Chicago White Sox 2007-2008 Offseason Thread

eriqjaffe · 10-01-2007, 12:03 PM

...as opposed to the off season that was 2007.

Overall, the kids the Sox called up wound up doing fairly well for themsleves. On the offensive side...

Josh Fields: In 100 games, he hit 23 home runs (3rd on the team) and 67 RBIs (4th best, 1 behind Juan Uribe). Of course, he also racked up 125 K's. He played an acceptable third base (although Crede is far, far better with the glove), although he looked lost when the Sox tried him in left field - not surprising considering he had never played there before at the professional level. Whether he gets stuck out there next year has everything to do with whether or not Joe Crede returns. If Josh is our left fielder next year, maybe it'll be just like Carlos Lee all over again!

Jerry Owens: I still view him as a player very much in the Podsednik mold - no power, noodle arm, great speed, poor OBP skills. That being said, he overcame a rough start to put up a pretty solid .279/.339/.331 second half (including a 5-hit game against Minnesota). Arm aside, his defense seems pretty solid, although he'd make a much more reasonable left fielder than center fielder. Then again, if Josh Fields plays left, there's nowhere else to play Owens.

Danny Richar: Didn't show much with the bat, although he did display farily decent pop (.230/.289/.406), and he looks to be a tremendous defensive second baseman. He seems fairly confident at the plate, and is able to work the count, but can't seem to hit 'em where they ain't. Jury's out on him, although the Sox seem very high on him.

Andy Gonzalez: Really has no business in the major leagues. Nobody really needs a .185/.280/.249 guy. His defense looked alright everywere but third base, where he just looked completely incompetent. Despite Ozzie's claims that he'd get some time at shortstop during September, he only played 1 game there, and didn't get anything hit to him. This guy shouldn't be on the team in 2008, but he probably will be.

Pitching-wise:

John Danks started strong and got no run support, and then stumbled pretty badly during the second half. In June, it looked like the Sox really, really fleeced Texas with the McCarthy trade, now I'm not so sure.

Gavin Floyd was a question mark the whole time. Looked like a bust, but then put together a few pretty good starts towards the end of the year. Still not sure what to think of him.

Nick Masset is just plain terrible. Walked more guys than he struck out, barely put up a sub-2.00 WHIP. Guh.

Ehren Wasserman, on the other hand, actually looked very impressive. Put up a very solid 2.74 ERA. While lefties tagged him to the tune of a .533 average, he held right-handers to a pretty phenomenal .430 OPS. Maybe this will prove to Kenny Williams that "power arms" like Andrew Sisco, David Aardsma and Mike MacDougal are over-rated.

Lance Broadway only pitched in 4 games, but looked pretty good doing it. His start against Kansas City (6 innings, 2 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts) was very impressive - however, it was against Kansas City. I wouldn't be surprised to see Lance in the mix for the #5 spot in next year's rotation.

What Went Wrong In 2007

Well, really, 2007 was pretty much Karmic retribution for the charmed 2005 season. Everything that could go wrong pretty much did. The bullpen, which sure looked intimidating on paper, turned out to be a bunch of paper tigers. Mike MacDougal, in particular, was brutal. I didn't expect much from Aardsma or Sisco, and they didn't disappoint. MacDougal has a better track record, and just flat out stunk it up.

Juan Uribe got very lazy, and it showed. Even Ozzie Guillen was baffled by his output.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ozzie

I'll be honest with you: Uribe can drive everyone crazy. All of a sudden, the season is over, you look up and 20 home runs and 70 RBI. As the manager, you say, 'How the hell did he do that?'

Darin Erstad would have been fine as a backup outfielder/first baseman, but the mistake was relying on him to be able to stay healthy longer than a week or two at a time. When in doubt, punt?

Relying on Scott Podsednik to stay healthy was also a mistake. Bleh.

So, allegedly, Uribe will be back next year, although Pods' future is unclear.

This off-season, if the Sox want to continue the delusional thinking that they're close to contending, they need to pick up at least one quality outfielder (Torii Huner, The Legend Of Aaron Rowand, or somebody) and pretty much an entirely new bullpen.

eriqjaffe · 10-01-2007, 01:38 PM

dola,

I forgot all about how the Sox acquired Wasserman in the first place - an open tryout at age 22:

http://www.barons.com/nm/publish/barons60.shtml

Quote:

White Sox scout Warren Hughes had seen Ehren Wassermann throw a couple of times while playing for Samford University but at the time nothing about Wassermann stood out enough for him to take special notice. As a senior, he posted a 5-8 record with a 6.25 ERA and four saves but it certainly wasn’t the most impressive of seasons. Fast forward to June 17 when the recent Samford graduate laced up his cleats and took the mound at the White Sox regional open tryout at the Hoover Met. Despite the long odds, Wassermann’s tryout was impressive enough, this time around, for Hughes to take notice.

eriqjaffe · 10-02-2007, 09:49 AM

How's this for an auspicious start to the off-season?

Scott Schoenweis received six shipments of steroids while with the White Sox in 2003 and 2004.

Green & Gold Heart · 10-02-2007, 09:56 AM

Lance Broadway is totally a guy I would favor in OOTP just because of his name.

Bonus points if he produces a hawt FaceGen.

Goodsox · 10-02-2007, 09:56 AM

Nice posts! I also really liked what I saw from Wasserman. He had some very impressive outings and was one of the only relievers I was comfortable watching in a game besides Jenks. This is going to be one interesting offseason that hopefully brings many positive changes for the Sox.

eriqjaffe · 10-02-2007, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Green & Gold Heart

Lance Broadway is totally a guy I would favor in OOTP just because of his name.

Bonus points if he produces a hawt FaceGen.

How about his actual face?

eriqjaffe · 10-02-2007, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goodsox

This is going to be one interesting offseason that hopefully brings many positive changes for the Sox.

Yeah, I thought the same thing last year after the team stumbled down the stretch in '06. It wound up bringing us Darin Erstad. I can't imagine this off-season being any worse than that, but it wouldn't surprise me if it wound up being that way.

Green & Gold Heart · 10-02-2007, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eriqjaffe

How about his actual face?

:randy:!!! I have a new favorite White Sox player!

eriqjaffe · 10-02-2007, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoso1515

When you call a .670 OPS solid, your team has problems.

Well, yeah. I believe I mentioned that Owens has zero power, largely because his swing is almost entirely upper-body. OPS is a less relevant stat when talking about a player like him, because there will probably never be much of an "S" to add to the "O".

He improved over the second half, and may not wind up being the complete washout I was expecting him to be.

Is he going to be great? Of course not. He's a one-dimensional player. He's still a better option that Darin Erstad at this point. Which isn't really saying much.

eriqjaffe · 10-02-2007, 05:27 PM

Ah, now it's not a double-post.

The Sox have outrighted Luis Terrero and Paulino Reynoso to Charlotte, but Terrero has refused the assignment and opted for free agency.

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news...=.jsp&c_id=cws

Y'know, for a team that was so thin in the outfield this year, I don't really get it. Terrero was never going to develop into an everyday player, but I really felt he was a respectable backup - certainly an upgrade over a guy like Timo Perez.

eriqjaffe · 10-05-2007, 03:22 PM

The Sox have fired third base coach Razor Shines, and reassigned bullpen coach Art Kusnyer within the organization.

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news...=.jsp&c_id=cws

That'll fix everything.

Unoriginal Name · 10-08-2007, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eriqjaffe

The Sox have fired third base coach Razor Shines, and reassigned bullpen coach Art Kusnyer within the organization.

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news...=.jsp&c_id=cws

That'll fix everything.

Well that clinches it...the hitting woes were not Greg Walker's fault...it was the fault of Razor Shines who must have been relaying the wrong signals to the batter.

Jestor · 10-10-2007, 12:57 PM

Razor Shines is a cool name, though.

eriqjaffe · 10-10-2007, 03:36 PM

Oh, the Sox have also named Buddy Bell "Minor League Field Coordinator", whatever that means.

Quote:

Originally Posted by my stathead brother

I guess he's in charge of making sure the North Carolina warning track stays between Virginia and South Carolina.

Go Tribe · 10-10-2007, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eriqjaffe

Oh, the Sox have also named Buddy Bell "Minor League Field Coordinator", whatever that means.

Who better to coordinate your minors than someone who spent the last few years managing the royals! now THAT'S experience

eriqjaffe · 10-10-2007, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Go Tribe

Who better to coordinate your minors than someone who spent the last few years managing the royals! now THAT'S experience

Apparently, Bell held the same post for the Sox from 1991-1993.

Go Tribe · 10-11-2007, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eriqjaffe

Apparently, Bell held the same post for the Sox from 1991-1993.

i was ripping on the royals in my last post

eriqjaffe · 10-22-2007, 09:58 AM

The Sox have named Juan Nieves as their bullpen coach for 2008:

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotr...mes-nieve.html

Juan's got his work cut out for him, that's for sure.

eriqjaffe · 10-26-2007, 05:09 PM

Ryan Bukvich?

HE GONE!

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news...=.jsp&c_id=cws

eriqjaffe · 10-30-2007, 12:24 PM

From the "I'm Not Surprised" department:

Williams: Forget deal for A-Rod

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kenny Williams

When I heard the number ... put it this way: I heard that number, and I haven't spent one minute thinking about it.

10-02-2007, 09:49 AM	#3
eriqjaffe Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2003 Location: Under The Christmas Fish Posts: 7,633	How's this for an auspicious start to the off-season? Scott Schoenweis received six shipments of steroids while with the White Sox in 2003 and 2004. __________________

10-02-2007, 05:27 PM	#10
eriqjaffe Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2003 Location: Under The Christmas Fish Posts: 7,633	Ah, now it's not a double-post. The Sox have outrighted Luis Terrero and Paulino Reynoso to Charlotte, but Terrero has refused the assignment and opted for free agency. http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news...=.jsp&c_id=cws Y'know, for a team that was so thin in the outfield this year, I don't really get it. Terrero was never going to develop into an everyday player, but I really felt he was a respectable backup - certainly an upgrade over a guy like Timo Perez. __________________ Last edited by eriqjaffe; 10-03-2007 at 05:46 PM.

10-05-2007, 03:22 PM	#11
eriqjaffe Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2003 Location: Under The Christmas Fish Posts: 7,633	The Sox have fired third base coach Razor Shines, and reassigned bullpen coach Art Kusnyer within the organization. http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news...=.jsp&c_id=cws That'll fix everything. __________________

10-22-2007, 09:58 AM	#18
eriqjaffe Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2003 Location: Under The Christmas Fish Posts: 7,633	The Sox have named Juan Nieves as their bullpen coach for 2008: http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotr...mes-nieve.html Juan's got his work cut out for him, that's for sure. __________________

10-26-2007, 05:09 PM	#19
eriqjaffe Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2003 Location: Under The Christmas Fish Posts: 7,633	Ryan Bukvich? HE GONE! http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news...=.jsp&c_id=cws __________________

10-02-2007, 09:56 AM	#4
Green & Gold Heart Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 5,242	Lance Broadway is totally a guy I would favor in OOTP just because of his name. Bonus points if he produces a hawt FaceGen.

10-02-2007, 09:56 AM	#5
Goodsox Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Chicago Posts: 2,866	Nice posts! I also really liked what I saw from Wasserman. He had some very impressive outings and was one of the only relievers I was comfortable watching in a game besides Jenks. This is going to be one interesting offseason that hopefully brings many positive changes for the Sox. __________________ GoodSox Go White Sox!