What are the White Sox Doing

Kenny Williams has been the manager of the Chicago White Sox for over a decade now, but this offseason presents a new challenge. For the first time in his tenure, he's been tasked with the job of rebuilding the roster. Instead of adding pieces in an effort to go for a championship, he needs to shed payroll and trade away veterans to bolster the farm system. Before he took over as general manager, Williams didn't spend time as an assistant GM, or as a vice GM. He was never the head of player development or scouting. The only other positions he's held in the front office was special assistant to a chairman, director of minor league operations, vice president of player development, and studio analyst for SportsChanel Chicago. After being promoted to GM in 2000, he had learned on the fly. Not everything was pretty at the beginning of the 21st century, but he learned quickly, and over time became a good general manager. 

Earlier in the offseason, I wrote a full plan for how the White Sox should attack this offseason to put their organization in a better place for the future. The trades of Sergio Santos, Jason Frasor, and Carlos Quentin are steps in the right direction, but the returns that they got, along with the John Danks extension left many people underwhelmed and confused. 

At the beginning of the offseason, the White Sox had a lot of attractive bullpen pieces. A rebuilding team has little need for impact relief pitchers. If moved, they could return value for the team, but staying on the team would provide marginal wins, which do nothing more than hurt their position in the following years draft. Sergio Santos was the first player to leave the South Side. He had a breakout year in 2011, striking out over 35% of the batters he faced, and agreeing to a very club friendly contract. Between his slider, and his contract, Santos would have been an attractive piece for any team looking to upgrade their bullpen. All Chicago got in return for Santos was one prospect; a starting pitcher who has put up good numbers in the minors, but projects to be a #3 starter at best. 

Jason Frasor was moved from Toronto to Chicago in July, and was recently returned to Toronto on New Years Day. The White Sox received Myles Jaye and Daniel Webb from Toronto for Frasor. Both Jaye and Webb are right handers, and neither has pitched above Class-A ball. They're both a long way from the Majors, and both will probably end up in the bullpen if they make it that far. It's a good move for Alex Anthopoulos, who's done a good job of cherry picking relief pitchers from Chicago this Winter. 

The biggest piece that Chicago has parted ways with has been Carlos Quentin, who was traded to San Diego. Quentin had five months of an MVP caliber season in 2008 (.288/.394/.571), before breaking his hand and missing September. Since then, he's been a good player, with power and plate discipline, but poor defense in the outfield. U.S. Cellular's outfield is small and has hid some of his defensive deficiencies, but the vast outfield in Petco Park should expose him. He brings right handed power that San Diego needs, but I wouldn't expect him to hit more than 20 home runs next season. The Padres will only get one year of service from Quentin (unless they sign him to an extension), and his injury history dictates that they will be lucky to get 130 games out of him. With his history of injuries, and without the DH, it could be a chore to keep him on the field. San Diego is actually one of the worst fits for Quentin's skills, but they didn't give up too much to get him, and can always flip him in July. 

Both players that Chicago received from San Diego, Simon Castro and Pedro Hernandez, project to be relievers. Between Quentin, Santos, and Frasor, the White Sox got what looks to be a few bullpen pieces and hopefully a mid rotation starter. Doesn't seem like that great of a haul. Their asset which probably could have brought back the nicest return, John Danks, recently agreed to a five year extension. Danks will be 27 next season, and only had one year left on he was a free agent. His impending free agency could have scared off clubs who don't have the means to offer him a lucrative long term contract. The White Sox do have that money, and did extend him. Even though the White Sox are rebuilding, they should be able to return to contention while Danks is still in his prime and pitching well. He'll get $8 million for the first year of the deal and $14.25 million a year after that, which is fair market value for his ability, and could be a bargain if he improves. 

One thing we can be sure about is that the White Sox aren't done dealing this offseason. They still have pieces like Matt Thornton, Gavin Floyd, and A.J. Pierzynski who are in their thirties and could be moved. Their farm system is in terrible shape, and is worst than just about anything the league has ever seen. Their drafts haven't been fruitful, and they lack both depth and impact talent. The arms that they got this offseason (including what they got from Miami for Ozzie Guillen) give them hope for a good bullpen down the road, but not much more. 

Kenny Williams is once again learning on the fly, and so far the results aren't great. I'm very worried for the White Sox that they could have some long seasons ahead of them. They're going to have to find and exploit a few loopholes in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement to avoid thin, disappointing rosters in the future. 

Barring that, this organization should look to add talent however they can. They'll need to improve their status in Latin America to open up a new pipeline of talent. If they can add other club's spare parts, they should. If they can add other team's 'failed' prospects, they should. They should be aggressive internationally, domestically, and need to kick tires and turn over rocks to look for value. A new draft philosophy which incorporates drafting good players would also help.