Was There a De-Pantsing of Kenny Williams?

White Sox fans have mixed feelings about what down at the non-waiver trade deadline. I guess that you could say that this blogger is “glad”. Glad that the Sox acquired a middle-of-the-rotation pitcher, who we know can pitch in the American League, as opposed to sticking with a pitcher in Daniel Hudson in which we HOPE can pitch in the American League. Also, another very vital nugget of information according to White Sox beat writer Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times is that the White Sox projected Hudson to be a number five starter/middle reliever at best. So, with his low ceiling of potential the Sox must feel that they got the better of that trade as the Nationals have said that they could see Hudson as a top of the rotation pitcher in the future.

It is evident that White Sox GM Kenny Williams’ goal was to obtain a big bat to wedge into the middle of his lineup. A deal was all but done to get Lance Berkman into a south side uniform, but he invoked his 10 and 5 rights and vetoed the trade. Just another former Houston Astro who didn’t want to play on the south side for whatever reason along with Roy Oswalt, both of whom were moved before the trade deadline that ended at 3PM Central time on Saturday. Maybe they’re still bitter over the ’05 spanking they took in the World Series…..but that’s neither here no there. It’s also evident because Kenny tried to trade for Manny Ramirez, but that trade was nixed by the Dodgers. One is because they still feel they have an outside shot at making the playoffs either by winning the NL West or the Wild Card and two is because the White Sox essentially wanted him for free and only contribute $1M of the $7M left on his contract and not give up any players (the Dodgers were asking for Dayan Viciedo in return). It would be an interesting move to say the least, as Mannywood is still on the disabled list with a strained calf in what is his third DL stint just this year. It would have marked the second time in as many years that the White Sox traded for a player on the DL, last year of course being for Jake “Where’s my latissimus dorsi” Peavy. Also, if you look at history, you would know the possibilities of a healthy and motivated Manny Ramirez, especially in White Sox Park at the peak of summer.

Still, other fans, the mouth-breathing meatball types, feel that Kenny was pants by Nats GM Rizzo. The thinking being that Rizzo told Kenny that if he trades for Edwin Jackson that Kenny could flip him to Washington along with another prospect or two for Adam Dunn. Sure Kenny took an indirect shot at Rizzo when he said that it was frustrating to work with such new, young GM’s, but if you think that Kenny is so dumb and underprepared to trade for Jackson and get “stuck” with him then you need to find a new team to root for or be fired from baseball all together. Kenny probably wanted to flip Edwin Jackson to the Nats if possible, but will most definitely take the upgrade he’s made to the rotation. If he absolutely didn’t Jackson and only sought Dunn, then he would have only made the trade had it been a done deal with another team in the mix to complete a 3-way trade. Rizzo was adamant in his quest to trade for Gordon Beckham in a Dunn deal, pun intended, and that is why by time Saturday rolled around the trade talks between the Sox and Nats were on a respirator. I happen to like this non-move in not dealing away Beckham for a two month rental who can’t play the field and would be unhappy only DH-ing in the AL.

On top of all this, White sox pitching coach Don Cooper loves the high ceiling Edwin Jackson has. He has already had a side session with Jackson and has tweaked a few things. He wants the 6’3” Jackson to stand taller on the mound in order to stay on top of pitches and get the proper downward tilt on them. Jackson’s fastball average ranks fourth in the Major Leagues at 94.0 mph. He also has a nasty slider. His ERA may be inflated now, but I’m interest to see what adjustments he’ll make to win games for this club.

As always tune in to Cover 3 every Monday evening from 7 to 9 on sportstownchicago.com.

PREACH