Typically after a team wins a championship, they change the style of the team in order to keep a certain amount of freshness that keeps the old group hungry for another title and the new group eager to get what the incumbents have. The Chicago White Sox are no different. After hoisting the World Series trophy in 2005, they traded away the heart and soul of the team, centerfielder Aaron Rowand, to Philadelphia for Jim Thome. This immediately changed the dynamic of their team from being a little less scrappy and grinding out great defense to more of a slugging ball club. With Paul Konerko and Thome hitting back to back, this certainly guaranteed the team at least 75 home runs and 180 RBI’s. Since the 2006 All-Star break, the White Sox have floundered and have strung together inconsistent records over the past few seasons that have resulted in only one division title (and that needed and extra game).
Flash-forward to December of 2011. After another underwelming year in which the White Sox went “all-in” by signing Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko to a combined 91 million dollars, general manager Kenny Williams made no announcement on the direction the team would take during the off-season. During the Winter Meetings, Williams traded young and affordable closer Sergio Santos to the Blue Jays for minor league pitcher Nester Molina, a guy who doesn’t even project to be a top-tier starter or be in the majors for at least two years. Williams announced shortly after the trade “This is the start of the rebuilding”, sending millions of White Sox fans into coping with the fact that 2012 and 2013 will certainly be lost. But a few weeks later, out of the blue, Williams extended starting pitcher John Danks, who is now fills the “Left Handed, Top Of The Rotation Leader” role left after Mark Buehrle was neglected by the Sox and signed with the Marlins. The Danks signing sent everybody’s heads spinning, wondering if Williams was playing with the fans and the media into thinking that the White Sox were actually rebuilding.
Even though extending Danks totally contradicts the rebuilding quote Williams made a few weeks earlier, I can see his reasons for picking Danks to lead the rotation. Williams felt like he needed to establish a leader for the pitching staff after one of the most respected members of the organization left. In spite of Danks’ rocky 2011 season, he has proven that he can be at least a quality, somewhat reliable starter after averaging an above average 3.4 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) the past three seasons.
While the Danks’ extension could be at the very least somewhat defendable, Williams turned back into rebuilding mode by trading the ultimate hot and cold outfielder in Carlos Quentin for two pitching prospects that have a small shot of succeeding the majors. What? Quentin has been the definition of hot and cold during his tenure by hitting eight home runs one week to going 0 for 24 the next. This was even more baffling than the Danks extension because it now seems like the White Sox have very little idea of what they’re doing, which is why I present this theory: Kenny Williams is a teenager who has never grown up. His unpredictability is well known throughout the Majors and often does things on a seemingly irrational whim. When Williams says he is going to do something, he often does the opposite. He is destructive and doesn’t even know it. The pubescent approach that Williams has taken to how to build his organization and baseball will ultimately doom the franchise and steer the ever-decreasing number of fans away from the franchise.
Williams or loyal chairman Jerry Reinsdorf just don’t know it yet.
Flash-forward to December of 2011. After another underwelming year in which the White Sox went “all-in” by signing Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko to a combined 91 million dollars, general manager Kenny Williams made no announcement on the direction the team would take during the off-season. During the Winter Meetings, Williams traded young and affordable closer Sergio Santos to the Blue Jays for minor league pitcher Nester Molina, a guy who doesn’t even project to be a top-tier starter or be in the majors for at least two years. Williams announced shortly after the trade “This is the start of the rebuilding”, sending millions of White Sox fans into coping with the fact that 2012 and 2013 will certainly be lost. But a few weeks later, out of the blue, Williams extended starting pitcher John Danks, who is now fills the “Left Handed, Top Of The Rotation Leader” role left after Mark Buehrle was neglected by the Sox and signed with the Marlins. The Danks signing sent everybody’s heads spinning, wondering if Williams was playing with the fans and the media into thinking that the White Sox were actually rebuilding.
Even though extending Danks totally contradicts the rebuilding quote Williams made a few weeks earlier, I can see his reasons for picking Danks to lead the rotation. Williams felt like he needed to establish a leader for the pitching staff after one of the most respected members of the organization left. In spite of Danks’ rocky 2011 season, he has proven that he can be at least a quality, somewhat reliable starter after averaging an above average 3.4 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) the past three seasons.
While the Danks’ extension could be at the very least somewhat defendable, Williams turned back into rebuilding mode by trading the ultimate hot and cold outfielder in Carlos Quentin for two pitching prospects that have a small shot of succeeding the majors. What? Quentin has been the definition of hot and cold during his tenure by hitting eight home runs one week to going 0 for 24 the next. This was even more baffling than the Danks extension because it now seems like the White Sox have very little idea of what they’re doing, which is why I present this theory: Kenny Williams is a teenager who has never grown up. His unpredictability is well known throughout the Majors and often does things on a seemingly irrational whim. When Williams says he is going to do something, he often does the opposite. He is destructive and doesn’t even know it. The pubescent approach that Williams has taken to how to build his organization and baseball will ultimately doom the franchise and steer the ever-decreasing number of fans away from the franchise.
Williams or loyal chairman Jerry Reinsdorf just don’t know it yet.