White Sox ready for game's change
According to the White Sox brass, baseball is changing.
It's a theory postulated by general manager Ken Williams during his final regular season chat with the media at U.S. Cellular Field, with Williams explaining, as an example, how 30 home runs from a player really will mean something in a future game based more on pitching and defense than slugging. Before Saturday's contest, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen addressed the same topic and listed his team in a good position to handle the change.
"The main thing is we have it right now," said Guillen of competing in the newer small ball world. "It's one thing about it, baseball is going to change. How's it going to change? You're not going to see too many power numbers like you did in the past.
"And we're in the right direction. That's the main reason (Alex) Rios is here. I think that's the reason (Jake) Peavy is here. That's the reason we gave a shot to Gordon (Beckham).
"We got better athletes out there," Guillen said. "But in the meanwhile, you've got to do it little by little. You cannot just dump everything or bring everything back. We did it little by little, I think Kenny has done a good job - even though people don't believe that - Kenny has done a good job to match the spots we need and bring the guys along, make us better."
While addressing the makeup of the team, Guillen spoke about a few specific future question marks.
--On trading closer Bobby Jenks: "Tough call. We don't want to trade him, but in the meanwhile, Kenny's never going to say no to any trade if he thinks it's going to help this organization.
"I still think Bobby's going to be our closer next year. If something happens between now and next year, then we'll make a move. Can (Matt) Thornton close a game? A lot of people doubt it; I say yes he can. He's got good enough stuff and he's got experience. I think right now, our bullpen's going to make maybe a few changes. I think on paper, it's a good bullpen, physically. But honestly, very inconsistent and we've got to get better.
--On Jermaine Dye's tremendous five-year run in Chicago possibly coming to an end: "It's going to be very tough for me, personally, not as a manager. I have to deal with that every year. Some guys go I love, but that's a part of the game.
"In the meanwhile, I hope that doesn't happen, but this is a business. One guy who would be crushed is me. I think JD, I cannot say anything bad about this kid. This kid was great from the first day he put his uniform on to the last day he will. He's very professional and I feel proud to be his manager. He knows he's going to have a friend no matter where he's playing. Hopefully he comes back. I don't know. That's not my job. It's been great to have him with me all these years."
--On Tony Pena stepping into Octavio Dotel's late-inning relief role, with Dotel headed toward free agency: "I think Pena's fine. I think Pena's in the spot he should be in. We just got him to help the bullpen.
"We put him in big spots and he failed, but all of the sudden he bounced back and pitched well. As long as he does that, he's going to help make the organization better. He knows his role and next year, he might know his role a little bit better. I'm pretty pleased with the way he's thrown and I know he's going to get better."
It's a theory postulated by general manager Ken Williams during his final regular season chat with the media at U.S. Cellular Field, with Williams explaining, as an example, how 30 home runs from a player really will mean something in a future game based more on pitching and defense than slugging. Before Saturday's contest, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen addressed the same topic and listed his team in a good position to handle the change.
"The main thing is we have it right now," said Guillen of competing in the newer small ball world. "It's one thing about it, baseball is going to change. How's it going to change? You're not going to see too many power numbers like you did in the past.
"And we're in the right direction. That's the main reason (Alex) Rios is here. I think that's the reason (Jake) Peavy is here. That's the reason we gave a shot to Gordon (Beckham).
"We got better athletes out there," Guillen said. "But in the meanwhile, you've got to do it little by little. You cannot just dump everything or bring everything back. We did it little by little, I think Kenny has done a good job - even though people don't believe that - Kenny has done a good job to match the spots we need and bring the guys along, make us better."
While addressing the makeup of the team, Guillen spoke about a few specific future question marks.
--On trading closer Bobby Jenks: "Tough call. We don't want to trade him, but in the meanwhile, Kenny's never going to say no to any trade if he thinks it's going to help this organization.
"I still think Bobby's going to be our closer next year. If something happens between now and next year, then we'll make a move. Can (Matt) Thornton close a game? A lot of people doubt it; I say yes he can. He's got good enough stuff and he's got experience. I think right now, our bullpen's going to make maybe a few changes. I think on paper, it's a good bullpen, physically. But honestly, very inconsistent and we've got to get better.
--On Jermaine Dye's tremendous five-year run in Chicago possibly coming to an end: "It's going to be very tough for me, personally, not as a manager. I have to deal with that every year. Some guys go I love, but that's a part of the game.
"In the meanwhile, I hope that doesn't happen, but this is a business. One guy who would be crushed is me. I think JD, I cannot say anything bad about this kid. This kid was great from the first day he put his uniform on to the last day he will. He's very professional and I feel proud to be his manager. He knows he's going to have a friend no matter where he's playing. Hopefully he comes back. I don't know. That's not my job. It's been great to have him with me all these years."
--On Tony Pena stepping into Octavio Dotel's late-inning relief role, with Dotel headed toward free agency: "I think Pena's fine. I think Pena's in the spot he should be in. We just got him to help the bullpen.
"We put him in big spots and he failed, but all of the sudden he bounced back and pitched well. As long as he does that, he's going to help make the organization better. He knows his role and next year, he might know his role a little bit better. I'm pretty pleased with the way he's thrown and I know he's going to get better."
For the decade: Comparing "winning" seasons and playoff appearances. You can see how the Sox and Cubs stacked up:
http://www.whitesoxinteractive.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=2365802#post2365802
Have a good winter evryone.
Mark Liptak
Report any abuse or spam