And now, another edition of 'round the diamond' with daniel sleezer:The Hot Stove Part II: Earlier this week, Kenny Williams made the second big move off the offseason when he shipped Javier "Five and Dive" Vazquez to the Atlanta Braves, along with Boone Logan and the late-inning migraines he gave Sox fans. In return, the Sox received 4 prospects: Catcher Tyler Flowers, Shortstop Brent Lillibridge, 3rd baseman Jon Gilmore, and lefty pitcher Santos Rodriguez. Additionally, they shaved $23 million off the payroll for the next two seasons. Unlike the Swisher trade, this one is a little easier to swallow because the Sox got some real prospects out of the deal.
Flowers is a powerful bat who hit 12 homers in the Arizona Fall League, and gives the Sox a solid right-handed hitting catcher to potentially back up AJ Pierzynski. He has a good arm (threw out 28% of his baserunners last year in the minors) but his defense has been described as average to below average, depending on the sources. To me, it projects as he'll break in to the bigs as a catcher, but unless his defense improves he'll be more useful in a first base or DH capacity. That said, look for him to spend the whole 2009 season in the minors, along with Gilmore and Rodriguez (who spent last season in the rookie league.)
So out of these 4 prospects, it seems that Lillibridge will be the only one competing for a roster spot next season, but I'm puzzled as to where. The Sox have a log-jam at the infield spots: Josh Fields, Alexei Ramirez, and Chris Getz figure to be the starting 3B-SS-2B combo at this time, with Wilson Betemit next in line at third and Jayson Nix in line at second. Lillibridge has a good glove, but hasn't shown promise at the plate (.294 OBP in Triple-A last year, and a 3:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio) so it looks like if he makes the roster, it will be for a utility spot. Further complicating the issue is the White Sox signing of Dayan Viciedo, a 19-yr old Cuban slugger who projects as a 3rd baseman if he can keep his weight down (think Miguel Cabrera.)
I'm not sure what to make of this trade, as the Sox didn't improve one bit for 2009, save for freeing up the $11 mil due to Javy next year. Furthermore, with the economy the way it is, there are whispers that the money freed up from the Swisher trade combined with this one won't be going to a major free agent acquisition, but rather represents a general tightening of the purse-strings. On the other hand, what the Sox did lose was a starting pitcher that could be counted on to eat up 200 innings every year, and strike out 170 batters or more. Though Javy could be maddening in his inconsistency and his desire to throw every one of his 5 pitches to every batter, at the end of the day he was a workhorse 5th starter on a team that needed him to be a 4th or 3rd starter. I hope the move back to the National League helps him.
Moving forward, the Sox still have some glaring holes to address. With Jose Contreras returning mid-2009 at the soonest, they have to fill holes at the 4th and 5th starter position. Not only that, they need another outfielder, and with more and more rumors swirling around Jermaine Dye, maybe two outfielders. If Dye stays, and the Sox don't acquire anyone else, the Opening Day centerfielder next year would be Brian Anderson or Jerry Owens. There are two problems there: it seems that Anderson has worn out his chance to be a regular starter, and the only thing Jerry Owens would give you is that the Sox can run a promotion I like to call "See if your girlfriend can hit the ball further than the White Sox centerfielder" Night. Yikes.
Good work Mr. Sleez
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