White Sox Sign Daryle Ward

I believe Daryle's dad (Gary) is the hitting coach for Charlotte too.

Catalanotto would have been a better signing.

Kenny Williams would have to be out of his freaking mind to think that Daryle Ward would be anything close to an adequate replacement for either Konerko or Thome in that lineup.

I'd honestly rather have Fields move over to first, with either Betemit or even Dayan Viciedo getting the shot at third base.

Daryle Ward is no longer a particularly good player.

He was lousy for the Cubs last year but did well as a pinch hitter/spot starter in 2007.

"Kenny Williams would have to be out of his freaking mind to think that Daryle Ward would be anything close to an adequate replacement for either Konerko or Thome in that lineup.

I'd honestly rather have Fields move over to first, with either Betemit or even Dayan Viciedo getting the shot at third base."

Completely agree with this.

Viciedo is tearing it up. Call him up now, just keep him on a short leash (aka if he struggles, he needs to be back in the minors ASAP). Then get Contreras out of the rotation and replace him with Clayton Richard, because there is no reason Contreras needs to be getting lit up on a regular basis while Richard rots in the pen.

I just saw him play for Newark in Somerset Tuesday night and he looked like he had some pop in his bat.

I wouldn't be shocked if someone picks up Bears P Bobby Brownlie, C Alberto Casillo or SS Abraham Nunez, or DH Noah Hall or SS Anthony Granato from Somerset.

There's some nice talent in the Atlantic League. When the Atlantic City Surf moved from the Atlantic League to the Can-Am League, the talent level between the two Indy leagues dropped of dramatically and the team folded thereafter.

"How long are Thome and Konerko projected to be out?" - melonis rex

They are both in the lineup tonight.

Hey Melonis and Scribbletone, since I'm seeing Beckham as the future 3B, who do you think would be the best starting RHP the Sox could get for a package of Poreda and Fields? Also, would that pithcer be of higher quality if they waited until the deadline?

Thanks.

Sven,

I don't know that we have enough information on Beckham to know where he will land. I think if they were thinking about him at 3rd he would have some playing time there, but he's only really playing at short so far.

Also, I don't think Poreda is or should be going anywhere. First off, a good left hander is more valuable than a good right hander. Second, he's the best pitching prospect we've had in a long time. I think he sticks and moves into the rotation somewhere around 2011. I also don't see Fields going anywhere. We don't have a whole lot of third basemen in the system who have major league potential. If any position is deep in our system, it is middle infield. The only way he moves is if some we draft a 3rd baseman early who could potentially fill in in the majors in his first couple of years. Think about it, We move Fields, the only logical replacement is Viciedo who clearly is not ready. We also don't know that he will stick at that position defensively. It is possible that he ends up at first or in a corner outfield position. But even say that happens. Viciedo is brought up to start at third. If he goes down due to injury, who takes over? Betemit? Laughable. That is not a guy you want in the everyday lineup or the everyday defense.

If Beckham progresses well this season, I could see Nix get packaged with a couple of other pitching prospects to bring in a more solid pitcher at the deadline, but it depends on our status. If we're out of the running, we may be sellers rather than buyers.

Its hard to say what might happen because there are so many variables. We don't know if Viciedo will pan out. We don't know how Fields will play down the stretch. We don't know how quickly Beckham will progress. We don't know if Colon or Contreras will make it through the season. We don't know if Lillibridge will ever learn how to play baseball. We don't know if Anderson will continue what looks to be a breakout season when he gets of the DL. There are so many things up in the air. We also don't know if Thome or Dye will be with the team, although it looks that Konerko's injury to his hand last year was affecting him more than Chicago media was letting on. He has started really well this year, and if he can keep it up, he really minimizes the likeliness that he would be traded.

Later,
Aaron

Even if the Sox were to call up Viciedo, you wouldn't keep him on a short leash. You'd only bring him up if he had a place to play permanently and give him at least a couple of months to figure it out, but as it was said, he's not doing well in AA so far.

Beckham is playing SS in the minors because they want to keep him there until they figure out where he should play. If Getz or Fields didn't figure it out, he would be moved to one of those positions. Having both of them playing well is actually a bonus, as it allows Beckham to mature in the minors and not be rushed to the majors.

"Hey Melonis and Scribbletone, since I'm seeing Beckham as the future 3B"

I still keep thinking that Beckham will end up at shortstop, with Getz at second and Alexei moving to center. Then again, that could also depend on the development of Viciedo, Allen, Flowers and Danks, as well as how Fields plays at the ML level this season.

I just get this feeling that Beckham's value will be wasted a little if he's not playing a middle infield position.

Sven,

I agree that Contreras has got to go? Is there something you've read that suggests that they don't want 3 lefties? Richard was considered a front runner for the rotation in ST if either Colon or Contreras couldn't make it back. That would give us three lefties. I also don't know that I agree with your assessment of our starters, Particularly Buehrle. You don't have a career ERA under 4 if you're a number 4 pitcher. In the 9 seasons he's played as a full time starter, he's only had two seasons with his ERA above 4 (2003: 4.14, and 2006: 4.99). I'm not saying he's a typical ace, but he certainly would be a strong number 2 on any team. I also think that Danks will end up a very strong 2 or maybe a 1. Remember, he's still young. Floyd has only played for a year, so it is hard to tell how he will shape up. He's struggled some this year, and he has some question marks in his peripheral stats. How he throws this year will be a real indication of how he will shape up. I don't see the Sox trading Buehrle at the deadline. Keep in mind that Buehrle's current contract only runs through 2011, and he has talked about the possibility of retiring after it runs out. I don't know that I see Poreda coming up to the rotation until 2010 at the earliest. I think he needs to develop his slider and his changeup (and I think he's working on a cutter too) before he'll be ready to come up. I think he's the future ace of the team, and one of the first strikeout pitchers we've had in a long time.

Scribble, I don't know that I agree that Beckham's value is wasted outside of the middle infield. He has really struggled so far at Birmingham defensively at short. If he can do better defensively at another position, then it makes him more valuable.

Later,
Aaron

Yeah, I heard that interview too, but I didn't take that to mean that that eliminates the possibility of a third lefty starter. I think he just didn't want to have Buehrle and Danks at 1, 2 as they are similar pitchers with similar stuff. The logical way to break that up was with a righty (Floyd). I think if you had Buehrle, Floyd, Danks, Poreda, and Colon you'd still be doing what Ozzie was talking about. Poreda's stuff is very different from that of Danks and Buehrle. He's got an extra 7 mph on his fastball over even Danks, and he's got a slider with a HARD break. Just a thought. I think Colon is replaceable in that rotation, but that first four could be real real real nasty.

Later,
Aaron

"Hey Melonis and Scribbletone, since I'm seeing Beckham as the future 3B, who do you think would be the best starting RHP the Sox could get for a package of Poreda and Fields? Also, would that pithcer be of higher quality if they waited until the deadline?"

No, you don't trade Poreda. I'm not crazy sold on his ability to remain a starter (if someone has scouted him, how's that second pitch coming), but that doesn't mean its trade time now. If he was 2nd or 3rd on the Sox' pitching prospect depth list, I'd favor a trade. But not when he's the prime crown jewel. The Sox' cupboard behind Poreda is bare in terms of starting pitching. That is a problem. Young, cost controlled starting pitching is the name of the game and the Sox just don't have enough of it. The Sox' depth is horrible. Contreras isn't an MLB caliber starter anymore, and Colon is a huge injury risk. I'm not sure if Broadway and Egbert can carry their own in a starting spot, but one of them will have to (assuming Richard is in the rotation) if Colon gets hurt.

If Fields were to be traded, the object to come back in return should be a young SP who's under team control for 5+ years. Not an established veteran SP.

The Sox' infield and CF situation (along with DH) could go so many different ways. It depends on so many things:

1. The ability of all of the following guys to be serviceable MLBers: Jordan Danks, Viciedo, Getz, Fields, Brandon Allen, Flowers, and Beckham.

2. Whether Viciedo can play enough defense to stick at 3B.

3. Whether Flowers can stick at C.

4. Whether Beckham can stick at SS.

5. How many of those guys are traded for pitching, since that's the glaring hole on the Sox' depth chart.

Its absolutely amazing to me that I still see conversations involving the worth of Buerhle and #3 being tossed around. He doesn't throw 93, get over it. He was a 4.6 WAR pitcher last year. Not uncommon in his career. This is old.

Oh, and I would be just plain irresponsible if I didn't mention 1968 ... the first World Series I remember.

-Gibson era was 1.12 for the entire season

-Denny McLain won 31 games

-Mickey Lolich won three world series games