Jury Still Out on Sox Pitching
I don't know what they put into the water cooler at the Chicago Sun-Times, but lately the reports on the White Sox couldn't glow more if they were processed at Three Mile Island.
Take Chris DeLuca for instance. This morning, he raves about the genius of Kenny Williams in picking up Pink Gavin Floyd, Nick Masset and John Danks. DeLuca says that because Brandon McCarthy is injured and Freddie Garcia is still looking for work, the Sox came out ahead on the deal. Which is like saying I don't know who owns my old car now, but my new car is going to last longer.
The truth is, it's hard to evaluate what might have been in 2007 if the Sox had kept McCarthy and Garcia. Danks pitched good for the first half, then wore down in the second. Floyd had a decent last month, but certainly didn't live up to the huge hype he had coming over from the Phillies. Masset finished the season in Charlotte. So, really, it's way too early to pronounce Kenny a genius for these deals until we see some results. Otherwise, it's your pile of junk for my pile of junk.
Don't get me wrong. Danks could have a big year this year and for the Sox to contend, he needs to win between 12-15 games. The knock on Floyd continues to be that when he gets in trouble he goes down faster than one of Eliot Spitzer's hookers. That and he surrenders a lot of big flies. Floyd needs to get his head in shape this spring as well as his arm. He will also be counted on to win at least twelve games from his position as the number five starter.
Masset is out of options and will become a huge burden to the Sox if he does not right himself quickly. If he goes out and gets hammered like the ghost of Brett Prinz, the Sox will have to release him. Not the kind of ROI you wanted for having dealt one of your top pitching prospects.
I'm currently on the Danks bandwagon, on the fence on Floyd and convinced Masset should be packaged in a trade.
While the three of them have performed well in spring training, the real test will be in August and September when the two young starters approach the 150-175 inning mark. We'll see what we have at that point, especially if the Sox are in the race.
Take Chris DeLuca for instance. This morning, he raves about the genius of Kenny Williams in picking up Pink Gavin Floyd, Nick Masset and John Danks. DeLuca says that because Brandon McCarthy is injured and Freddie Garcia is still looking for work, the Sox came out ahead on the deal. Which is like saying I don't know who owns my old car now, but my new car is going to last longer.
The truth is, it's hard to evaluate what might have been in 2007 if the Sox had kept McCarthy and Garcia. Danks pitched good for the first half, then wore down in the second. Floyd had a decent last month, but certainly didn't live up to the huge hype he had coming over from the Phillies. Masset finished the season in Charlotte. So, really, it's way too early to pronounce Kenny a genius for these deals until we see some results. Otherwise, it's your pile of junk for my pile of junk.
Don't get me wrong. Danks could have a big year this year and for the Sox to contend, he needs to win between 12-15 games. The knock on Floyd continues to be that when he gets in trouble he goes down faster than one of Eliot Spitzer's hookers. That and he surrenders a lot of big flies. Floyd needs to get his head in shape this spring as well as his arm. He will also be counted on to win at least twelve games from his position as the number five starter.
Masset is out of options and will become a huge burden to the Sox if he does not right himself quickly. If he goes out and gets hammered like the ghost of Brett Prinz, the Sox will have to release him. Not the kind of ROI you wanted for having dealt one of your top pitching prospects.
I'm currently on the Danks bandwagon, on the fence on Floyd and convinced Masset should be packaged in a trade.
While the three of them have performed well in spring training, the real test will be in August and September when the two young starters approach the 150-175 inning mark. We'll see what we have at that point, especially if the Sox are in the race.
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