The White Sox have used only seven starting pitchers this season, and Jose Contreras is the only starter who has spent time on the disabled list.
General manager Ken Williams believes that’s enough to validate his faith in a rotation that hasn’t lived up to its high standards.
“I don’t think they are satisfied with their seasons as a whole. Obviously, from our standpoint, we were expecting a little bit more,” Williams said Thursday night. “But there is value in taking the ball and getting into the sixth and seventh innings. We’ve had it sporadically enough and successful enough where we aren’t giving up on any of these guys.
“If that turns out to be the thing that makes us fail, then so be it. We can accept that because we felt the plan was solid right from the beginning and our backup plan was just as solid. If it turns out we win 95 or 97 games and we have to tip our hat to the next team, then so be it.”
Javier Vazquez mirrored the inconsistencies of the Sox’s rotation against the Yankees in a game that was delayed 1 hour 26 minutes because of rain. Staked to 4-0 lead after two innings, Vazquez gave up a two-run home run to Jason Giambi in the third and loaded the bases in the fourth on three walks before fooling Giambi on a curve for a called third strike.
Vazquez walked six and needed 111 pitches to get through five innings before being pulled.
Neal Cotts opened the sixth and Brandon McCarthy bailed him out of a one-out, two-on jam. McCarthy induced an Alex Rodriguez popout and manager Ozzie Guillen was tossed by umpire Eric Cooper after arguing a close play at first trying to double off Bobby Abreu. Giambi struck out to end the inning.
Scott Podsednik singled in Brian Anderson, who had doubled with two outs in the sixth, for a 5-2 lead.
The Sox took advantage of errors by third baseman Rodriguez and left fielder Melky Cabrera to take the 4-0 lead in the second.
Before the game, Williams defused speculation he was about to trade pitcher Freddy Garcia as early as last off-season.
“No. 1, obviously it was bothering Freddy, so I went directly up to his face and told him just because it was in the newspapers last year that he was going to be traded doesn’t mean it was true,” Williams said.
Last December, Williams dealt pitcher Orlando Hernandez, reliever Luis Vizcaino and outfielder Chris Young to Arizona for Vazquez and $4 million.
“We had a plan going into the off-season to add to our pitching, not subtract,” Williams said. “[Trading Garcia] wasn’t consistent with what we were trying to do. He was not discussed in any deal. He might have been asked for, I don’t recall. But being consistent with our plan, I would have turned it down very quickly.”
But the Sox are likely to move a starting pitcher this off-season to make room for 23-year-old McCarthy.
Jose Contreras and Jon Garland are signed past 2008, and the Sox are likely to pick up the $9.5 million option on Buehrle for 2007. Vazquez ($12.5 million) and Garcia ($10 million) are signed through 2007.
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mgonzales@tribune.com
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