First, I'll give credit to Kenny Williams, perhaps the best General Manager in Chicago sports history, and surely the best in Chicago's baseball history.  Williams, in his short tenure as GM of the Chicago White Sox, has made bold trades, acquiring pitchers Jose Contreras, John Denks, David Wells, Bartolo Colon (the first time, in 2003) and Gavin Floyd, in addition to hitters Scott Podsednik, Jim Thome, and Carlos Quentin.  He's been successful in the international market, nabbing Tadahito Iguchi and Alexei Ramirez, along with 19 year old Cuban sensation Dayan Viciedo.  His "under the radar" free agent signings have been superb, inking Jermaine Dye, Bobby Jenks, Esteban Loaiza, and A.J. Pierzynski.  His recent drafts look promising, drafting Aaron Poreda and Gordon Beckham in the two most recent first rounds.  And, to boot, he's hired quality coaches.  Oh yeah, and he's won two division titles and a World Freakin' Series, too. 

Williams' bravado is something to marvel at.  In 2008 he quipped that the Tigers' trade for star IF Miguel Cabrera would only "put the Tigers in a better position to compete with the White Sox."  This came after a season in which the White Sox won a paltry 72 games and the Tigers netted 88 wins.  Amazingly, Chicago won the division while Detroit struggled and finished last place.  

Williams does not know how to give up, and it could be to his own fault.  I was of the opinion that in the midst of that dismal 2007 72-win season, Williams would be wise to trade Mark Buehrle, whose contract was set to expire at the end of the season.  Williams could have acquired a top prospect for Buehrle, as well as Jermaine Dye, who also had an expiring deal.  To the surprise of many, Williams instead signed both to contract extensions.  Although the team ended up winning the division the following season, making Williams look again like a genius, they failed to make it out of the first round of the playoffs.  Now, Williams has an aging, one dimensional team that can't win a ballgame unless it hits plenty of home runs.  The White Sox have older, injury prone, slow footed sluggers.  Their pitching is barely mediocre, despite having a stellar bullpen. 

The White Sox desperately need to rebuild.  Or at least reshuffled the proverbial deck.

They need some youth injected into their lineup, and they need players who are more prone to higher on base percentages.  They need more pitching depth, and they need more speed.

The White Sox need younger, better players.  Yet, it was recently made public that Kenny Williams nearly pulled off what would have been the most surprising trade in all of baseball.  Jake Peavy, the San Diego Padre Ace and former Cy Young Award winner, nixed a trade that would have brought him to Chicago last week.  The deal reportedly had young pitchers Poreda and Clayton Richard going to San Diego.  This baffled me. 


It's difficult to doubt such a successful executive,
but trading for Jake Peavy would be a mistake.

In a season where it couldn't be more obvious to me that trading veteran players for prospects would make the most sense, Williams attempted to go the opposite direction.  He almost mortgaged the future for another injury prone star (several baseball scouts agree that Peavy has awful pitching mechanics).  He almost acquired a fly-ball pitcher to throw in home run friendly US Cellular Field.  He almost made a huge mistake.

Whatifsports.com, a website specializing in hypothetical sports scenarios, recently ran a simulation in which the remainder of the White Sox season was simulated on a computer 10,000 times.  The conclusion was that they would likely finish 14-10 as opposed to 10-14 in Peavy's spot in the rotation.  Whatifsports.com estimates the chances of the White Sox making the playoffs goes from 6.9% to 11.4% with Jake Peavy in the rotation.  That is completely unacceptable. 

It was only a few short months ago when Williams considered Poreda untouchable.  It was noted in local newspapers that when teams called the White Sox to talk trade, Williams promptly hung up the phone whenever Poreda's name came up.  Poreda has struck out 49 hitters in 46 1/3 innings thus far in AA, yielding a 2.33 ERA and 1.18 WHIP.  Not even Jake Peavy should be enough to change Williams' mind.

The White Sox 2009 season is a lost cause.  They won't make the playoffs with or without another pitcher of Jake Peavy's caliber (one rumor is that Williams recently inquired about Arizona's Brandon Webb).  They won't win anything of any significance this season and they shouldn't worry about giving up young talent to improve by a few games. 


Top Prospects Tyler Flowers (C, left) Brandon Flowers (1B,
right) are two reasons the White Sox have a bright future. 

Despite the Sox' struggles this year, the glass is half full for the upcoming future.  Williams has some young talent to work with, like Beckham, Denks, Floyd, Poreda, Viciedo, Ramirez, Quentin, and Jenks.  He has two first round picks this year and two second round picks.  He's likely to have another high pick next season if they don't finish the season strong in 2009.  By trading some veterans like Dye, Thome, and Octavio Dotel at the deadline, Williams can only add to the mix. 

The White Sox will be a better team in 2011 without Jake Peavy, and since they likely won't make the playoffs in 2009 anyway, it's for the better.  For once in Kenny William's career, I hope he plays the conservative card.