Chicago White Sox
70-84, T-5th, AL West
1972 Outlook: The Sox won 91 games in 1969 but '71 saw a second straight bad season and the ownership decided to blow everything up instead of trying to compete for resources with the Cubs in the Windy City. Out the door went their top starter Aidan Williams, their first baseman (Pete Jennings), and shortstop (Justin Henderson). 1972 would give the Chisox a chance to take a long look at the younger guys.
1972 In Review: Chicago got off to the bad start as expected and were 15-23 by the end of May but they kind of weren't too terrible for a while. As of August 31 they were 60-63 and, due to a very mediocre division, only 5 1/2 games out of the lead. From there on they fell apart, finishing the year 10-21. It was if ever so briefly a taste of what they could accomplish.
1973 Outlook: The White Sox have the best power hitter not named Ernesto Garcia in either league in Alice Cooper and that goes a long, long way to cure anything else that might ail a team. They had a lot of problems hitting and getting on base outside of Cooper. The pitching finished 3rd from the bottom in ERA and that wasn't due to bad fielding either: no AL team struck out fewer batters than the White Sox' 764 and they surrendered the third most HRs (actually tied with the A's). In short, they weren't as good as their record and could have a real drop this season.
Pitching
Obke Olthof
RHP No. 3
RR, 6'4" 201 lbs.
Born 1945-04-01 in Amsterdam, NED
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 NYY MLB 21 11 0 3.27 36 36 10 261.1 256 104 95 61 182
1971 NYY MLB 12 13 0 3.85 37 37 8 252.1 273 119 108 63 169
1972 CHW MLB 13 12 0 3.74 31 31 8 235.2 215 100 98 61 152
The 27 year old Dutchman Olthof traveled to a new team last year but the results were pretty much the same as with the old one: good control, a few too many hits, and a middling performance. The White Sox traded away Pete Jennings, a first baseman still very much in his prime, for Olthof hoping that he'd get back to that 1970 form, helping him, perhaps, by not forcing him to pitch as often as he'd done with the Yankees. Olthof continued to post a high-ish ERA and a .500 record; this year, he also gave up a few too many HRs, 23 of them in all.
One positive note for Olthof is that with the team falling apart around him he managed to go 3-1, 1.52 in September and in fact brought home 40% of the team's wins from September 1 onward (he was 1-0 in 1 start in October). This lowered his ERA nearly 50 points from 3.74 and put him back in line to maybe be the team's Opening Day starter again.
Chris Messina
RHP No. 13
RR, 5'11" 191 lbs.
Born 1941-03-28 in Houston, TX
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 BOS MLB 8 9 0 2.68 37 20 2 174.0 152 61 52 50 70
1971 CHW MLB 11 15 0 3.74 31 30 5 216.0 210 105 90 64 92
1972 CHW MLB 10 15 0 3.41 30 30 4 213.2 184 92 81 85 94
At 31, Messina is the elder statesman of this young pitching staff. He's a natural groundball guy whose pitches got up an awful lot last season - his GB rate was 48%, the lowest of his career - but somehow he managed to avoid homers and was effective enough to stay in the rotation all season long. This did mean that he finished in the bottom 10 in losses for the 2nd straight year but losing is nothing new to Messina, who now has a 10-15 record.
The worrying trend here was his control: As you'd expect, Messina's a guy who needs good control to survive in this league and last season he barely struck out more men than he walked and on top of that, threw 11 wild pitches (5th most in the AL). Ideally he keeps his fastball and forkball down; too often, "down" meant in the dirt last season.
Messina profiles as a guy who the White Sox will probably want to take out of the rotation eventually in favor of the kids. The kids are not all right, though, not just yet, and so the pitch-to-contact man may well get another 30 starts in 1973.
Mick Fleetwood
RHP No. 23
RR, 6'5" 204 lbs.
Born 1947-11-13 in Redruth, ENG
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 TUC AAA 6 12 0 5.06 21 21 8 145.2 151 84 82 80 97
1971 TUC AAA 11 12 0 3.17 32 32 8 246.2 188 93 87 142 166
1971 CHW MLB 1 0 0 5.99 2 2 0 12.0 13 8 8 6 5
1972 TUC AAA 0 1 0 4.50 1 1 1 8.0 7 4 4 4 4
1972 CHW MLB 7 16 0 4.02 28 26 4 181.0 165 88 81 82 110
Fleetwood has a band in the offseason, although it's not anywhere near as good as some of the other acts we've covered so far. In fact, Fleetwood's career looks a little like his band's career at the moment: just as they need a guitarist and a lead vocalist or two, so, too, does Fleetwood need a little more: another pitch, perhaps, or at least better control of the ones he does have. As it stood, he spent most of 1972 in the major leagues but finished with an ERA of over 4 in a season when a 4+ ERA is bad. And in fact, he got to there by wrapping up the year with a 6.20 ERA in his final 4 starts: 24.2 innings, 21 hits, 17 earned runs, 21 walks, 8 strikeouts. That is not the kind of finish you want out of your young starters.
Fleetwood throws a good slider and might eventually get Ks with his stuff. He hasn't figured that out yet. He's also got decent stamina although he hasn't gone far into games because the White Sox haven't shown a lot of trust in him yet (plus of course the existence of Malcolm Post). He has a penchant for bringing various musical instruments into the locker room and playing them when others are trying to focus, which has made him some enemies within the clubhouse.
Fleetwood might ultimately not stick around with the White Sox: he's really looking to play ball to supplement his musical career and so may prefer to take a bag of money. As the Sox are notoriously skinflint, this is a bad combo. For the time being, though, Fleetwood needs to prove that the final month of the year was just a fluke and not a sign of things to come.
Tim Anderlik
RHP No. 6
SR, 5'9" 188 lbs.
Born 1944-04-29 in West Bloomfield Township, MI
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 TUC AAA 4 1 0 3.55 5 5 4 43.0 43 18 17 15 20
1970 CHW MLB 15 9 0 3.02 30 30 7 220.0 196 92 74 89 137
1971 CHW MLB 9 15 0 4.94 30 30 4 200.1 253 112 110 62 115
1972 CHW MLB 6 12 0 3.99 34 24 4 173.1 170 83 77 71 91
Anderlik had his 2nd straight losing campaign after a solid-looking rookie season in 1970 and by season's end he had been pulled from the rotation in favor of newer and younger blood. His stint in the bullpen, however, was a complete disaster - a 4.82 ERA in 10 games, including 3 HRs allowed in 9.1 IP - and so it looks like if he wants to stick with this club it might need to be in the bullpen. On the other hand, he's looking at about the 6th starter in a projected 5 man rotation.
"Swingman" might well be the best role for Anderlik. He's reportedly unhappy but that seems to have less to do with the role and more to do with being annoyed by guys like Fleetwood. In spite of a couple of solid front-line pitches, Anderlike is not a strikeout artist, at least not as a starter. He's showed some promise in that regard in his early career in the minors but it just doesn't look like that's panned out.
A change of scenery might be the best option for Anderlik's future career. It's hard to see how many takers there are going to be for a guy with straight stuff who's looked an awful lot like a replacement-level pitcher the past two seasons.
Malcolm Post
RHP No. 1
RR, 6'1" 182 lbs.
Born 1946-03-21 in Veenendaal, NED
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 CHW MLB 7 8 16 2.39 59 0 0 82.2 70 27 22 32 76
1971 CHW MLB 7 4 24 2.22 60 0 0 97.0 82 24 24 38 73
1972 CHW MLB 10 5 18 2.13 62 0 0 92.2 81 26 22 28 72
It's fun and all that Post and Olthof are both from the Netherlands (and in fact form 50% of all Dutch players who played in the big leagues last year, the other 2 being reliever Job Cohen of the A's and shortstop prospect Bert Blylevel of the Red Sox) but the White Sox aren't really in a place to benefit from a top of the line stopper like Post is. Some fans would even tell you that by winning close games, he keeps them out of the high draft picks that truly bad teams can accumulate. We think this is going too far but it's certainly true that the White Sox can find someone who can help them in exchange for the 26 year old Post.
Post throws gas and on top of that his fastball, which is somewhere between a 4-seamer and a 2-seamer in the grip, sinks heavily. He's also got a grade A slider and really, the only thing keeping him from starting is the lack of a 3rd decent pitch: he has a change he'll occasionally trot out but it's still a work in progress. Post had only 18 saves mostly because the Sox didn't put him into great situations: he did blow 8 save chances but this is the kind of thing that happens when you're called in to preserve a 1 run lead with 0 out and a runner already in scoring position (August 19, a game in which the Sox did go on to win 7-6).
There's a thought in here that maybe Chicago should absolutely use up Post over the next couple of years in search of a cheap AL West title. I don't think Chicago is close enough for that.
Steven Chu
RHP No. 18
RR, 5'12" 182 lbs.
Born 1948-02-25 in St. Louis, MO
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 TUC AAA 3 8 0 5.46 14 13 5 87.1 108 58 53 28 47
1971 TUC AAA 13 10 0 2.70 30 30 10 229.2 201 101 69 110 97
1972 TUC AAA 7 1 0 0.92 11 11 7 88.0 56 9 9 13 42
1972 CHW MLB 9 11 0 3.49 24 24 6 167.1 147 67 65 62 78
Chu is what Bostonians would call "wicked smaht". What would they call a guy like this in Chicago? "Unlikely to put the ketchup on a hot dog"? "A man who knows how to spruce up a frunchroom"? I don't know. Whatever he is, Chu is currently pursuing a graduate degree at Cal-Berkeley and is paying his way through school via baseball. He has a 4-pitch arsenal that, like other guys on this team, ought to deliver grounders but kind of didn't this year. If that'll iron itself out and he can keep the ball down, he might be able to live on only-OK stuff.
Chu also may not be a long-term solution given his desire to get that bag to pay those huge tuition rates - California is I think still free at this time to residents but Chu, who was born to Chinese immigrants in Missouri, is not a resident of the state. He started strong but tailed off a bit, although not nearly as badly as Mick Fleetwood did. Let's see if he can turn that around as well.
Jerry Blackwell
RHP No. 28
SR, 5'9" 472 lbs.
Born 1949-04-24 in Stone Mountain, GA
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl W L Sv ERA G GS CG IP H R ER BB SO
1970 DEC A 4 1 0 4.32 7 7 4 52.0 72 35 25 16 19
1970 AMA AA 4 10 0 4.66 19 18 5 119.2 150 73 62 45 38
1971 DEC A 2 1 0 2.36 5 5 2 38.0 33 12 10 6 16
1971 AMA AA 11 11 0 2.62 24 24 13 202.0 190 66 59 46 93
1972 CHW MLB 6 9 0 3.20 31 16 5 143.0 120 58 51 40 51
Blackwell, aka the Crusher, aka the Mountain of Stone Mountain, is a large, large man. A pro wrestler, Blackwell is listed in those books at 470 pounds which strikes me as an impossible amount of weight to put on a 5'9" frame. Nevertheless, man's big. He started the year in the rotation, pitched his way out of it in May with a 2-3, 5.19 record, and then did a good enough job in long relief that he got 8 more starts at the end of the season, where he was much better. His fastball is average at best and Blackwell needs to spot it to be effective, and when he does miss he's as likely to miss over the plate as outside of it.
Blackwell is also only 23 years of age and so could very much still be a full-on member of this rotation. On the other hand, he stayed in the majors all year because he was a Rule V pick last year: a trip to the minors to study a new pitch might be the best move here.
Infield
Chris Flores
C No. 20
RR, 5'10" 201 lbs.
Born 1940-03-30 in San Marcos, CA
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 KC MLB .227 97 300 23 68 12 0 0 14 22 53 2
1971 CHR AAA .242 72 236 21 57 9 0 0 23 36 19 0
1971 PIT MLB .185 27 81 4 15 2 0 0 5 5 16 0
1972 MIL MLB .202 45 94 7 19 5 0 1 13 13 12 0
1972 CHW MLB .233 42 133 9 31 5 0 0 4 15 15 0
Flores is one of those vaguely replacment-level catchers who just float around from team to team for a decade or more. They rarely start - although Flores landed on the expansion Royals, not to mention a couple of bad Cincinnati teams he got 200+ ABs for in the late 60s - but are just kind of... there. Flores managed to start a total of 66 games between Milwaukee and Chicago last season, 7 off from his career high. Chicago snagged him off waivers from California, who tried to stash him in their minor league system after acquiring him from the Brewers on July 28. The team was horrific around him but Flores was... fine.
Like other guys in this role, Flores is a good defender who can block pitches in the dirt and play the bunt well. He's a little hot-headed and got visibly frustrated at all the slackers on this team last year at times. He wound up playing the most innings out of any catcher for the White Sox last season, thanks to their jettisoning of Mike Perez. That seems unlikely to repeat itself in 1973, although if for some reason it did, there are worse guys to handle a pitching staff.
René Arnoux
RHP No. 19
RR, 5'10" 200 lbs.
Born 1948-07-03 in Pontcharra, FRA
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1971 ASH AA .299 62 211 22 63 14 0 3 24 16 31 0
1971 TUC AAA .273 3 11 1 3 2 0 0 1 0 4 0
1972 KNO AA .286 27 91 12 26 1 0 2 11 15 8 0
1972 TUC AAA .192 58 193 11 37 8 0 2 21 16 29 0
1972 CHW MLB .224 28 85 8 19 2 0 0 5 6 15 0
The Frenchman Arnoux is a man who likes things that are fast: fast cars, fast women, fastballs, you name it. He had to be trained off of flashing the "1" when giving signs. You get the idea. He's young but lacks the kind of skills you really want out of a person who occupies any position in a lineup - poor contact, too many Ks, no power, not a lot of plate discipline. His saving grace and the thing that might keep him in the league as opposed to racing F1 cars (well, he could do that too) is that he has a nice arm, which he used to throw out 47% of steal attempters in AAA Tucson last year.
Arnoux looks like a lifetime backup. Given the state of the union in Chicago, he's got a really strong chance to start - it'll likely come down to him or fellow prospect (well, "prospect" but catchers sometimes grow up later) Claudio Padilla (.278/1/7 in 54 ML at-bats).
Alice Cooper
1B/LF No. 38
LL, 6'2" 192 lbs.
Born 1948-05-01 in Detroit, MI
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 TAM A .262 33 126 16 33 9 2 2 6 18 29 5
1970 ASH AA .235 86 307 34 72 19 1 8 31 41 74 10
1971 TUC AAA .293 81 270 59 79 16 5 14 58 65 55 7
1971 CHW MLB .275 64 211 42 58 10 2 20 47 41 52 1
1972 CHW MLB .261 140 495 84 129 14 2 44 96 92 115 6
Cooper is the real deal. Nobody in the league outside of Cleveland has his kind of power and at 24 he's already figured out that this means that pitchers won't give him a lot of good things to hit. He will swing at the high hard stuff but will lay off of off-speed pitches that don't graze a corner of the plate, which is a lot more than a lot of young sluggers can do. The big equalizer, though, is that Cooper can hit one out any time, anywhere. He missed the last 3 weeks of the year with back tightness; otherwise he'd have easily eclipsed 100 RBIs, which is saying a lot in this offensive context.
Cooper is never going to be a guy known for his defense, not with those bombs, but truth be told he's not too bad at either position he played in '72. He's tall enough to reach for wayward throws and although he doesn't move particularly well to his right, he isn't a statue out there either like so many old, slow guys who are tasked with playing the position. In left field, the only thing really keeping him from being out there regularly is an arm that's fair at best. He has good natural speed that has translated into double-digit steals in minors in past years and in the 39 games he played in the outfield this year that showed through.
Cooper will play every day and hit cleanup. Whether that's at first or left is to be determined and ultimately depends on who the White Sox decide to stash at DH on any given day.
Jeff Nation
1B/3B No. 5
RR, 6'3" 205 lbs.
Born 1945-08-15 in Texarkana, AR
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 KC MLB .292 146 571 72 167 31 10 21 84 43 76 7
1971 CHW MLB .241 139 518 55 125 15 5 12 48 33 84 4
1972 CHW MLB .264 113 326 42 86 12 3 17 52 22 49 1
Following an off-year in 1971, his first with Chicago, Nation found himself without a regular position at the beginning of the year. In fact, through the end of May he had a grant total of 21 games played and 8 starts. He still did pretty well, largely as a the right-handed half of platoons at first and third, and then got his only real opportunity to play every day in September when Cooper went down. Nation struggled that month - .221/1/5 - but the overall body of work indicates that he should be in line for more appearances next season.
Nation could stand to learn a little bit of plate discipline from Cooper. He's only above average when it comes to contact; strikeouts have been an issue for him in the past, although they weren't so bad last year. The 21 HRs he hit with KC in 1970 might be a high water mark. He's probably not the ideal guy for third: he makes all the plays and has a solid arm, but he doesn't move to his left super well and his bulky frame makes it hard for him to dive for hard smashes. He's much better at first but, like most teams, the White Sox have a bit of a logjam there.
Chance Hopka
2B/SS No. 21
RR, 6'2" 200 lbs.
Born 1942-10-29 in Los Angeles, CA
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 CAL MLB .238 89 344 54 82 16 6 1 27 31 88 7
1971 CHW MLB .253 25 91 7 23 3 1 0 6 10 21 3
1971 CAL MLB .232 35 99 5 23 5 0 1 10 5 19 1
1972 CHW MLB .217 114 383 42 83 9 6 2 28 28 75 3
The White Sox are Hopka's 3rd team in 4 years now. Going into the year some people were asking why this guy isn't a starter somewhere. Chicago plugged him in at second and... now we know why. Hopka has always struggled to hit but it seems that at the age of 29 he's also lost the tiny amount of gap power he expressed in St. Louis and for the one season in Cal. What's left is a guy who still tries to pull too many pitches and who as a result strikes out way too much for a hitter of his caliber.
He's a guy who will work extra-hard on his fielding and as a result, even with just 92 games and 89 starts, it's not out of the question that Hopka will win the Gold Glove award at the position this year. He was worth +12.4 ZR there. He also played a bunch of shortstop and could very well open the season there if Chris Morgan doesn't show signs of bouncing back or the prospects - particularly political pundit PJ O'Rourke (.231, 1, 3 in 52 September at-bats) don't look like they're ready to go by the end of spring training. He's quick enough on the bases that the White Sox got fooled into using him the majority of the time at the 2 slot in the order. Frankly, his bat is a drain there and he's a poor hit and run choice to boot.
Yukio Hatoyama
2B/IF No. 8
LR, 6'3" 190 lbs.
Born 1948-02-04 in Tokyo, JPN
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 BUR A .400 13 50 6 20 4 0 0 10 3 9 0
1970 BIR AA .262 81 324 41 85 10 5 0 22 29 51 4
1971 BIR AA .263 42 156 17 41 5 0 2 13 8 9 3
1972 IOW AAA .347 44 170 31 59 11 2 2 25 17 24 7
1972 SD MLB .200 10 15 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
1972 CHW MLB .272 60 191 16 52 6 2 1 23 25 28 4
Hatoyama is a bit of a card who uses his (ostensibly) poor command of the English language to say things like "I want to join the circus" or "one day I will be Prime Minister" to reporters in postgame interviews. The players love him for this; we... will keep our mouths shut until we know who he is in the league. At this point he's a 24 year old prospect who seems like he's going to be the opposite of Hopka in every way: good contact, a willingness to go with outside pitches, a decent enough eye for a guy with middle-infield power... and not the best range.
He should still be able to hit his way into playing second base. The big question is going to be how the power develops with regular playing time. If he can even get to the 5-8 HR range, he could be a regular in this league for some time to come.
Brian Maccioli
3B No. 49
RR, 6'0" 201 lbs.
Born 1945-08-23 in Raleigh, NC
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 LAD MLB .236 124 474 43 112 20 0 12 51 54 72 0
1971 LAD MLB .283 151 584 68 165 30 1 16 61 47 74 0
1972 CHW MLB .252 139 512 57 129 21 3 15 63 57 84 0
Maccioli came back from the Dodgers in exchange for SS Justin Henderson and their #1 starting pitcher in 1971, Aidan Williams. He was just one of a bunch of guys in LA and Chicago plugged him into the #3 slot, hoping he'd continue to hit for a high average with decent power. The decent power remained... well, fine, it's 1972, the league average was .236, and I guess the contact was "decent", if not the quality that makes you want to hit a guy 3rd. He's 27 and in the prime of his career but that also means that what you see is what you get out of this guy.
Maccioli has a gun for an arm and seems like he's overcome past issues with its accuracy (although again, it's hard to tell with the way the league worked). He made his first All-Star Game because he's a complete player. Pretty much the only thing he doesn't do is run, although he's a big guy who will roll into the pivot to break up the double play when it suits him to do so.
Maccioli is surely the 3rd baseman for 73 and probably the next 5 years. Beyond that, who knows? Maybe I'll decide to go fishing.
Chris Morgan
SS/IF No. 22
SR, 5'11" 184 lbs.
Born 1947-11-12 in Camden, NJ
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 GAR R .381 16 63 12 24 5 0 5 14 2 11 1
1970 D-S S A .227 24 88 7 20 3 0 0 9 5 16 0
1970 APP A .246 68 240 25 59 6 2 0 16 23 42 7
1970 MOB AA .250 9 32 6 8 1 1 0 3 1 5 1
1971 ASH AA .260 79 235 23 61 9 2 6 26 15 31 2
1971 TUC AAA .283 35 99 10 28 8 1 0 9 10 9 1
1971 CHW MLB .209 24 67 7 14 2 0 1 9 11 7 1
1972 CHW MLB .206 112 339 19 70 8 0 0 20 14 47 2
Probablh the worst thing about Morgan's season is, nobody in their right minds could have expected any better. Handed the starting job out of spring training, where he hit an entirely adequate-looking .269 with 4 RBIs, Morgan showed none of the above average contact he'd displayed in the minors but all of the power and pitch recognition, which is to say none. He's scouted as a very good shortstop who has no particular weaknesses in the field, which is why he got the nod, after all. Even his defense only graded out at merely above average (+1.5 ZR) which is not at all what you want with a guy with his kind of production.
Morgan has the tools to be a utility guy in this league and may yet start in 1973 is the aforementioned O'Rourke or Timorese bishop-in-training Carlos Filipe Ximines Belo (.170, 0, 6 in his own trial) aren't good to go, so perhaps it's best that I don't knock him down too much, lest you think the Sox are making a mistake by putting him out there for another season.
Jim Fiederlein
SS No. 46
RR, 6'1" 203 lbs.
Born 1943-08-19 in Raytown, MO
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 MOB AA .215 20 65 7 14 2 0 1 6 3 17 0
1970 TUC AAA .189 57 180 11 34 3 2 0 16 12 33 0
1970 CHW MLB .139 22 72 3 10 0 0 0 3 2 19 0
1971 CHW MLB .191 83 183 8 35 6 1 1 18 6 46 0
1972 CHW MLB .214 42 98 8 21 1 0 0 7 9 19 0
It's not that Fiederlein isn't smart, it's just... no, it's exactly that he isn't smart. The 29 year old organizational soldier for Chicago has the tools to be a utility guy but just hasn't ever figured out how to do the job anywhere but his native shortstop. This is going to be an issue for him staying in the league because quite frankly he does not hit like a starter and he doesn't have any of that John Timonen style range that makes you overlook a lack of hitting either.
With all the youth at this position, Fiederlein could be anything from a play-him-every-few-games backup to the 25th man on the roster to a spring training cutdown.
Outfield
John Marsden
LF No. 16
LL, 5'11" 201 lbs.
Born 1943-04-14 in St. George, UT
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 OAK MLB .344 53 215 30 74 8 0 7 18 26 21 0
1970 MIL MLB .279 70 265 31 74 16 1 3 29 32 30 0
1971 SYR AAA .000 6 10 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
1971 MIL MLB .198 47 177 14 35 4 1 4 17 16 24 2
1971 NYY MLB .196 30 92 9 18 5 1 1 13 6 13 0
1972 CHW MLB .210 99 276 28 58 9 1 10 39 28 42 0
Marsden's been riding the .344 average he carried for half a season with the A's in 1970 for 2 1/2 years now and it's probably time that teams realize that he's not that guy. He's also not the .190s hitter he was in '71 but now that we look at it, maybe he's not a whole lot better. The HRs were nice and scouts do think that that sticks, but even in a normal environment he's a guy who might get you, say, 15 HRs with an average in the .240s, and that's as a part of a platoon - Marsden only had 13 at-bats all season vs. lefties as Chicago largely spared him those at-bats.
He's nothing special defensively or as a baserunner. He's fine in the locker room, though not any kind of a leader, and responds poorly to change. As such, it's probably best to make a decision on him early - keep him in left, playing only against RHPs, place him on waivers (he's out of options, as you'd expect a 29 year old to be), use him as a power-hitting PH (not saying that's a good option, just that it is one) - and then stick with it.
Ian Everett
CF No. 17
LL, 6'0" 200 lbs.
Born 1942-09-13 in Cleveland, OH
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 WAS MLB .271 104 380 44 103 12 3 7 46 32 85 12
1971 CHW MLB .264 90 333 27 88 8 3 2 18 18 74 8
1972 CHW MLB .209 106 326 22 68 5 2 2 26 30 64 11
Everett, a starter in the league since 1964, mostly for the 2nd-run Senators, opened the season as the White Sox' starter in 1972 before a .169 May led them to try other options. Those options did not pan out and by September Everett was back in the starting role again. Because it was this kind of September for Chicago, he hit .208 that month, too, and center is now a big gigantic question mark for the team.
Reeder is still youngish at 30 and in the prime of his career but you can't help but think his best seasons are behind him. He hit 10 HRs in 1965; that seems like an outlandishly high total for him now, although in thr back of his mind he's still got that power and as such he goes through stretches where he tries to pull everything. That long swing also generates a lot of strikeouts, which completely negates his speed in terms of generating hits. The last time he got more than 400 at-bats - 1967 with Washington - he struck out 142 times. You could argue that his contact has improved since then but you can improve a lot on terrible and still be really bad.
He can still pick it in centerfield, although not at the level that won him the Gold Glove in 1965, so he's still got a place in this league. That said, if I were the Sox I might just promote one of the youngsters, ready for the majors or not, and live with the results.
Mohamed Abdelaziz
OF No. 24
LL, 6'1" 201 lbs.
Born 1947-08-18 in Marrakech, MAR
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 SJ A .264 81 318 62 84 12 4 13 38 31 66 52
1971 TUC AAA .311 17 61 10 19 4 2 1 7 7 9 9
1972 TUC AAA .240 93 333 35 80 11 2 7 29 33 43 23
1972 CHW MLB .249 62 241 22 60 9 4 3 16 21 39 9
The 5th overall pick in the 1970 draft, the Sox acquired Abdelaziz from the Royals in March of last year for C Nick McIntyre. As things stand now, even though McIntyre hasn't worked out too well for KC, you can understand how they felt he was expendable given all of their young outfielders. I bring this up because there's a really good chance that that trade's going to look all kinds of awful in 5 years. Abdelaziz has got speed that can land him in the top 5 in the league in steals. He's got some holes in his swing but is working to iron those out. As a future leadoff guy he seems more of a guy who's going to slap at the ball than give you towering shots that land on the warning track, which is a plus.
As a fielder he has a fair arm that's still a little scattershot. As tempting as it must have been, the White Sox didn't completely replace Everett with him because of that and his only average range. He also was held out pretty much completely against LHPs after joining the ballclub in mid July.
This is a guy who needs to start somewhere in 1973. Where? That's the $64,000 question.
Dave Concepcion
CF No. 11
RR, 6'0" 194 lbs.
Born 1948-06-09 in Ocumare del Tuy, VEN
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1971 APP A .600 3 10 2 6 2 0 0 3 2 2 1
1971 ASH AA .257 68 265 32 68 10 4 3 27 25 47 18
1971 TUC AAA .100 3 10 1 1 0 0 1 5 2 1 0
1972 TUC AAA .236 33 123 12 29 1 0 3 12 7 19 8
1972 CHW MLB .200 56 155 19 31 6 0 0 7 19 31 8
When I rename a player to someone who actually played in the majors I try to make them into something completely different from what they were IRL. The real-life Concepcion was a defense-first shortstop. The in-game Concepcion is... a defense-first centerfielder. Sue me. In game, he was also clearly rushed too hard: the Sox' second round pick in 1971, he jumped 3 levels in a year and a half to hit the Timonen Line for 56 games. He's got great speed and good instincts on defense but he really, really needs to learn the game better on offense, probably in the minor leagues for at least another year.
Josh Wade
LF/RF No. 76
RR, 5'11" 202 lbs.
Born 1943-11-08 in Tucson, AZ
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 CHW MLB .296 150 597 71 177 31 9 8 64 21 75 4
1971 CHW MLB .279 115 427 44 119 22 3 2 32 10 66 5
1972 CHW MLB .276 99 344 41 95 14 6 4 40 17 48 4
Wade has his fair share of detractors, who look at his sweet swing and think he could be a multi-time batting champion and hits leader if he just applied himself a little bit more. This criticism has chased him from Boston, where he came up, and now Chicago after he came here in exchange for fan favorite Jun Kim. Those people might be right but they're also overlooking who he actually is: a good, if streaky, hitter who can hit close to .300 for you when you give him regular PT. Wade didn't get that playing time until August and he hit .324 over the final two months of the season.
He swings at everything he sees and is a slap hitter, not a power guy, so he really does need to hit for average in order to benefit his team. He still is a sucker for the high fastball; a guy with his power ought to lay off of it but he'll hit balls to the warning track all day if pitchers throw him that pitch. As a baserunner, he's never been able to express the speed he showed in the low minors in the major leagues and at 28 it's probably safe to say that in MLB terms he's not one of those guys. He still gets down the line to first quickly though and will take a base if an outfielder is napping.
You can blame the overall turmoil for Wade not starting last season. He's clearly the best hitter in the outfield, at least if the team doesn't decide to place Cooper in left, and at the absolute worst ought to be put in there every day so that the team can get trade value for him.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
RF No. 14
LL, 6'0" 186 lbs.
Born 1947-06-13 in Thalgau, AUT
Code:
Yr Tm Lvl Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
1970 WH A .344 16 61 14 21 1 0 0 7 15 8 17
1970 GRN A .284 23 88 17 25 4 2 2 11 11 8 11
1970 LOU AAA .222 41 167 29 37 7 1 1 17 12 43 33
1971 TUC AAA .240 135 462 79 111 18 8 6 39 81 70 42
1971 CHW MLB .321 28 112 21 36 5 2 0 6 19 17 10
1972 TUC AAA .213 26 89 11 19 3 1 1 3 19 12 7
1972 CHW MLB .186 85 295 35 55 8 2 0 14 44 55 24
You would think that a man with Schwarzenegger's physique - the man looks like he could be on the cover of a bodybuilding magazine, or perhaps, with just a little bit better command of the English language, become an action movie star - would be a power hitter but nope, Ahnold is a slap hitter. Speaking of, the conventional wisdom as of the early 70s is that for baseball players, working out too hard makes you "musclebound" and slow. Ahnold is not slow: even though he only started 78 games last season and hit poorly when he did, he finished 7th in the AL in steals.
He would have struck out more than 100 times if he'd played a full 162 game season and he needs to cut down on that. He can coax out a walk, using his muscly wrists to check swings so hard that sometimes he breaks bats doing so, but in 1972 that only made him slightly below average at getting on base (a .292 OBP). He's just going to need to figure out opposing pitchers and learn to use that speed to get to first base if he wants to be a regular in the major leagues. If he sticks at right field, which, you generally want a guy who can hit for power there, he'd be one of the best RFs in the league. CF seems a more interesting future role for him.
Like Concepcion the best bet for him might be regular time in the minor leagues to work things out the rest of the way. Schwarzenegger is a full year older than Concepcion, however, and the Sox might consider that even at 25 the Austrian is what he is.