrink, unless the White Sox are willing to take next to nothing for impending free agent Jermaine Dye, who is hitting 13 points below his career average. Linebrink is under contract through 2011, with 11.5 million dollars remaining on his contract. NL teams should look into Linebrink. His numbers are much better in the National League, posting a 2.91 ERA in the five seasons prior to jumping to the American League.

Thome is also set to be a free agent, and at this point in his career, is suited primarily for American league clubs. He is hitting .252 with 23 home runs and a .375 on-base percentage.

White Sox Gamble Again

Jesse — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:27:06 -0000

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Kenny Williams might have just pulled off his second coup in the last two weeks.

Gambling on Jake Peavy was one thing. A Cy Young candidate when he's healthy, it's pretty easy to defend the $52 million Chicago will be shelling out for his services from 2010 - 2012, and maybe even that $22 million option in 2013 could look like a steal when the time comes. Now the Sox have added Alex Rios. He's having a down year, but there's no denying what he could bring to the table in the middle of the order for an aging lineup.

Like Peavy, Rios is owed a lot of money over the next few years. It's $58.7 million from 2010 - 2014, with a $13.5 million dollar option in 2015.

Prior to both of these shrewd maneuvers, the White Sox had approximately $45 million committed to their 2010 payroll, and roughly $28 million committed to 2011. (Figures courtesy of Cots Contracts.) With these two additions they still have room to maneuver, but I wonder how much.

Player	2010	2011
Jake Peavy, SP	$15,000,000	$17,000,000
Alex Rios, RF	$9,700,000	$12,000,000
Mark Buehrle, SP	$14,000,000	$14,000,000
Paul Konerko, 1B	$12,000,000	---
Jermaine Dye, RF	$1,000,000	---
A.J. Pierzynski, C	$6,250,000	---
Scott Linebrink, RP	$5,000,000	$5,000,000
Mike MacDougal, RP	$350,000	---
Dayan Viciedo (Minors)	$2,250,000	$2,250,000
Matt Thornton, RP	$250,000	---
Alexei Ramirez, 2B	$1,225,000	$1,225,000
Gavin Floyd, SP	$2,750,000	$5,000,000
Total	$69,775,000	$56,975,000

That's a lot of money. It doesn't include picking up options on Dye (add $11 million, if for some odd reason the Sox actually pick it up) or Thornton (add $2 million), paying Bobby Jenks more than $6 million for his second year of arbitration or Wilson Betemit around $2 million for his third, or money for first-year arb guys like John Danks and Carlos Quentin. Jim Thome, Octavio Dotel and Jose Contreras are all free agents.

If the White Sox are planning on duplicating this year's $95 million opening day payroll in 2010, it will be interesting to see how they choose to fill their open roster spots.

The genius behind both of these moves is that if they pay off and both Peavy and Rios play like they're capable of playing, Williams will have given Ozzie Guillen a pair of stud 29-year olds who inject high-level and prime-aged lifeblood that will keep Chicago's window of competetive ball open. The gamble, naturally, is that if Rios is closer to his '08 or '09 version than his '06 or '07 version, and/or if Peavy doesn't get and stay healthy, then Chicago has taken on over $100 million worth of contract for two guys.

I haven't always been a fan of the way Williams has run the White Sox, or the way he sometimes handles himself. But he made a couple of ballsy, high-risk, high-reward maneuvers these last couple of weeks, and nobody can accuse him of playing it safe or of not taking the risks necessary to put his club over the top. And the best part (for White Sox fans) is that it couldn't have come at a better time, whether you're thinking about 2009 or the future. Chicago has given playing time to 16 guys 32 or older just this year. This rejuvenation was necessary.

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:56:03 -0000

More photos » by Gus Ruelas - AP

Manny Parra is congratulated by second baseman Felipe Lopez and catcher Mike Rivera as he waits to be relieved during the ninth inning Monday.

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Some things to read while removing the technology from your tarot cards.

If you went to bed at a reasonable hour last night, you missed some late-night drama for the Brewers, ending in a bases loaded, two out confrontation between Trevor Hoffman and Manny Ramirez with the game on the line. Ken Macha was holding his breath in the dugout, but Hoffman retired Ramirez to end the game and bring the Brewers back to .500 on the season.

The Brewers played the ninth inning last night without Ryan Braun, who left the game with tightness in his elbow after uncorking a wild throw in the seventh. Braun says it doesn't hurt to hit, so don't be surprised if he's held out of today's game and used as a pinch hitter.

It was fitting, in a way, that the final out of last night's contest was hit to Bill Hall, playing his first career game in right field. Hall went 0-for-3 but drove in a run with a bases loaded walk last night, and told Adam McCalvy before the game that the Brewers need him to step up. Meanwhile, Ian Casselberry of Bless You Boys wonders if Hall might be a candidate to fill the vacancy at third base in Detroit.

If you were at last night's game, you might have seen Kenny Mayne. You'd know him if you saw him, because he's very tall and was wearing a Seattle Pilots jersey. I'm not sure I've ever even seen one.

Yovani Gallardo takes the mound tonight for the Brewers. He's been much better over his last three starts, and is crediting a mechanical adjustment for the improvement. After Manny Parra was able to go eight innings last night, a long outing by Gallardo would give most of the Brewer bullpen two days off, which would be nice.

Adam McCalvy has a look at the soft underbelly that is the Brewers' upcoming schedule, and reminds us that the Brewers won 20 games in August last year on their way to the playoffs. Now that the team has played reasonably well for a couple of games, I feel better talking about beating up on weaker opponents in August. I wasn't comfortable having that conversation while they were struggling to beat the Nationals and Padres.

National pundits continue to pile on the Brewers for failing to make a major splash at the trade deadline. Today, it's Jon Heyman listing the Brewers among trade deadline losers. With that said, I do have a handful of notes on a move the Brewers did make:

Tyler Maas of Right Field Bleachers gives us a look inside his grieving process on the loss of Vinny Rottino.
FanGraphs rated Vinny 35th among 35 minor leaguers traded at the deadline (and ranked Roque Mercedes 33rd).
Claudio Vargas' B-Ref page has a new sponsor.

Baseball Digest Daily continues to unveil their defensive rankings, with J.J. Hardy coming in third among shortstops and Bill Hall checking in at second among third basemen.

In the minors:

Jeff Sackmann and Sean Smith have come together once again to apply the TotalZone defensive metric to minor league players. Alcides Escobar and former Brewer prospect Cole Gillespie are among the leaders at their positions, while Huntsville CF Adam Stern brings up the rear at 23 runs below average. (h/t Chone Smith)
Corey Patterson appears to have signed his minor league deal and was in uniform for Nashville last night.
The Brewers promoted SS Josh Prince and pitcher Mike Fiers, both 2009 draftees, to Wisconsin and demoted Michael Marseco to Helena.

On Power Rankings:

The Brewers dropped six spots to #23 in WhatifSports' rankings.
The Hardball Times Dartboard has the Brewers at #20.

Around baseball:

D-Backs: Signed Daniel Cabrera to a minor league deal.
Dodgers: Acquired minor leaguer Harvey Garcia from the Pirates to complete the Delwyn Young deal.

How good would Gabe Kapler look in a Brewer uniform right now? Tommy Rancel of DRaysBay says the Rays made the right decision by picking Kapler up last offseason. I'd feel a lot better about the bench right now if Kapler had Jody Gerut's spot.

Perhaps if I report on it every day, I can help Major League Baseball's umpiring situation reach its tipping point. David Weathers was ejected from yesterday's game for the Reds, and after the game Reds beat reporter Mark Sheldon (@M_Sheldon) had this quote in his Twitter:

Weathers on his ejection by HP ump Paul Emmel: "I said 'why are you staring at me?' He said 'you're outta here.'"

Looking for a few extra hours of work and the opportunity to do it for a prominent baseball analyst? Keith Law is looking for an intern to do some databasing work. I'm not sure if I'm qualified, but you might be.

On this day in 1973, Johnny Briggs led off the game and went 6-for-6 as the Brewers beat the Indians, 9-4. Only one other Brewer (Kevin Reimer in 1993) has ever collected six hits in a game, and Briggs is both the only one to do it in a nine inning game, and in six plate appearances.

It's a big day for Brewer birthdays today: Happy birthday to B.J. Surhoff, who played in 1102 games as a Brewer between 1987 and 1995 (10th most all time), and turns 45 today. On the other end of the spectrum, Troy O'Leary, who played in 46 games as a Brewer in 1993 and 1994, turns 40. Scott Linebrink, who threw 25.1 innings for the 2007 Crew, turns 33.

If you've finished the Mug and you're still looking for something to read, here's my open letter to the ice cream truck.

Drink up.

The Morning After the Worst Day of the Season

U-God — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:59:46 -0000

More photos » by Tom Olmscheid - AP

Chicago White Sox's A.J. Pierzynski spent his four days off learning how to levitate his bat with his mind. What did you do?(AP Photo/Tom Olmscheid)

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If you're like me (which I know at least a good chunk of the regulars are) yesterday was your least favorite day of the baseball season. At least the other day's of the ASB give us something to watch. The day after the All-Star game is what I expect Hell to be like if I'm unfortunate enough to wind up there: it's mid-July, hotter than Pod's wife, there is no baseball, and my coworkers keep asking me to work for them on my day off. Thankfully, that evil day has passed and even though the Sox have the day off, at least there is pro baseball being played today.

Now that I got my monologue out of the way, I can start getting to the point (other than that we needed something new on the frontpage). So far this season the White Sox have given us their best Sergio Leone impression. We have witnessed the good (PK's resurgence, JD continuing to hit like he's young, and Buehrle, Easy Heat, and Jenks), the bad (Contreras pre-minors trip, Colon since then, plantar fasciitis, the entire Nick Swisher trade), and the ugly (Wilson Betemit, Scott Linebrink, the inability to find a real centerfielder). So what does the future hold? I throw my two cents in after the jump.

Depending on how the playoff races of the AL and NL Central wind up shaking out, the Sox have either 72 or 73 games left in the regular season. For simplicity's sake, I'm just going to go with 72. This isn't me saying I don't think we'll need the make-up game, but me being lazy and taking the easier route. We only play two teams that we haven't seen yet this season. As it would happen, they have the two best records in the American League: the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. But to be honest, who cares? Yeah, they're pretty good teams right now and probably will be when we play them. But to everyone who has been scared of the stronger schedule the second half is supposed to bring, don't be. Our remaining combined opponents' record this season in 442-476. That's a .481 winning percentage. Only 21 of our remaining games are against the Yanks, BoSox, and Angels. We have 18 games against the bottom-feeding Orioles, Royals, and Indians. Those 33 games against the Rays, A's, Tigers, Mariners, and Twins are going to be the ones that determine our fate. Just under half (30) of our remaining games are against the Central. The Sox fate is completely in their own hands. It's been a down year in the division, as we've been saying all season. I'm feeling TDogg's optimism. Just take care of Detroit and things will probably work out. I'm just happy the ASB is over.

Ozzie Guillen: Ramirez Not As Good As Me

The Cheat — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:36:32 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y Huh - AP

Ozzie Guillen discusses the rules about inserting himself into the game at SS.

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The Game That Wouldn't End might have finished a lot sooner if Alexei Ramirez hadn't pulled Paul Konerko well off the bag with another one of his lackadaisical lollipop throws to first base. Ramirez clearly has a strong enough arm to play shortstop in the major leagues, but he's shown a reluctance to showcase that arm on plays that don't require it, turning routine, easy outs into bang-bang plays, making Konerko dig balls out of the dirt, and, on occasion, extending innings with completely avoidable errors.

His error Thursday may not have cost the Sox in the 'W' column -- the only stat that matters -- but it set the wheels in motion for Ozzie Guillen to burn through the bullpen, and shortens his pen options for tomorrow's game with the Cubs.

Octavio Dotel has pitched in 3 consecutive games, which means he'll probably be unavailable.
Bobby Jenks has pitched on back-to-back days. So while he's not off-limits, Ozzie might be reluctant to use him in anything but the highest-leverage of save situations.
Scott Linebrink, as I've discussed before, hasn't been good in over a year when pitching on back-to-back days, but he'll definitely be available. Oh joy.
DJ Carrasco threw 38 pitches one day after throwing 15.

The rest of the pen should be available, but they're all left-handed, which means Jim might get one of his wishes. Asked directly about Aaron Poreda's performance, Guillen gushed

"That's his first [win] in the big leagues?" Guillen asked after Thursday's game. "There's a lot more to come. When this kid comes out of the bullpen and is throwing strikes with cockiness, he'll be used a little more out of the bullpen now."

Poreda has breezed through his first 4 outings, using almost exclusively fastballs. He threw only one non-fastball on Thursday, a quality slider to strike out Mark Loretta. I've felt that Poreda could succeed from the bullpen for the last year now, and haven't seen anything to change my mind in his few appearances.

As for Ramirez, Ozzie was not nearly as positive

"We played 14 innings because we were lousy in the field," Guillen said. "Lousy and lazy in the field. I never criticize my players for making errors, I never will. But when you make a lazy error, that really [bothers] me."

"I made a big mistake when I said in January he's going to be a better shortstop than Ozzie Guillen. I never thought I was that bad."

I don't expect Ramirez to sit out any games of the Cubs series this weekend. But he at least got an earful from Ozzie after the press conference, which might be the kick in the pants he needs to finally throw over to first base like a professional.

* * * * *

Frank Thomas is 'close' to retiring, which isn't really news. It's not like teams are were beating down the door to sign the broken down slugger. But it's of interest to us here because the White Sox could have something planned. It sounds like both sides want to work something out.

"I hope so," he said. "This is family. The South Side made me who I am, and I had such a great career there, so I would love for that to happen. "Right now, I haven't officially retired. Once I officially retire, we can sit down and talk about what we want to do."

If the Sox plan a Frank Thomas night for sometime in September, where he either suits up one more time to 'retire' in a White Sox uniform, or just simply retire his number -- the statue comes later -- I'll be there. They could probably even make it a premium date. ;)

White Sox Ready To Clean House?

Matt Buggenhagen — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:21:25 -0000

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According to a report in the Arlington Heights Daily Herald, the Chicago White Sox may be interested in moving several key players.

The report indicates that with the July 31 deadline rapidly approaching the White Sox may be willing to part ways with veteran players, Jim Thome, Jermaine Dye, Jose Contreras and struggling relievers Octavio Dotel and Scott Linebrink.

When asked, White Sox GM Kenny Williams said, "I know a lot of people call us for pitching. We must have a little bit."

However, manager Ozzie Guillen believes the Sox should know where they stand on July 5 (No idea why he picked this specific date) following series against the Indians and Royals.

"That will dictate exactly where we are," Guillen said. "If we play good against them, that's going to be important to see what we're going to do in the summer. I expect them to go out there and play well, and that will dictate what we should do and not do."

Following yesterday's 5-2 loss to the Dodgers the White Sox have fallen to 33-37 a full six games behind the division leading Tigers.

Unless somehow the White Sox figure out how to put together some consistent offense I don't imagine them turning the ship around this year. They have been abysmal offensively batting a mere .218 as a team at home.

I would expect the White Sox to be sellers by the July 31 deadline (or the July 5 Ozzie Guillen deadline) and move at least two of their veteran players. Look for Jermaine Dye and possibly Octavio Dotel to be on the move.

Poll

What do you expect the White Sox to be by July 31

Buyers

31 votes

Sellers

154 votes

Neither

36 votes

221 votes | Poll has closed

Who's in Kenny Williams' 'Safe' Column?

The Cheat — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:49:29 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Jermaine Dye might be the Sox most likely player to catch on with a new team.

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Saturday morning I found myself, as I often do, out on my bike, playing GM in my head, running the White Sox roster through my head and neatly placing each player on the Sox roster into neatly defined categories. It was almost exactly 6 weeks before the trade deadline, the Sox had just come off ugly back-to-back losses to sub-.500 NL clubs, and it felt, at least for that morning, like time to figure out who should stay and who should go.

It's begun to feel a little grim around here, with most of us doing our best JRE impersonations and only Tdogg to cheer us up with some rays of statistical sunshine. So I imagine most of us would be selling if given the chance to play GM for a day... or month. Thankfully, none of us are stuck with the task as tough as the one that's ahead of Kenny Williams, but I prepared my scorecard anyway in case you wanted to try your hand.

Safe

A.J. Pierzynski, Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Gordon Beckham, Alexei Ramirez, Carlos Quentin, Mark Buehrle, John Danks, Gavin Floyd, Matt Thornton, Scott Linebrink,

Let's call this group the core, with some untradables trown in for good measure. Konerko, Thome and Pierzynski, the slow, aged core, aren't going anywhere. Those three along with Buerhle have become the Sox clubhouse leaders and are, at least in some small measure, responsible for the Nick Swisher trade/debacle. They also have varying degrees of no-trade clauses and contracts large enough to make other clubs take a pass.

Then you've got the "Next core," Beckham, Ramirez, Quentin, Danks and Floyd; young guys with generally advantageous contracts who, with the exception of Beckham, have proved their major league worthiness for an entire season. They'll be paired with the minor league "safes" to form the Sox next serious division title contenders (and by serious, I mean not under .500 with 5+ weeks left before the trade deadline).

Which leaves only Linebrink, who signed a contract that made other clubs gasp, and has now shown that he's unable to throw anything but arrow-straight fastballs when given the call for two days in a row. He's not going anywhere for completely different reasons than the rest of the group.

Rent, Don't Buy

Josh Fields, Clayton Richard, Aaron Poreda, Octavio Dotel, Jermaine Dye

Richard and Poreda's names have already been linked to the now-defunct Jake Peavy trade, and would seem to be available at a price. I can't see both of them being traded in any deal that brings back anything less than a Peavy-type pitching talent. So really, one of them is safe, and it's probably Richard, not because he's a better pitcher, but teams are more likely to be after the higher-ceilinged Poreda.

Josh Fields is a man without a home now that Beckham is starting to get his legs under himself at the plate. He won't have much value, but KW probably won't stand in the way if some other team is willing to give him a shot at 3B.

Dotel and Dye both have contracts set to expire at the end of the season, and both figure to be Type A free agents. Thus these two represent your typical trade-deadline targets for playoff hopefuls. Dye has an option on his contract, so the Sox don't have to trade him, as they might pick up that option at the end of the year, which could also help yield a higher return via trade.

The Rest

Those not mentioned, your Scott Podsednik's and Jose Contreras' , your Chris Getz' and Brian Anderson's, have little-to-no value on the trade market. Actually, Pods and Count could end up being 11th hour, July 31st trade pieces, but they'll need to maintain their surprising performances for another 5+ weeks to have any buyers.

The one name that I didn't mention who should probably be in the "safe" category, but isn't because he has lots of value, a contract that's going to continue to inflate wildly in the next 2-3 years and, well, because you never can tell with KW at the helm, is Bobby Jenks. He's got another two full seasons before he reaches free agency, but as long as he continues to rack up the saves, he'll be due another record-setting arbitration award. There comes a point when his price tag outstrips his actual value, and it's best for the Sox to get out while their still ahead there.

Trade or get off the pot

A month ago, if I had written this piece it would have been a plea to sell almost any player of value to reinforce the group of young talent the likes of which the Sox haven't seen since the early 90's. And if I had written it after they came back from their wildly-successful road-trip to reach the lofty heights of a .500 record, I might only have written about the prospects that could be turned into hole-fillers on the major league roster. This team, this division, really, has the ability to make any rash decision made by the front office look completely foolish in hindsight. For that reason, and because I'm risk-averse by nature, I would sit on the proverbial pot for as long as possible this year, putting off any future-altering roster decisions until the last possible moment.

And because I can't decide whether it's Everyone Must Go or Sell The Farm time, I'll have the second part of this piece on the minor leaguers of note later tonight (and by tonight, I probably mean morning).

Scott Linebrink Is Expensive Masset

The Cheat — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:32:11 -0000

More photos » by David Banks - AP

"You should bring Linebrink in the game. He's great!"

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I don't know if I can form coherent complete thoughts right now, so let's just go with some bullet points

White Sox pitching held the Cubs hitless with RISP for the first 16 innings of the series... And then Scott Linebrink entered the game (presumably to help Jenks in his next arbitration case by creating some more save opportunities)
Linebrink has now allowed runs in 4 of his last 5 outings, including 2 losses and today's debacle. His line over that stretch looks like this: 4.1 IP, 7H, 7R, 2ER, 4BB, 4K, 3HR. He's also allowed the only inheritted runner he's had to score.
That bullpen that Hawk likes to talk up so much has blown a lead or tie in 5 of the last 10 games.
Alfonso Soriano entered the 9th hitting .125 with RISP and hitless in his last 17 such opportunities -- a middle-in, thigh-high fastball was about one of the only pitches he was going to be able to do anything with in a 2-strike count.
Not that Thornton should have ever faced Soriano, who's never met a slider he couldn't swing at. If you're going to pitch to him with a base open, Dotel or Jenks were the proper call.
The bottom of the lineup had a productive day at the plate, but Chris Getz' fielding woes may have negated it all.
Gordon Beckham had his most productive day as a pro, reaching base in all 4 of his plate appearances and collecting his first multi-hit game to extend his hit-streak to a career high 4 games.
Gavin Floyd's hairy balls are still present. They've just been overshadowed by a rabid, vulturous bullpen