Over the past few days since the Yoenis Cespedes discussions have heated up again, he has been linked closely to the Nationals as well as the Mets. The White Sox, once considered favorites to land the Cuban slugger are now viewed as dogs in the race to land Cespedes. Since that time I have seen countless angry fans expressing emotions ranging from disappointment, all the way to sheer insanity. Some on the verge of disowning the Sox as their team of choice to root for. I have seen fans personally insulting Vice President Kenny Williams, and General Manager Rick Hahn to the point of baseless slander and insults over the possible, not signing of one player. I have to say to those people, just like Aaron Rodgers infamously said to the Green Bay media not too long ago...R-E-L-A-X.
First of all lets take a step back and realize that before the Cespedes to the Sox discussion took place around Christmas time fans were buzzing about the same two executives that they are now bashing, after they made a series of moves to improve the roster. Particularly they upgraded positions of concern from 2015 with the additions of Frazier, Lawrie, Avila, and Navarro. Without a doubt third base has been a cause for concern on the south side since Joe Crede departed, since such time everyone who has an interest in the White Sox ranging from fan to writer has beat that same topic to death. Finally Kenny and Rick acquire a bona-fide everyday third-basemen. In addition they go out and acquire a second-basemen, and a pair of offensive minded catchers to replace to upgrade the next two weakest positions on the roster.
The White Sox need offense, they had one of the least productive offenses last season. That excludes Jose Abreu, who slugged his way to another 30 plus home run and 100 plus RBI season making him the second player to being their careers with back to back seasons with those numbers. Most everyone beyond Abreu is included in the reasons why the Sox offense was futile in 2015. Some players had uncharacteristically poor production, such as Melky Cabrera as well as Adam LaRoche. Which brings us to the majority of the fault to bear being the other position players who are young and have not figured it out yet, and those who are just never going to figure it out.
The Sox have a promising pitching staff that was bogged down last year by a major lack of run support. Chris Sale is easily a top five lefty in baseball, he regularly posts an ERA in the two's, he regularly finishes in the top contenders for the AL Cy Young Award, and last season he led the AL in strikeouts while breaking a franchise record. Jose Quintana is the biggest beneficiary of dismal offensive support, losing many one run games or gaining a surplus of no decisions after leaving a tied game. He is a top end of the rotation starter, who garners the attraction of other clubs in trade talks often because of such. Carlos Rodon is a rising star, the former number three pick in the MLB Draft has a devastating slider, quality fastball, and great makeup. He continues to improve his changeup, and once he gains a better command of the strike zone he will be a top end pitcher as well.
This piece is more about the outrage of not signing Yoenis Cespedes, and whether it's justified or not, so before I get too far off topic I will say that the White Sox have without a doubt out themselves in a position to improve their offensive production for this season, and that in turn will without a doubt support an excellent rotation staff. Before you start smoking at the ears, I want to make it clear that while I am happy with the the moves made thus far I am also in the belief that certain question positions need more help. For example the Sox still need another right-handed starter, and maybe a proven middle innings reliever. I could even agree with the logic of bringing in a proven short stop such as Ian Desmond to keep that seat warm for Tim Anderson who is billed to start the season at triple-A Charlotte. I also believe that Anderson is more major league ready that thought to be, and he could be in the mix this year.
So angry belligerent Sox fan, while the plan for the future may not be going to your accord right now let's remember that you and I are not VP's and GM's of MLB franchises for a reason. Believe it or not, those guys know what they're doing and how to work with the resources given to them by ownership. Yoenis Cespedes is a 30 year old outfielder, and not giving him a deal that would be paying him upwards of $22 Million dollars per year when he is 35-36 years old, is far from the worst thing in the world. So just.... R-E-L-A-X people.
Your last paragraph is paramount to understanding the way teams are constructed. Most people don't want to hear that "Baseball is a Business", but that's just too bad....It Is! The only questions that a Fan should be asking are....1). "Do I like the way this Front Office operates?"....and 2). "Do I want to continue rooting for this team (based on the answer to question #1)"??? The dynamic of putting a quality team on the field (for the current season AND the next few seasons) is a very complex financial situation. Baseball salaries lately have severely skewed our perspective of how much money "A Million Dollars" really is. Numbers have escalated to the point that, knowing how much $100 million is, has become almost unfathomable. Fans casually toss around comments like "Just give him $25 million/year, and sign him"......fans don't think about the fact that, "Most people don't make $5 Million in their whole life" (that would be $125,000/yr for 40 years).....yet they will scream at GM's who won't blow $125 Million on a single player. I understand that we all find it easier to "spend other people's money".....but I agree with Patrick....and with Aaron Rogers. Everyone needs to RELAX, and let the businessmen "do the job that they were hired to do". If you don't like what they decide?....Maybe you should apply for their job, and see if the team will hire you next season.
ReplyDelete