It’s always fun to be right, but sometimes you wish you were wrong. That’s the case with my take on how badly an even more one-dimensional Frank Thomas is likely to fit in on the White Sox, who have been renovated around a National League model.
On Friday, Day 2 of pitchers and catchers at spring training, it was revealed that Thomas has been cleared to remain in Las Vegas until at least early March because he is recovering slowly from the surgery he had more than four months ago to repair a broken bone in his left ankle. This means it’s highly likely he’ll open the season on the disabled list, a first in his 16-year career. It probably means he will miss all of April and possibly May, as well.
You would think this would be a big deal for a club that already has subtracted Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Lee. But manager Ozzie Guillen didn’t appear too upset. Nor did anyone else with the organization.
In fact, Guillen made it sound like the White Sox are just fine with Carl Everett, Ross Gload and Timo Perez in the designated hitter spot.
“If Frank is not working at 90-100 percent, it’s going to be hard for him to be in the lineup,” Guillen told reporters after the morning workout. “We have our goal, and it is to win.”
The last two times the White Sox did that, of course, it was Thomas who carried them on his broad back. He finished second to Jason Giambi, who reportedly admitted to a federal grand jury that he used steroids, in the Most Valuable Player race in 2000. That year the Sox shocked themselves with 95 victories. Thomas won the first of his back-to-back MVPs in 1993 when they rolled to 94 victories.
But — and here’s the part I hope to be wrong about — it looks as if 2005 could turn into a painful farewell for one of the best right-handed hitters in baseball history.
There’s little doubt it will be his last year in Chicago, as general manager Ken Williams seems ready to hand him a $3.5 million severance rather than exercise a $10 million option after the season. But it would be nice if he could go out somewhat in style.
This, of course, never happens with the White Sox. It didn’t with Carlton Fisk, it didn’t with Jack McDowell, it didn’t with Robin Ventura or even Guillen. It certainly didn’t with Ordonez. Why should Thomas be different?
Thomas has had his ups and downs with club Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and Sox management largely because he agreed to have the controversial “diminished skills” clause included in his contract extension after winning the 1997 batting title. But when he has been healthy, he almost always has hit. That was true even before he went out of the lineup last July. His .997 on-base plus slugging total ranked second in the American League among players with at least 200 at-bats.
Thomas produced 84 runs in 74 games. Those hardly sound like the numbers of an afterthought.
But reading between the lines, it seems that is what Thomas has become in a balanced lineup that has at least seven players capable of hitting 20-plus home runs. There were only five other teams that had as many as five 20-homer guys last season: the Yankees (with six), Oakland, Texas, the Cubs and Houston.
Guillen is more than willing to take his chances with Scott Podsednik, Tadahito Iguchi, Jermaine Dye, A.J. Pierzynski, Everett and Gload.
“A lot of people say we lost a lot of home runs,” Guillen said. “We made these changes because they give us a better chance to win. We had the same team the last few years and didn’t win anything. . . . We couldn’t execute. We had guys with a lot of good numbers but we finished 10 games behind. . . . We had a good enough team to win, but we didn’t win.”
More often than not, a designated hitter is more the hood ornament on a winning team than one of the pistons. No, the Boston Red Sox couldn’t have won without David Ortiz last season, but we’ll consider that the exception that proves the rule.
With Edgar Martinez retiring, fewer teams than ever are willing to pay heavily for a full-time DH. Detroit’s Dmitri Young and Ortiz are the only designated hitters other than Thomas who will be paid more than $5 million this season. If Jason Giambi joins this list, that’s by accident, not design.
Only six of the 20 teams that made it to the AL Championship Series in the last decade used a DH for at least 100 games. Baltimore used 17 different DHs in 1996 when it won 92 games. Baltimore won 98 games in 1997 with Geronimo Berroa as the primary DH, filling the role for only 42 games.
Everett, who hit 28 homers and drove in 92 runs two years ago, is in much better shape than a year ago when Williams traded for him for the second time. He should be a solid option for Guillen.
Gload, who seemed to get lost after hitting .321 in 110 games last year, is another reasonable consideration. Willie Harris, Jamie Burke and Perez also could fill in against the right kinds of pitchers.
None of this is going to help Thomas build a case for his 2006 contract, whomever it is with. He will want to play when he’s ready.
That combustible clash between Thomas and Guillen, which was incorrectly forecast last spring, might only have been delayed.
