It Almost Seems Absurd to Take Mike Downey Seriously

...since he doesn't seem to take himself seriously, but his column in today's Tribune (registration required...please register) seems to be trying to make a legitimate point, a point that couldn't possibly annoy me more.

More 1/2-the-facts hindsight from the Chicago Tribune

As any Sox fan knows, the most popular person in Chicago is the backup quarterback for the Bears and the second most popular person is the white guy the Sox traded away. You saw it in 03 with Graffanino, in 05 with Rowand and in 06 with Ross Gload. Second-guessing Kenny Williams seems to be the way Tribune writers (and sports talk morons) make their bones, even though he's proven time and again to know what he's doing at the helm. Since almost all Williams's trades seem to work out in the Sox favor, creative "re-shaping" of the past must be used to make them look bad, and that's what Downey's trading in today. Observe.

And now, for each of you who made it home from Wrigley Field over the weekend and have sobered up, permit me to make your hangover worse. Have I an outfield for you! Aaron Rowand is hitting .333 for the Philadelphia Phillies. He has seven home runs, 23 RBIs, 54 hits (leads the team) and in more than 387 innings has not made an error. Magglio Ordonez is hitting .344 for the Detroit Tigers. He has nine home runs (leads the team), 38 RBIs (leads the team), 54 hits and has made one error. Carlos Lee is hitting .311 for the Houston Astros. He has nine home runs (leads the team), 40 RBIs (leads the team), 52 hits (leads the team) and has not made an error. It's a horror movie, "Attack of the Ex-Sox." I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if all three of these former Good Guys found themselves in San Francisco on the evening of July 10, suited up for the All-Star Game.

It must be noted that the Sox are hitting pathetically this year---their team average (if you buy into things like BA) is league worst. Even if you prefer another metric, you won't find one that will show the Sox to be anything but slumping miserably. Therefore these 3 potential 2007 "all-stars" would immediately become the best hitter on this White Sox team. So what's the problem? Well, there's a few.

1.) It's May 20th
2.)It's May 20th
3.) It's May 20th
4.) These players did not just leave this past offseason.

The thing is, though, each of these players leaving town was controversial, but the inevitable result was that Kenny made the right decision. Only by cherrypicking data has Downey made having these guys around seem even remotely palatable. Let's see how full of shit Downey is with his McCarthyesque (Sen. Joseph, not Pitcher Brandon...although with the way Phil Rogers harangued Williams for trading McCarthy (ERA 5.82) for John Danks (ERA 4.10) and Nick Massett (2-1 out of pen, 4.5 k/9) ravings

Aaron Rowand is hitting .333 for the Philadelphia Phillies. He has seven home runs, 23 RBIs, 54 hits (leads the team) and in more than 387 innings has not made an error.

Aaron Rowand was traded after the 2005 season along with Gio Gonzalez for Jim Thome. The only people who thought this was a bad trade at the time were the kind of people who regularly use words like "lunchpail" and "true grit." Although Rowand's replacement, Brian Anderson, struggled in 2006, Rowand didn't exactly light the world on fire, with an 87 OPS+. His batting average, if you're interested in that? .262. The guy plays a substandard CF and has very little tangible skills. He's not fast, doesn't hit for a lot of power, doesn't have great bat control, etc. So he's hitting .333 after a month and a half. Does that mean it's better to have him than Jim Thome, a man who, though sometimes hurt, stands as one of the only power threats in this lineup?

In other words, is there anyone who would trade Jim Thome for Aaron Rowand straight up right now (since the White Sox already got Gonzalez back in the Garcia trade)?

Carlos Lee is hitting .311 for the Houston Astros. He has nine home runs (leads the team), 40 RBIs (leads the team), 52 hits (leads the team) and has not made an error.

You'll get no argument for me that Carlos Lee is a great hitter. He was good with the White Sox and has only gotten better since being traded to the Brewers and later going to the various Texas teams. Would he immediately become the best left field option if he were on the White Sox right now? Absolutely. Is he infinitely better than the players Williams traded him for (Podsednik, Vizacaino, and a ptbnl I don't remember)? No doubt about it.

However, this was one of the most important (and successful) trades Williams ever made, and to even imply that it shouldn't have been done smacks of journalistic stupidity. The key to the trade wasn't getting a mildly effective leadoff hitter in Podsednik or a mildly effective middle-reliever in Vizcaino. It was clearing up over 8 million dollars in salary that the White Sox used to sign Orlando Hernandez and AJ Pierzynski, two keys to the 2005 world series run. Viz and Duque are both gone, Podsednik is injured, and AJ is no world-beater, but this trade led to a world series title.

Oh, and Lee who is one of the most overpaid players in baseball, would not likely be in Chicago this season anyway (unless the White Sox were willing to be saddled with the albatross of a contract that Texas coughed up).

This clamoring for Lee would be the stupidest thing in the article if it weren't for this:

Magglio Ordonez is hitting .344 for the Detroit Tigers. He has nine home runs (leads the team), 38 RBIs (leads the team), 54 hits and has made one error.

Before we get into the whole Ordonez hub bub, I want to point out how fucking stupid it is that Downey thinks that it's relevant to include how few errors these players have. Outfield errors may be the most irrelevant statistic in baseball (besides, I don't know, walkoff home runs, or one out grand slams). But I digress.

Ordonez? Was Downey in Chicago the past 3 years? Let me make this as simple as possible: Ordonez was a free agent. Kenny offered him, mid 2004, one of the richest contracts in White Sox history. I believe it was 5 years 70 million. Keep in mind, Kenny offered him this contract when Ordonez was still laid up from a season ending (both for Ordonez and the 2004 Sox) injury. Maggs refused, signed with Scott Boras, and decided to test the FA market. In the offseason, Magglio refused to let White Sox team doctors examine his knee, and ended up signing a 90 million dollar deal with Detroit that everyone was shocked they were willing to make. It seems to have worked out, however, Kenny went out and signed a gem of a deal with Jermaine Dye to replace Magglio. While it would be easy enough to call Jermaine Dye "World Series MVP" Jermaine Dye, it would probably be more effective to do an actual comparison.

2005 Dye
.274/.333/.512 118 OPS + 31 HR
2006 Dye
.315/.385/.622 152 OPS + 44 HR

Games played by Dye b/t 2005-2006: 291

2005 Ordonez
.302/.359/.438 113 OPS + 8 HR (eep!)
2006 Ordonez
.298/.350/.477 113 OPS + 24 HR

Games played by Ordonez b/t 2005-2006: 237

Oh, and Dye's a better right fielder than Ordonez....but nice try Downey

Downey goes on to give the current stats of the Sox outfield. They are, admittedly, awful. They are also, admittedly, much worse than these "ex-Sox". However there are four things to consider:


1.) It's May 20th
2.)It's May 20th
3.) It's May 20th
4.) These players did not just leave this past offseason.

Downey doesn't care. He needs to ask the extremely vital and relevant question:

Do the White Sox have an All-Star?

This is the world's stupidest question. Every team in baseball has an all-star. Or does he mean "true all-star"? Well, he seems to know, answering his own question later in the article

I don't know which Sox player would be All-Star worthy if the balloting ended today. Jenks, I guess. He is among the AL's leaders in saves.

Uh, yeah, Jenks, you guess. He's not just among the AL's leaders in saves. He is the AL's leader in saves, according to this website, which I guess would do at least as much research as you do (since anything is greater than or equal to zero)

Or how about Mark Buehrle, who has solid numbers, is a past all-star, and threw a no-hitter this year?

When a team is only 4.5 games out of first place in baseball's toughest division, someone must be playing all right--especially if the team's not hitting at all....

and anyway, it's the fucking all-star game. Last year the Sox had umpteen all-stars, most of them undeserving. In 2005 they had 4, and of them only 2 were truly deserving. Who cares about the fucking all-star game?

Mike Downey, I guess