White Sox Pitching Staff Roulette

Jon Garland re-ups for 3 years, $29 million.

The Sox pitching staff then breaks down as such...

MARK BUEHRLE -- signed through 2006, with an option for 2007
FREDDY GARCIA -- signed through 2007
JON GARLAND -- signed through 2008
JAVIER VAZQUEZ -- signed through 2007
BRANDON McCARTHY -- under contract through 2007

JOSE CONTRERAS -- Signed through 2006...

So the deepest pitching rotation in the majors is set with a showdown looming in spring training over who fits where. McCarthy proved in the second half of 2005 that he was ready for a permanent spot in the rotation, particularly now that Neal Cotts has settled into relief work (Setup Man of the Year, anyone?) The question is simple: Would McCarthy accept being in the bullpen for at least one more season? If he simply performs too well in Arizona to be ignored, will the Sox trade Contreras, whom they are likely to lose to free agency anyway?

So many questions in Sox World these days...

The Homecoming of A.J. Pierzynski

Sox re-up with catcher and pro wrestler wanna-be A.J. Pierzynski for three years to the tune of $15 million.

All eyes now shift to the final act in the offseason drama for the Sox - Jon Garland & Jose Contreras. Who's staying? Who's going? All we can say is, "Stay tuned".

What Becomes of Contreras and Garland?

The breakout star of the White Sox regular season, Jon Garland, is under contract through next season and is arbitration eligible.

The rock of the White Sox' amazing postseason run, Jose Contreras, is under contract through next season.

The question is, will either be pitching on the Southside next season?

The Sox may be the first World Series champion Chicago has seen in 88 years, but major moves remain in their immediate future depsite the acquistions of Jim Thome, Javy Vasquez, and Rob Mackowiak. With six good starting pitchers in the fold now, the question turns to who winds up being the odd-man out?

Mark Buehrle and Freddy Garcia aren't going anywhere. Neither is youngster Brandon McCarthy. Vasquez has two seasons remaining on a contract which the D-Backs will help the Sox pay with cash considerations.

That leaves Garland and Contreras. Unless one of them REALLY crashes and burns in 2006, the Sox will not be able to keep them both. They may not be able to keep either one. So if you can get something tangible for one of them now, rather than lose them in free agency in return for a draft pick, why not?

The more valuable of the two is clearly Garland, younger, more durable, but also more expensive. If Miguel Tejada REALLY wants out of Baltimore (he denies it), the Sox could dangle the hard-sinking righthander and see what the O's will cough up in return. Boston wants young pitching, and they desperately want themselves to be rid of Manny Ramirez. While a monster 3-4-5 of Ramirez-Konerko-Thome sounds amazing, cost would prevent such a deal ever happening. But maybe it's worth it for the ChiSox to see just how much of the contract the BoSox would be willing to eat.

If one thing has been proven this off-season, as has been the case in every off-season he's been at the helm of the Sox, Kenny Williams in unpredictable. Nobody saw Rowand-for-Thome as a trade possibility, and to some it wasn't exactly welcomed like an early Christmas present. But this isn't about sucking in the karma of a one-year wonder run; Kenny is priming to do that parade down LaSalle three or four more times before he checks out. Give him props for his ambition.

Just don't put any move past him.

Kenny Williams STILL Not Done

Another day, another reason to be proud of the Sox workaholic GM.

Give Kenny Williams credit. He can see the sharks circling and is doing everything he can to make sure the Sox stay on top. Today's trade:

SOX GET: RHP Javier Vasquez

SOX LOSE: Outfielder Chris Young (top prospect), Orlando Hernandez, & Luis Vizcaino

Javy Vasquez as the fifth starter? Oh yeah! Vizcaino was reliable in a long-relief role last season after coming off with Podsednik from the Brewers, but the Sox now have Brandon McCarthy to fill that void and a veteran 5th starter to hopefully hold that spot until McCarthy is ready in a year.

"El Duque" had quite a year for the Southsiders, capped off by not one but two playoff escapes, entering with no outs and the bases loaded against Boston (and not allowing a run), then escaping a bases loaded jam against Houston in the bottom of the ninth of Game 3 of the World Series. Still, his durability is fading.

Young was without question the guy the D-Backs really wanted, as he is considered a top-tier outfield prospect. He was a candidate to replace Aaron Rowand in center, so this move basically confirms Brian Anderson will be taking over out there.

That Kenny Williams, he's the Energizer Bunny of GMs. He just keeps going, and going, and going...

A Fan's Appreciation

Chicago Tribune commentator Jon Baskin on Frank Thomas' legacy:

To watch Frank hit in the '90s was an event. You stopped what you were doing and studied the TV as he planted his prodigious back foot and waved those massive arms. The announcers' voices went taut with excitement. The pitcher's eyes widened. This was Mozart, Einstein. You were in the presence of a kind of genius...

It was a simplistic but devastating formula. For all the things columnists say about him now, they rarely say this: Frank Thomas was the greatest hitter in the most offensively prolific decade in baseball history. Between 1991 and 1997, Frank hit .331 and averaged 36 home runs and 118 runs batted in a year. (His best year, 1994, was cut short by the strike.) Frank was robbed of what should have been his third MVP in 2000 and, as recently as 60 games into the 2004 season, when he sustained an injury, Frank remained one of the most potent offensive forces in the steroid-juiced American League. He was, quite simply, the greatest offensive force to ever set foot in Chicago.

But what the columnists would have us remember is that Frank studied his stats in the clubhouse, didn't know enough about Jackie Robinson, built his house with non-union workers. He wouldn't do a running drill in spring training.

To be sure, Frank has never been a natural leader, and, occasionally, he has done inexplicably stupid things, like when he held out in spring training for six days in 2001. But can you imagine Bonds or Clemens being held to answer for such small crimes? Ruth? Williams? Somehow, in Frank's case--maybe it was his ineptitude at defending himself--these things stuck. Before long, it was common knowledge that he was viewed as being petulant, selfish, acid in the clubhouse...

Maybe you were at U.S. Cellular Field on Memorial Day, when Frank came off the disabled list. The stadium was uncharacteristically packed. A buzz was in the air, old feuds forgotten. What mattered was that Frank Thomas was in the lineup; he was going to hit. The crowd stood and held its breath every time Frank was to bat. With each monstrous swing came an eruption of hope: Something spectacular might happen--at any moment, he might launch one.

It was clear on that day that Frank was in bad shape. He could barely run. His swing was slow. He couldn't reach the outside pitch. Still, he laid out a rope to left and walked in three at bats.

The fans--can you blame them?--wanted more Big Hurt. They knew his days were numbered.

You say Konerko is the perfect White Sox, the first baseman of our dreams. I'm glad we signed him, but the best Sox first baseman I know will be playing elsewhere next year.

I came of age as a White Sox fan in the golden era of Frank Thomas. He is the organization in my mind. It will be tough to stomach watching him hit his 500th home run as a member of the Oakland A's. He should've retired here. Paul Konerko is a worthy successor. But for those of us who watched Frank launch 448 bombs for the White Sox, who saw how much this year meant to him even though he barely played, it will be tough to say goodbye.

I hope he comes back for the ring ceremony. He deserves one final curtain call in front of the home fans.

Sox Make a Deal

The trade: Damaso Marte for Rob Mackowiak.

Analysis: Mackowiak, an Oak Lawn native, hit .272 with 58 RBI in 2005. Marte was 3-4 with a 3.77 ERA, but he walked 33 batters in 45 innings.

The Sox got the utility infielder they wanted alongside Pablo Ozuna and an insurance policy for Joe Crede's bad back. Marte was as good as lefthanded relievers can get in 2002-03, but control issues haunted him for the past two seasons. The guy could not handle anything resembling a pressure situation, and got on Ozzie Guillen's bad side more than once this year.

And after seeing Neal Cotts take control of the lefty reliever situation, he was expendable.

Decent move, Kenny Williams.

Another note: The Frank Thomas Era officially ends, unceremoniously as I predicted, with the Sox declining to offer arbitration. Big Hurt, no amount of blogging words can ever express the appreciation of all true White Sox fans. What you have done for this organization will be remembered by us all.

The Big Hurt
Frank Thomas
Chicago White Sox, 1990-2005

The End of an Era

There will be no trumpets of adoration. No victory lap around the Comiskey outfield. No Bo Jackson riding a priceless Harley in from the bullpen. No teary farewell speech, no last hurrah, no dramatic "final at-bat of your career home run".

Frank Thomas will have none of that, and it's a damn shame.

Just six weeks after finally reaching the top and getting the World Series ring he so hungered for, Frank Thomas and the White Sox are almost certain to part ways. With the resigning of Paul Konerko and the trade for Jim Thome, the Sox have the full complement of DH/1B power. There is no longer room for the Greatest Player in White Sox History.

The Big Hurt was never fully loved in this city - he never had the smooth image of Michael, the happy-happy joy-joy antics of Sosa, or the blue-collar appeal of Brian Urlacher. Which is unfortunate, because after MJ he was the greatest athlete Chicago has ever seen. That's right, I said it, and the stats back me up.

In seven or eight years, when his name begins to appear on a Hall of Fame ballot, you wonder if the baseball writers will be able to see the plain truth: Thomas was hands-down the best hitter of the 1990s. From 1991 to 1997, Thomas' worst season was a .308 campaign in 1995. He had eight consecutive seasons with 100 RBI and 100 runs scored, and hit 30+ homers in six of his first seven full seasons. He had five 40+ home run years and the lowest on-base percentage of his career was .381 in 1998. A career .307 hitter with 448 home runs AND a career OBP of .427. The career leader in just about every hitting category for the White Sox.

And yet he had no gimmick, no schtick, just a towering presence and a surly demanor. It produced stats any fan would kill for, and yet casual sports fans found it very difficult to love Frank Thomas. The real Sox fans knew better. Perhaps that is what is most tragic about Thomas' legacy - unlike Barry Bonds' "SuperDiva" act in which the slugger seems to egg his critics on, Thomas never sought the spotlight. He was never trying to be confrontational. Trouble seemed to find him, and he would say something off-the-cuff and see it blow up in his face.

More to the point, Thomas has been cheated out of his place in the discussion of current baseball legends because of steroids. The guy was a tight end at Auburn throwing vicious pancake blocks in the SEC while Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire were shooting up in the bathroom. Unless Frank was on the juice from about age 11 on, he got where he was on pure skill and hard work, only to see confessed cheaters like Jason Giambi get the 2000 AL MVP award ahead of him.

And so it is the end of a 16-year era on the Southside, as Frank Thomas is going, going, and very likely gone. He will land on his feet somewhere, and we'll try to root for him to cross the 500 HR plateau. In a fair world he would do it in a White Sox uniform and enter the Hall of Fame as one of the last players to spend their entire career with one organization. ESPN's Rumor Mill reports that the TWINS are interested for a power-hitter to jump start their anemic offense. Minnesota? Frank, please don't. Don't make this Sox fan who grew up cheering for you treat you like the enemy. That was always Frank Thomas' downfall - he could never make Chicago think he wasn't the enemy.

PAUL-EEE! PAUL-EEE!

Talk about impeccable timing.

Not two hours after saying things were about to get interesting in the Konerko Derby, Paulie ends the suspense by inking a new deal worth $60 million over five years. It's so, Paulie. It's so.

More to come on this later in the week; for now, some paper writing.

Konerko Derby

Things are heating up now as they head for the home stretch in the Paulie race. The Baltimore Orioles' offer of five-years, $65 million has been shot down, and LA and Arizona appear to have backed out all together. This makes things interesting in several respects:

1) The initial White Sox offer was four years, $52 million; sources have said the Sox will attempt to match any higher offers.

2) The one higher offer still in play at this point appears to be coming from the Disneyland Angels, who are only a 1-hour flight from Konerko's home in Scottsdale, Arizona. Angels manager Mike Scioscia and hitting coach Mickey Hatcher both know Paulie back from their days in the Dodgers farm system.

3) Kenny Williams has marked December 8, one week from tomorrow and the final day of the winter GM meetings, as D-Day.

Stay tuned. The Hot Stove is about to reach boiling point...

White Sox & Phillies - LET'S MAKE A DEAL

Tonight, there is no joy in Soxville. Mighty Aaron has gone out.

The Sox have a tentative deal to send Aaron Rowand to Philadelphia for left-handed slugger Jim Thome, who became expendable after an injury shut down his 2005 campaign and in stepped NL Rookie of the Year Ryan Howard.

This is the first time I have ever been angry at a Kenny Williams move. It isn't so much that I see any big harm heading towards the White Sox as a result of this trade; I simply see no astronomical benefit to shipping off a young defensive stalwart who can hit a little and run a lot. Rowand is the prototype player for the type of baseball Ozzie Guillen manages; Jim Thome is the antithesis. And which player is wearing a World Championship ring right now?

Granted, turnover is inevitable for any championship contender. Look at Boston - by Opening Day 2005 the champs had lost Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe, and Orlando Cabrera and would seen see Keith Foulke and Curt Schilling chopped down by knee and ankle problems. You're never on top for too long in sports these days.

But why Rowand? A Gold Glove-caliber centerfielder with the hustle and competitiveness that pretty much made him the team's unofficial mascot during the championship run, for an aging slugger on the downside of his career with injury issues? We already had one of those, his name was Frank Thomas, and at least he had the edge of spending 16 seasons with the Sox organization. Jim Thome?? HE'S FROM PEORIA. That's his Chicago connection.

The Sox do get the power bat they'll need with the departure of Carl Everett and have a safety net now should they be outbid for Konerko (a situation that looks less and less likely with each passing day). Aaron Rowand, you have served the Southside well. And for that, we salute you...

Thome heads to Bridgeport; Rowand's service ends after four good seasons and a world championship.

Sox on the Clock

Quick hits: Sox wisely pick up option for 2006 with Cliff Politte, decline club option on Carl Everett. As expected, Frank Thomas exercised the player option in his contract for next season. The Sox now have five days to reciprocate or buy out his contract for $3.5 million. Stay tuned...

The Curtain Descends...

Well, the Ticker-Tape has been swept off LaSalle Street, Halloween is right around the corner, Indiana has done it's last funky "daylight-savings-time-but-without-any-actual-time-change" thing, NFL teams are gearing up for the second half, and the buzz now is surrounding how can the Sox re-sign Paul Konerko?

That's right, the 2005 edition of White Sox coverage here at Sox-Irish is officially in the books. AND WHAT A SEASON IT WAS! The cherry on top came when I opened today's special section of the Tribune (and you know what team the Trib owns) and what to my wondering eyes should appear but: The Wrigley Field sign, with its famous "Home of Chicago Cubs" grammar, flashing a "Congratulations" to the White Sox. Game, set, and match, Southsiders.

That's all for Sox-Irish's coverage of your WORLD CHAMPIONS for this season. But we'll be back next year with wall-to-wall coverage as the Sox begin a truly foreign idea to Chicagoans: a baseball championship defense.

In other news, Charlie Weis is now set to be the highest-paid coach in all of football, locked up at ND through 2015 in an attempt to quiet those "Weis is heading back to the pros after one season" rumors. He is currently preparing the Irish to face the reeling Tennessee Volunteers this weekend...

The Day After...

A really cool thing happened this morning: I woke up, and it wasn't all a dream.

THE SOX ARE THE CHAMPS. Championship parade set for tomorrow in the heart of the Loop...

Messages from the Fans...

Sox fans are a tight bunch. Cubs fans like to mock that the Sox are a franchise only rejects and ghetto thugs could love, but the Silver and Black run deep through families of every stripe, race, creed, and economic bracket in the city of Chicago. Too long we've been waiting, and this season, especially in the last two weeks of September when all appeared to be lost and a certain idiot columnist referred to the Sox as "Choke-Job Theater", we united as one.

And tonight, we celebrate as champions...

A few words from fellow Sox fans...

From Zippy @ South Carolina...

"This is for Shoeless Joe, for Minnie Minoso, for Luis Aparicio, for Carlton Fisk, for Frank Thomas. Ozzie Guillen, Harold Baines, Joey Cora, Harold Baines, Greg Walker. This is for the South Side of Chicago, for the team that's been the bastard stepchild of Major League Baseball and the forgotten team in it's own city for too long. Scott Podsednik, Aaron Rowand, Jermaine Dye. Tadahito Iguchi, Juan Uribe, Joe Crede, Paul Konerko, AJ Pierzynski. Orlando Hernandez, Mark Buerhle, Jon Garland, Jose Contreras, Freddy Garcia, Neal Cotts, Dustin Hermanson, Damaso Marte, Cliff Politte, Luis Vizcaino, Bobby Jenks. Geoff Blum, Willie Harris, Pablo Ozuna, Carl Everett, Chris Widger, Timo Perez.

This is White Sox baseball.
2005 World Champions

WHAT A TEAM!!"

From Jarred @ Purdue...

"I'm so fucking happy right now."

From Terry Heidkamp, My Father...

"I never thought I'd see the day."

From Paul Sigfusson @ Indiana...

"Go Cubs."




Haha...okay Paul, we'll keep an eye out for a Red-Line Series in 2006. How sweet would that be? MAYBE as sweet as tonight.

Crack open a cold one Chicago White Sox fans...the sweetest swig of championship glory after the longest drought of our lives!!!

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!

LET'S GO, GO-GO WHITE SOX
We're with you all the way
You're always in there fighting and you do your best
We're glad to have you out here in the middle west

We're gonna root root root root White Sox
And cheer you on to victory
When we're in the stands we'll make those rafters ring
All through the season you will hear us sing

Let's go, Go-Go White Sox
Chicago is proud of you

White Sox
White Sox
Go, go White Sox

Root root root for the White Sox
We'll cheer you on to victory
When we're in the stands we'll make those rafters ring
All through the season you will hear us sing

Let's go, Go-Go White Sox
Chicago is proud of you

White Sox
White Sox
Go, go White Sox

Let's go, Go-Go White Sox
Chicago is proud of you






MORE TO FOLLOW WHEN I'M NOT ON AN ADRENALINE HIGH!!!!!!

WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!!!!!

YOU CAN PUT THAT ON THE BOARD,

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!

ONE MORE WIN

The following sentence has not been written in 88 years:

A CHICAGO BASEBALL TEAM IS NOW ONE WIN AWAY FROM CAPTURING THE WORLD SERIES TITLE.

Think of all the great players who have donned the pale hose: Luis Aparicio. Nellie Fox. Minnie Minoso. Chico Carrasquel. Dick Allen. Robin Ventura. Bo Jackson. Carlton Fisk. Harold Baines. Billy Pierce. Luke Appling. Wilbur Wood. Goose Gossage. And, think even of Shoeless Joe and Buck Weaver.

The Sox have tradition. They just, unlike their Northside brethren, refuse to allow the notion that it is cursing them from beyond the grave. Year after year of Sox failure has been explained by the actual rationale of any sane baseball player and fan: "We simply don't have what it takes." Unlike Wrigley and Fenway, the population of Comiskey has no belief that they are simply meant to suffer. They recognize a terrible team when it walks up and introduces itself.

And more often than not, the Sox have over the past 88 years been a terrible team. The bright flashes of '59, '83, '93, 2000. Snuffed out by one cold dose of reality after another. Not a hex or a fluke fan deflection of foul ball, just reality.

And now, in October of 2005, the White Sox are ONE WIN AWAY from a whole new era of Chicago baseball. A CHAMPIONSHIP era.



Oh, by the way...Sox win tonight 7-5 in 14 innings, the longest game in World Series history at 5+ hours. Woo hoo.

We're Halfway There...

WHOOOOAAAAAH, LIVIN' ON A PRAYER!!!!!!!

Seriously, we ND students love our Bon Jovi.

And the White Sox are halfway to heaven, up 2-0 in the World Series. Jon Garland vs. Roy Oswalt tonight in the best overall pitching matchup of the Series. I still think Houston's pitching is too strong for them to go quietly, so I look for the Astros to get the Series back to the Southside, which is where Mark Buehrle pitches a perfect game to deliver a Game 6 victory for the Sox and a championship for the first time in nearly nine decades.

OK, "perfect game" might be shooting a little high, but with your team TWO wins away from the title for the first time in your life, your father's life, AND your grandfather's life, a little optimism goes a long way.

Brady Quinn solidly alone in 4th place in the ESPN Heisman Watch. Not like he has a chance at winning, but it's nice to see him getting some publication.

WOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO!

Another knock-down, drag-out on the Southside goes to the Pale Hose, this time by a score of 7-6, thanks to a confusing "hit by pitch" call on Jermaine Dye, a Paul Konerko slam, a Bobby Jenks let-down, an off-line throw to the plate, and finally.............



America's new "Mr. October", Scott Podsednik, with his 2nd homer of the postseason to walk off with a White Sox winner. This after a grand total of NO home runs in the first 162 games.

Let's Go Go Go WHHHHHIIIIIIITTTTTTTEEEEE SOX!

Rolling Along

In the words of Darth Vader, "All too easy."

OK, fine, 'easy' is the wrong word, but the Irish pull away from the BYU Cougars thanks to a sick SIX touchdown throws from Brady Quinn. He is getting very close to locking up an invite to New York for the Heisman Presentation.

AND THE SOX...well, they chase the Rocket early and grind out a couple of runs to defeat the Astros 5-3 in Game One. Joe Crede comes up big not only with a tie-breaking homer but also with several key defensive plays. Sox up 1-zip with Buehrle going to the hill tomorrow night...

Miscellaneous

Hm, what's going on today...

Oh, wait, THE WHITE SOX ARE IN THE WORLD SERIES!!!! WOO-HOO! Game 1 pits two former Yankees, Clemens & Contreras, in a battle to see who can make The Boss feel more miserable. Tomorrow at 7:00 on Fox. Do it, ChiSox.

Charlie Weis has spent all week talking about BYU as the "home opener" of the second season. Well played, CW, well played.

The final word on ND-SC: a really kickass highlight video of the game can be downloaded here. It's a little bit slanted in ND's favor (I mean, the guy DID morph Darth Vader's helmet onto Pete Carroll's body), but no matter which team you were rooting for last Saturday, you will enjoy it. The music is John Williams' main theme from Episode III, "Battle of the Heroes". Couldn't have done it better myself.