Kenny Williams Trade Profile
Given all the speculation of Kenny Williams’s next move to fix his stumbling White Sox, I thought it would be useful to pull together a history of all the trades he’s made since 2001. Download chicago_white_sox_williams.xls to take a look at that in an Excel file.
As far as Kenny’s July tendencies, he’s made such acquisitions as Roberto Alomar, Carl Everett, Scott Schoeneweis, Carl Everett again, and Jose Contreras in the past. But Williams’s signature trades have come in the winter: David Wells, Todd Ritchie, Billy Koch, Bartolo Colon, Juan Uribe, Scott Podsednik, Jim Thome, and Javier Vazquez.
The exception, and Williams’s biggest summertime trade, was his acquisition of Freddy Garcia in late June of 2004. The Sox smartly made this trade with three full months left in the season. Williams surrendered highly touted outfield prospect Jeremy Reed in the deal, and he certainly got the best of Bill Bavasi so far. Ditto for his other swap with Bavasi – Joe Borchard for Matt Thornton.
Williams doesn’t really have any favorite GM buddies to lean on for trades; his 38 deals since ’01 are spread out among many. Jim Bowden is in the lead with three trades, but all were minor (Anthony Sanders, Scott Dunn/D’Angelo Jimenez, Jerry Owens/Alex Escobar). Among current GMs, Williams has a history with Bowden, Bavasi, Brian Sabean, Dave Littlefield, Bill Stoneman, Kevin Towers, Billy Beane, Josh Byrnes, Brian Cashman, Omar Minaya, Dan O’Dowd, Ned Coletti, Theo Epstein, Pat Gillick, Doug Melvin, and Dayton Moore. He’s definitely shown a tendency to trade with newly anointed general managers like Moore and Gillick, among others.
Trade Rumor Roundup: 6 Days Left
What’s new in the world of trade rumors?
It wasn’t just Humberto Sanchez missing a start – Tigers prospect Jair Jurrjens is skipping two starts because of a stiff neck. While it certainly seems that recent trade winds could be at play here, it may just be a case of bad luck for Detroit. Both players can still be dealt despite the minor injuries.
A few more nuggets concerning the White Sox’s efforts to acquire Alfonso Soriano surfaced in newspapers today. Phil Rogers notes sources indicating that Scott Podsednik, and not Brian Anderson, would be part of a package for Soriano. In addition, Sam Borden of the New York Daily News suggests that Jim Bowden requested Double A pitcher Lance Broadway but was rebuffed.
Didn’t get to hear Tim Purpura on the radio yesterday personally, but it seems he may have inadvertently indicated that Willy Taveras is not in the team’s future center field plans. I imagine plenty of teams would have interest in Taveras despite his .280/.319/.331 line in 905 career ABs. On the plus side, Taveras truly is an excellent defender according to The Fielding Bible. They actually think he deserved the Gold Glove last year over Jim Edmonds.
Harold Reynolds got the axe from ESPN today; Deadspin has the thirdhand info.
Dayton Moore did well with reliever Elmer Dessens in a trade back to the Dodgers.
Many thanks to all those who visited MLBTradeRumors.com yesterday. June 24th was our best-ever day for traffic, beating out December 8th. Keep on comin’ back for all the latest trade rumors; I love writing about this stuff.
Soriano, Sanchez, Meche: Much Ado About Nothing
Seems that a couple of the more interesting rumors to come up today have proven to be nothing at all.
The first was ESPN’s rumor that Brandon McCarthy would be included in a Soriano to the White Sox deal, which was to be extremely close. It seems that the deal has fallen through at least in the short term, and Kenny Williams stated publicly that neither McCarthy nor Josh Fields will be traded. Still in the stockpile: Brian Anderson, Ryan Sweeney, Jerry Owens, Sean Tracey, Lance Broadway, Casey Rogowski, and Charlie Haeger.
It has also been noted that Humberto Sanchez missed his start tonight due to a tender elbow. Not exactly a way to pump up a prospect’s value, so the Tigers may have to deal other prospects. They’ve still got Brent Clevlen, Jordan Tata, and Jair Jurrjens, among others. Still, Sanchez seems like the one available trading chip who could help bring a star player to Detroit.
Also, we’re unclear at this point whether the rumored ESPN Radio report of a completed Aaron Heilman for Gil Meche trade is legit. Indications are that it was a hoax. Sorry ’bout that. Here’s MetsBlog’s take on this (non)rumor.
ESPN: White Sox Alfonso Soriano Trade?
Breaking news from ESPN is that the White Sox are "extremely close" to acquiring Alfonso Soriano. It seems that Brandon McCarthy is the main piece of the deal.
The result would be a Murderer’s Row with five players currently slugging .539 or better: Thome (.632), Dye (.620), Soriano (.594), Konerko (.555), and Crede (.539). The Sox already lead baseball in home runs with 146.
What’s more, ESPN also reports that Kenny Williams is looking to strengthen his bullpen by sending 23 year-old southpaw Double A starter Tyler Lumsden to the Royals for Mike MacDougal. Lumsden isn’t striking anyone out, but still has a 2.69 ERA for Birmingham. He had elbow surgery in January of last year.
MacDougal has thrown four scoreless innings for the Royals since returning from a shoulder strain. He was able to cut his walks to a reasonable level last year and had his best season.
UPDATE: MacDougal is a done deal. Another pitcher was added to complete the trade.
Trade Rumor Roundup: 7 Days Left
Here’s the latest from around baseball…
Dejan Kovacevic mentions that the A’s are considering Sean Casey. Casey’s doing his usual good batting average/low slugging thing and he’s getting $8.5MM for it. The combined efforts of Dan Johnson and Nick Swisher have been inadequate at first, but would Casey really help? Johnson is hitting .485/.575/.848 in 33 Triple A at-bats; maybe he deserves another look. The Athletics, who are dead last in the AL in slugging, wouldn’t be helped by adding the powerless Casey. They need Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Lee, Pat Burrell, or even Raul Ibanez to make a difference.
The Yankees have decided to hold on to Philip Hughes, and the Phils aren’t biting on whatever else they offered. According to George King, the Yanks think assuming Abreu’s contract and exercising his option should be enough. Still, it would be cool to see a nasty young Phillies rotation in 2008 with Hughes, Cole Hamels, Gio Gonzalez, and Scott Mathieson.
Also, I’m hearing that WPEN in Philadelphia has mentioned a trade rumor: Tom Gordon for Trot Nixon. Nixon is a good hitter (.400 OBP), though he’s 32 with declining power numbers. Given that Flash would be hands down the best reliever on the market, I’d expect the Phils to get more.
Kenny Williams didn’t deny the recent Soriano rumor, so now you know it’s legit. Kenny has been pretty shrewd with the media, so this is probably all part of his plan. Despite word of a possible contract extension with Washington, Buster Olney all but assured us of a Soriano trade in today’s blog.
Also, Olney nixed the A-Rod to the Cubs idea, explaining that Rodriguez is a bargain in the Yankees’ world. This column is kind of weird to me. Phil Rogers almost seems like he’s just cooked up a brilliant scenario or something, with Aramis Ramirez and Jacque Jones being swapped for A-Rod. Thing is, Bleed Cubbie Blue broke out this exact trade rumor three weeks ago.
RotoAuthority has a look at which pitchers have been abused this season.
Trade Rumor Roundup: 8 Days Left
To begin with, this just isn’t true. With the Kearns deal and probably Soriano trade, the 2006 deadline just can’t be classified as a dud. That honor belongs to 2005 for sure. The trading action never matches the buildup, but this year’s still a good one.
Read Ken Rosenthal’s latest. The White Sox are in the Soriano game, the Rangers have interest in Luis Gonzalez, the Braves could add another reliever, Julio Lugo still might become a Blue Jay, and the Brewers look like sellers. In my opinion, some Brewers besides Carlos Lee that could be unloaded: Geoff Jenkins, Corey Koskie, Brady Clark, and Dan Kolb. Koskie will need to recover quickly from his concussion, however.
Still hearing that the Cubs like Willy Taveras, which would definitely fit their m.o. of players who don’t get on base. Phil Rogers also mentions that Seattle’s Rafael Soriano is being asked about. It would be surprising to see the Mariners deal that kind of young talent.
Tons of great rumors coming from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. He’s got a rundown of the Red Sox, all sorts of teams scouting Humberto Sanchez, and more.
Buster Olney mentioned in his blog today that the Astros are among various teams scouting Elmer Dessens. The Astros are also looking at Damaso Marte.
Unfounded rumor department: Could the Dodgers be after Aramis Ramirez? Ramirez has picked a fantastic time to heat up, and L.A. has some top shelf young talent…is there anywhere Julio Lugo could go besides Toronto? How about the Rockies?
Rubin: Mets Could Get Garcia Or Vazquez
According to Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News, the Mets may be able to acquire Freddy Garcia or Javier Vazquez from the White Sox. He says:
"The White Sox have been calling around to clubs – including the Mets – letting it be known that Javier Vazquez or Freddy Garcia would be available. The price: top-notch relief help, which would allow the Sox to fortify their bullpen leading to closer Bobby Jenks, sources told the Daily News. Chicago has 23-year-old Brandon McCarthy ready to step into its rotation."
Seems like relievers are the hot ticket item of this particular trading season. They’re always a popular deadline commodity but the price seemed quite high yesterday. My Mets source is adamant that New York would not give up Duaner Sanchez (2.45 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 6.4 K/9) for Garcia or Vazquez. He tells me that Aaron Heilman is an option. To me, sounds like just the pitcher Don Cooper could fix after he’s stumbled a bit this season.
This year, the Mets have seen fine work from Heath Bell (0.83 ERA in 21 Triple A innings plus a 3.68 ERA in 22 big league innings) and Royce Ring (1.53 ERA in 29 Triple A innnings). Henry Owens jumped up from Double A after 25 innings of 1.08 ball.
Rubin’s story also indicates that the Sox could have some interest in Tom Gordon, the best reliever on the trade market. Flash has pitched for both Chicago teams. He posted a 3.16 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 12 saves, and 11.0 K/9 in 74 innings for the Sox back in 2003.
White Sox Pursuing Jason Schmidt?
Of couple of ESPN columnists seem to have independently arrived at the same trade rumor in their blogs in recent days. Buster Olney’s source is a "talent evaluator" while Jayson Stark got word from "an executive who has heard this talk."
According to Olney and Stark, the White Sox would trade Brandon McCarthy and Brian Anderson to the Giants for Jason Schmidt. The Sox would then acquire a center fielder in a separate trade.
Schmidt, 33, has been the NL’s second best pitcher this year behind Brandon Webb. This is his contract year and he’s making $10.5 million. Anderson and McCarthy were ranked #1 and #3 among White Sox prospects entering the 2005 season. McCarthy has had superb control at the big league level, with his one flaw being too many home runs allowed. U.S. Cellular inflates home runs by about 35%, while AT&T Park deflates them by around 10%. It’s been a rough 81 games for Anderson with the Sox, but the 24 year-old remains in high regard.
Freddy Garcia, Javier Vazquez, and Jon Garland haven’t performed as well as the Sox would’ve liked; all three own ERAs near 5 entering the All-Star break. Chicago would stand to gain an estimated three wins by replacing one of them with Schmidt. Olney speculated that Kenny Williams could consider using one of his surplus starters to acquire a center fielder.
Names that have come up in center include Torii Hunter, Andruw Jones, or Aaron Rowand. None of the three seem feasible for various reasons. The Sox could also consider players like Luis Matos, Willy Taveras, Brady Clark, Juan Pierre, and Ken Griffey Jr. Clark would be a good fit if Doug Melvin makes him available. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to add Clark’s .380 OBP to the top of the lineup, and he plays capable defense. He’s signed through 2007.
White Sox Content With Current Team
I recently spoke with my best White Sox source. There’s nothing terribly exciting brewing with the club right now:
The Sox are content with their personnel this year, even more than a year ago. They’re happy with their depth and probably will not make any major deals before the deadline (ie, Andruw Jones is highly unlikely).
If they are to make a small trade, the White Sox match up well with sabermetric-type teams. Kenny Williams has made minor but helpful trades recently with Boston (David Riske) and Arizona (Alex Cintron). (And of course another not-so-small trade with Josh Byrnes for Javier Vazquez). It wouldn’t be surprising to see another small trade with that type of club. Chicago has been middle of the pack as far as relievers’ ERA, so the ‘pen may have room for upgrade.
On an unrelated note, my source also indicated that the Dodgers are "kicking a lot of tires right now" and may acquire bullpen help this week.
HalosHeaven: White Sox Interested In Figgins
Interesting post by our good friends at Halos Heaven. I can vouch that the author of this site has several solid, independent sources close to the organization.
A lot of interest in utility superstar Chone Figgins, who is hitting just .253/.322/.347 this year. Figgins draws a walk about 9% of the time, which is fine for a leadoff hitter if he can hit .290. Halos Heaven notes that if Ozzie Guillen elects Orlando Cabrera (.305/.364/.436) to the All-Star game, the relationship between the two teams could improve enough to facilitate a trade.
The Angels view Figgins as more expendable than Adam Kennedy, who has become the clubhouse leader. I’m told Kennedy desperately wants to stay in Southern California, and will offer the Padres or Dodgers a huge discount after this season. It does seem that Kennedy could block Howie Kendrick for the rest of the season.
The latest on Jeff Weaver is that he’ll be gone before the All-Star break, possibly back to the Dodgers. The Angels will eat his entire salary to get a decent bat in return.