Tuesday, June 11
White Sox starting to sink out of race
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By Phil Rogers
Special to ESPN.com
CHICAGO -- Uh, about this being the first year since 1937 when both Chicago teams followed a winning season with another winning season ... at this point one out of two would be good.
It's not out of the question for both teams to save this season, not yet anyway, but as another White Sox-Cubs weekend approaches it certainly doesn't look promising. That's mostly because of the Cubs, who lumber along with only Milwaukee keeping them out of the National League Central cellar. But the South Siders aren't exactly tearing it up, either.
With Mark Prior (3.97 ERA, 33 K's in first four starts) joining a rotation that already included Jon Lieber, Kerry Wood and Matt Clement, the Cubs should be a lot better in the second half. If Tom Gordon -- who shocked Don Baylor by how well he threw on Monday in Houston -- and Kyle Farnsworth bounce back strong, they might have the pitching depth to salvage a winning record despite an anemic lineup.
But what about the White Sox? Despite a lineup that flashed 1,000-run potential in April, they have given away a 15-7 start. After Monday night's 3-1 loss to the Mets, they had fallen two games under .500. They trail Minnesota by six games in the American League Central and could be looking at another midseason selloff, assuming they can find anyone to take the likes of Carlos Lee, Ray Durham, Royce Clayton and Sandy Alomar Jr.
Good luck. That quartet of veterans is hitting a collective .246. The lack of production from Lee, Durham and Clayton has sent the Sox free-falling from the top of majors in runs per game to sixth. Their average of runs scored is in a downward spike that must frighten general manager Ken Williams, who inherited a defending champ from Ron Schueler and has delivered only rhetoric.
After averaging 6.1 runs per game in April, the Sox dropped to 4.9 in May and are averaging 4.0 in June. That's why manager Jerry Manuel recently decided to go back to the future, moving Jose Valentin from third base to shortstop.
The White Sox won a Central title despite Valentin committing 36 errors as their shortstop in 2000. But their defensive shortcomings were exposed in Seattle's first-round sweep, which included one 2-1 loss and another loss in 10 innings. That led to an offseason trade for Clayton.
It was a sound move. But as often happens when teams add players for their fielding, the move blew up on Williams when other hitters went cold last April. The Sox were buried by a 14-29 start, which began with Valentin as the regular center fielder. Clayton rallied from an awful start by hitting .310 in his final 110 games.
Clayton once again playing textbook defense while having a hard time hitting his weight. Looking for a spark, Manuel is once again playing Valentin at short, which theoretically opens third base for prospect Joe Crede, a solid fielder who is hitting .306 with 10 homers for Triple-A Charlotte.
Clayton is steamed, Valentin is confused -- he said he only wants to go back to short if the move is permanent -- and the White Sox continue to flounder. They've lost 12 of their last 15, scoring three runs or less in 10 of those games.
With Crede, switch-hitting outfielder Joe Borchard (.292-8-25 in 42 games) and speedy second baseman-center fielder Willie Harris (.302, four homers, 23 stolen bases) a phone call away at Triple-A Charlotte, Williams has options in the minors, especially since the traditionally weak fan base makes it unlikely Jerry Reinsdorf's ownership group will go out and get a high-salaried veteran. If Williams is going to move his logjam of position players to help a rotation that has a 5.31 ERA in the 50 games started by anyone other than Mark Buehrle, he'll have to find somebody to take back salaries in return.
In this market, that's almost impossible. The two choices are to find a team desperate enough for hitters that they'll trade pitching in return or trade someone like Durham to a contender for a Triple-A type pitcher better than the ones left in the White Sox system.
The most likely deal involves Detroit's Jeff Weaver, who is owed $19.6 million in 2003-05. This guy's about as intense as Dick Vitale at a Starbucks. A lack of run support in Detroit, not to mention hope for a winning season, could poison his long-term future if he doesn't get a change of address soon.
But for a Weaver trade to work, the Sox would have to get Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski to overlook Lee's .236 batting average since last year's All-Star break or load up the deal with top prospects like Borchard, Crede, Jon Rauch and Corwin Malone.
No wonder Williams continues to bide his time, seemingly in disbelief that the Twins have opened up such a wide gap in the standings. The White Sox won't get their first look at the Twins until June 24.
The 19-game season series will go a long way toward determining the Central, with the teams playing six times in the last nine games. It's hard to see how the Sox match up any better against the Twins than a year ago, when Minnesota won the series 14-5.
Their best hope is another Minnesota fade. The Twins were 57-33 on July 14 last year before going 28-44 down the stretch. That history might be all that keeps Reinsdorf from ordering White Flag II this July.
White Sox starting to sink out of race
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Phil Rogers
Special to ESPN.com
CHICAGO -- Uh, about this being the first year since 1937 when both Chicago teams followed a winning season with another winning season ... at this point one out of two would be good.
It's not out of the question for both teams to save this season, not yet anyway, but as another White Sox-Cubs weekend approaches it certainly doesn't look promising. That's mostly because of the Cubs, who lumber along with only Milwaukee keeping them out of the National League Central cellar. But the South Siders aren't exactly tearing it up, either.
With Mark Prior (3.97 ERA, 33 K's in first four starts) joining a rotation that already included Jon Lieber, Kerry Wood and Matt Clement, the Cubs should be a lot better in the second half. If Tom Gordon -- who shocked Don Baylor by how well he threw on Monday in Houston -- and Kyle Farnsworth bounce back strong, they might have the pitching depth to salvage a winning record despite an anemic lineup.
But what about the White Sox? Despite a lineup that flashed 1,000-run potential in April, they have given away a 15-7 start. After Monday night's 3-1 loss to the Mets, they had fallen two games under .500. They trail Minnesota by six games in the American League Central and could be looking at another midseason selloff, assuming they can find anyone to take the likes of Carlos Lee, Ray Durham, Royce Clayton and Sandy Alomar Jr.
Good luck. That quartet of veterans is hitting a collective .246. The lack of production from Lee, Durham and Clayton has sent the Sox free-falling from the top of majors in runs per game to sixth. Their average of runs scored is in a downward spike that must frighten general manager Ken Williams, who inherited a defending champ from Ron Schueler and has delivered only rhetoric.
After averaging 6.1 runs per game in April, the Sox dropped to 4.9 in May and are averaging 4.0 in June. That's why manager Jerry Manuel recently decided to go back to the future, moving Jose Valentin from third base to shortstop.
The White Sox won a Central title despite Valentin committing 36 errors as their shortstop in 2000. But their defensive shortcomings were exposed in Seattle's first-round sweep, which included one 2-1 loss and another loss in 10 innings. That led to an offseason trade for Clayton.
It was a sound move. But as often happens when teams add players for their fielding, the move blew up on Williams when other hitters went cold last April. The Sox were buried by a 14-29 start, which began with Valentin as the regular center fielder. Clayton rallied from an awful start by hitting .310 in his final 110 games.
Clayton once again playing textbook defense while having a hard time hitting his weight. Looking for a spark, Manuel is once again playing Valentin at short, which theoretically opens third base for prospect Joe Crede, a solid fielder who is hitting .306 with 10 homers for Triple-A Charlotte.
Clayton is steamed, Valentin is confused -- he said he only wants to go back to short if the move is permanent -- and the White Sox continue to flounder. They've lost 12 of their last 15, scoring three runs or less in 10 of those games.
With Crede, switch-hitting outfielder Joe Borchard (.292-8-25 in 42 games) and speedy second baseman-center fielder Willie Harris (.302, four homers, 23 stolen bases) a phone call away at Triple-A Charlotte, Williams has options in the minors, especially since the traditionally weak fan base makes it unlikely Jerry Reinsdorf's ownership group will go out and get a high-salaried veteran. If Williams is going to move his logjam of position players to help a rotation that has a 5.31 ERA in the 50 games started by anyone other than Mark Buehrle, he'll have to find somebody to take back salaries in return.
In this market, that's almost impossible. The two choices are to find a team desperate enough for hitters that they'll trade pitching in return or trade someone like Durham to a contender for a Triple-A type pitcher better than the ones left in the White Sox system.
The most likely deal involves Detroit's Jeff Weaver, who is owed $19.6 million in 2003-05. This guy's about as intense as Dick Vitale at a Starbucks. A lack of run support in Detroit, not to mention hope for a winning season, could poison his long-term future if he doesn't get a change of address soon.
But for a Weaver trade to work, the Sox would have to get Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski to overlook Lee's .236 batting average since last year's All-Star break or load up the deal with top prospects like Borchard, Crede, Jon Rauch and Corwin Malone.
No wonder Williams continues to bide his time, seemingly in disbelief that the Twins have opened up such a wide gap in the standings. The White Sox won't get their first look at the Twins until June 24.
The 19-game season series will go a long way toward determining the Central, with the teams playing six times in the last nine games. It's hard to see how the Sox match up any better against the Twins than a year ago, when Minnesota won the series 14-5.
Their best hope is another Minnesota fade. The Twins were 57-33 on July 14 last year before going 28-44 down the stretch. That history might be all that keeps Reinsdorf from ordering White Flag II this July.
