Pie in the sky isn’t on the menu for the White Sox this summer. There will be no All-Star-break trades for Kent Mercker or Curt Schilling. The stretch-run maneuvering will be minimal, making it highly unlikely they will be the team that pulls off a late-August trade for Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, Dennis Eckersley or any other free-agent-to-be on a team going nowhere.
General Manager Ron Schueler says he won’t ask Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf to provide any additional backing for his team, which was put together with the World Series in mind. In his view, attendance doesn’t justify increasing a payroll that already stands at about $53.6 million.
If the Sox do make any more trades this season, they will have to subtract one salary to add another. Schueler says he can make deals within those constraints. But if he’s going to do anything of significant proportions, he will have to find someone to take a salary.
“I might have to move somebody off the club,” he said. “You may save money in one place to get a little better in another area.”
The most likely candidates: catcher Ron Karkovice, at $1.5 million; pitcher Doug Drabek, at $1.3 million plus incentives; and designated hitter Harold Baines, at $1.15 million. The Sox also may make it known that shortstop Ozzie Guillen is available. But the popular Guillen earns $4.5 million and, as a five-and-10 man (five years with his current team, 10 in the majors), he can veto a trade.
Schueler and manager Terry Bevington both believe a team Frank Thomas and Albert Belle lead can win an American League Central title with just a little fine-tuning. Here’s a look at the three different approaches that are most likely.
Play hard, boys
With Thomas back in the lineup and Robin Ventura getting closer to his comeback, the White Sox can remain on their current course, making no major changes. This appears the most likely possibility, as they have no glaring needs.
Their worst two positions for offensive production have been catcher and third base. The Sox are counting on being better at both positions in the second half of the season than they have been thus far.
Catcher Jorge Fabregas, acquired from Anaheim in the Tony Phillips trade on May 18, appears to have filled the gaping hole that was left when Karkovice opened the season as a shell of his former self. Fabregas is hitting .292 with three homers and 17 RBIs in 27 games since the deal. He has been a nice upgrade defensively, as well.
Chris Snopek has been a disappointment as Ventura’s replacement, hitting .209 with five homers and 28 RBIs in 58 games. But he appears to be gaining confidence as Bevington plays him regularly (he has started 18 of the last 19 games). Ventura, who broke his right leg March 22, is fielding grounders and taking batting practice in the hopes of returning for the last two months of the season.
A return to form by Opening Day starter Jaime Navarro (5-6) might be all the pitching staff needs. The Sox had used the same five-man rotation all season until Danny Darwin got sick Wednesday. The bullpen improved markedly with veteran Chuck McElroy’s supplanting Mike Bertotti and Larry Thomas as the second lefty.
And Schueler believes the Sox have pitchers in their farm system who can help.
“There are three or four pitchers down there ready to come here,” said Schueler, not naming names. “I’m not sure every team can say that.”
He was speaking of a group that includes left-handers Thomas, Tom Fordham, Mike Sirotka and Scott Eyre and right-handers Chris Clemons, Nelson Cruz, Jeff Darwin and Brian Keyser.
Get a glove on it
In their private conversations, members of the Sox staff speak wistfully of improving their team defensively. It is no wonder why. Although they have played better in June than they did in April and May, the Sox have allowed 50 unearned runs, seven more than any other AL team.
But already having traded Phillips to improve the outfield defense, there are no quick fixes at hand. The play of middle infielders Ray Durham and Ozzie Guillen is a little problem every day. Guillen, at 33, lacks range. Durham is erratic. Neither has the arm needed to turn lots of double plays.
Schueler is aware of their shortcomings.
“The infield is something we might address,” he said.
Durham, the leadoff hitter on most days, appears safe. The Sox are interested in Colorado shortstop Walt Weiss, who is being shopped around, but they only could make a move if they traded Guillen. That is a complicated proposition, at best.
Benching Guillen would be the boldest of moves, because he is not only popular but is having a solid year at the plate.
It seems likely, then, that Schueler will be content to look for a slick-fielding backup to take the place of rarely used No. 3 catcher Tony Pena. Nashville shortstop Craig Wilson will receive some consideration.
One more thought: What about moving the slow-moving Frank Thomas from first base, where he made his eighth error Wednesday, to DH and give rookie Mario Valdez a shot as the regular first baseman?
Valdez, who had a game-winning single Wednesday, has shown himself capable of hitting big-league pitching in the small doses in which he has seen it and has the movements and hands to be in the top tier defensively. This scenario would cut the 38-year-old Baines from five or six starts a week to one or two, preserving him while giving Bevington a left-handed-hitting pinch-hitter other managers would respect.
Surprisingly, Thomas admits the day rapidly is approaching when he will be a primary DH.
“That would be in the future, but not right now,” said Thomas, 29. “I can still catch the ball. But in the future, it’s OK with me. I’m getting older. I’ve been here a long time. . . . I’m sure that will happen when Harold leaves.”
In search of Mariano Rivera
While right-handers Matt Karchner and Bill Simas have made major contributions over the last two months–Simas in May and Karchner in June–the Sox know they have room to improve their bullpen.
“But so does almost every team in baseball,” Bevington said. “Everyone is looking for that guy who comes in and blows guys away in the eighth inning. There’s only a few of them, and if you have one, you’re keeping him.”
With surplus outfielders–including prospects Jeff Abbott, Magglio Ordonez and McKay Christensen–and some pitching to trade, the Sox might be coerced into paying a high price for a reliever doing a good job elsewhere.
Under the constraints Schueler has laid out, they would have to move a salary to add someone like Minnesota’s Rick Aguilera or St. Louis’ Eckersley. But if he was motivated sufficiently, Schueler could get the attention of Cincinnati GM Jim Bowden with a serious offer for ex-Sox right-hander Jeff Shaw, who has 13 saves since replacing Jeff Brantley as closer.
But in the bullpen, as elsewhere, the Sox probably will have to improve from within. Don’t be surprised if rookie Carlos Castillo, a long reliever when the season began, is used later in games. He has good stuff and craves the man-to-man competition.
Can he do for the Sox what Rivera did for the Yankees? Put it this way: If Karchner or Simas can’t, he might have to do it.
