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| Changing color of his socks |
That is my attitude toward the deal announced Tuesday that the Chicago White Sox traded away their top pitcher to the Boston Red Sox – who now have fantasies of having the best starting rotation of pitchers in all of baseball.
IN
EXCHANGE, THE White Sox got four ballplayers – including two who are supposedly
the best prospects in the Boston minor league system.
One
of whom is Yoan Moncada – a second baseman who two seasons ago got big
money from the Red Sox when he defected from Cuba. Some $63 million in all, out
of the belief that he would be one of the Red Sox stars for years to come
(since he’s only 21).
But
now, he’s a property of the Sout’ Side’s ball club, and will be a heavy factor
in the White Sox dreams of again contending for a league championship and World
Series appearance in the near future.
When
combined with first baseman Jose Abreu also of Cuba, he creates a potential
Cuban connection for the White Sox that could wind up making them legitimate
contenders. Considering that one of the White Sox’ biggest names ever was t he
Cuban Comet himself, Minnie Miñoso, perhaps it’s appropriate.
IF
IT WORKS out, that is.
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| Pairing up with Abreu... |
Because there always are those ballplayers who turn out to be incapable of making the jump to the “big” club. Minor league stats don’t always mean much.
I
remember when Karl Pagel was supposed to be the BIG NAME who would someday lead
the Chicago Cubs to the promised land, while Ron Kittle was the guy who hit
more than 50 home runs in a season in the Pacific Coast League.
Pagel
barely lasted with the Cubs, while Kittle was little more than a journeyman
ballplayer during his major league service time. We’ll have to wait and see
just how real the “Cuban connection” becomes in Chicago.
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| ... to create new Cuban connection? |
BECAUSE TRADING AWAY an established ballplayer like Sale always runs the risk of backfiring. The White Sox may well have enriched the chances of the Charlotte Knights (their top minor league affiliate) having a good year in 2017 without anything ever resulting to benefit Chicago proper.
There’s
also the chance that the Sale deal could wind up giving the White Sox an answer
in incompetence to the front office actions of past years that saw Bruce Sutter
and Greg Maddux (both now in the Baseball Hall of Fame) go to other teams in
exchange for nothing of significance.
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| A slew of 'stars' who never amounted to much |
I’m
not saying for sure that will happen. I don’t know how this deal will turn out
for either team.
Because
I’m the first to admit I think Sale’s temperament is just a bit too whiny for
him to continue to be a part of the White Sox. Perhaps a change of scenery is
what he needed.
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| Twice traded for star Sox shortstops |
BECAUSE
AROUND HERE, he’ll always now be remembered as the guy who had a hissy fit
because of the jersey he was asked to wear and wound up shredding a team’s
worth of uniforms. Even though that particular jersey was part of a team
promotion that actually worked out to be popular with many fans!
It’s
always possible the deal could work out to be good all the way around – similar
to how the Chicago Cubs back in 1984 traded away future star Joe Carter, but
wound up getting Rick Sutcliffe. As in one of their best pitchers ever. Or the 1977 trade that sent star shortstop Bucky Dent from the White Sox to the New York Yankees in exchange for Oscar Gamble, cash and four minor leaguers -- one of whom went on to become 1983 Cy Young Award winner LaMarr Hoyt (who himself was then later traded to the San Diego Padres for long-time star shortstop Ozzie Guillen).
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| Best left unspoken |
Which
is proof that in order to gain something of significance, you have to be
prepared to give up something of equal value. That's true whether in baseball or business.
Because
the number of times you can give up an aging pitcher like Ernie Broglio and
gain a future Hall of Famer like Lou Brock are truly rare – and usually wind up
with your team on the losing end of the deal.
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