Rosenthal Column

[Lip Man 1]

From the new column posted at Fox. This is a part of it.

WHITE SOX BIDING TIME


For now, the White Sox's trade options appear limited. Third baseman Joe Crede owns the fourth-worst OPS in the AL, but Josh Fields hasn't been much better at Class AAA. Besides, the White Sox are reluctant to part with Crede, given their emphasis on defense.


Among outfielders, the Devil Rays' Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli still look like the most logical trade targets for the Sox, who almost certainly would not deal for a potential free agent.

The Rays' position on Crawford and Baldelli is the same as it was last off-season; they are willing to move either if they can fill one or more needs, but are not in any rush to make a deal.

White Sox G.M. Ken Williams, meanwhile, remains adamant that his club will be fine with Darin Erstad in center and a healthy Scott Podsednik in left, citing their speed, intangibles and ability to grind.

"We hit our share of home runs. We don't need home runs out of those spots," Williams says. "When you go into droughts, it's the little guys who get you out of droughts."
The return of designated hitter Jim Thome from a strained right ribcage also would help, but Williams says the AL Central won't be decided until the second half — and that it will be decided by pitching.

Lip

[spiffie]

but Williams says the AL Central won't be decided until the second half — and that it will be decided by pitching.

And as usual Kenny Williams is correct. This division is not getting decided until the last week, and its going to fall on who can pitch the best in the dog days of August and September when everything is on the line.

[WhiteSox5187]

My father is very close with the GM of the Tigers and he said "Whoever wins the division is goingto be the team with the best record against KC." But I also agree, this division isn't going to be won in the first half, no team is going to run away with it. The goal should be to keep your head above water in the first half and once we're healthy, then we make our push. The bats are going to come around and we have showed that we can win games without homeruns, but either way, no one is running away with this division.

[billcissell]

Actually, it seems logical that the team with the best record vs. the other three contenders in the division will finish first. Even if one team completely dominates KC, that's only 19 games or so. It figures that probably a couple of teams in the division will have a very good record vs. KC, say 12-7 or 13-6. Watch out for the Royals in a few years, though, when Gordon, Pena, etc. have some time to develop. If they can also groom some young arms they may no longer be doormats of the Central.

[DickAllen72]

White Sox G.M. Ken Williams, meanwhile, remains adamant that his club will be fine with Darin Erstad in center and a healthy Scott Podsednik in left, citing their speed, intangibles and ability to grind.
Lip
I usually agree with KW on just about everything, but since when does Podsednik possess speed? Not since the beginning of 2005.

Erstad gets down the line to first much faster than Pods, as does Mackowiak and Sweeney. Even Pablo gets down the line faster than Pods, and he from the RH batter's box.

Pods has only average to slightly above average speed. If he isn't completely at 100% after his latest setback, he won't be able to help at all with his running game.