Black Sox Faction

Some baseball fans are beginning to view Sox GM Kenny Williams in the same vein as Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf. He was the former Iraq news minister of information during the early days of Second Iraq-U.S. War who kept insisting that everything was fine for the Iraqi government and reports of the barbarians storming the gates of Baghdad was a lie. When news of the Brandon McCarthy trade spread, Sox fans had to wonder "Wait : We won 90 games last year, had a decent team, and we're really looking forward to the playoffs this year. Why are we forming up the rotation for the 2009 season?? Are we to believe that everything is GREAT ?!? Though it may make business sense to some, the Sox and us fans have got to feel that with this championship quality team should not have to wait 'till next....................three years.

McCarthy, only 23 years old, has a bright future in front of him. And make no doubt about it, he was already accomplished. Although he wasn't on the World Series roster in '05, he was a very valuable member of the team in making it to the post season. A late season spot starter, he put his name into baseball history (more importantly White Sox history), by going 3-2 and having a 4.02 E.R.A. He went 7-1 with a 1.88 E.R.A. between AAA and the Sox to close the season. He showed his class this year by taking a bullpen position (4-7 / 4.68) @ a time where most thought he would start the season in the rotation.

The Sox picked up these prospects :

John Danks (pitches L /21 y.o./ 6'1''/ 200 lb), a power pitcher(90-94 mph) with a nice curve and change up. He is the dude Sox management wanted most of all. To quote the Sox web site"... Danks, was the Rangers first-round selection (ninth overall) in the 2003 draft. He is ranked by Baseball America as the No. 1 Prospect in the Rangers organization and was tabbed by the same publication as their No. 2 Prospect following both the 2004 and 2005 seasons." he split last season in AA and AAA, 9-9 with a 4.24 E.R.A.

Nick Masset (R/24/6'4''/191), another inexperienced power pitcher (95-6 mph), texas's eightth best prospect, who is currently playing in Mexico's winter league.

Jacob Rasner. (20 y.o.) Another unproven prospect for the rotation who spent lst year in A Ball.

Make no doubt about it : the Sox already have the Arms in the stating rotation to have one of the better staffs in the majors. Buehrle, Contreras, Vasquez, and Garland @ the top means that the Sox still have major resources this coming season. Perhaps this wealth in the roataion means that the '2009 Gamble' is well worth the gamble. As a Sox fan, I have learned to wait on Williams' moves. Yes, there is the Todd Ritchie trade from some years back, but more recently he was able to confound fans by acquiring '05 Champion Podsednik for Carlos Lee, get '05 Champion Freddy Garcia in the first place for 'Catcher of the Future' Miguel Olivio (and Jeremy Reed, who looks like a good prospect),letting Magglio Ordonez go and pick up Jermaine Dye, and his post '05 Championship move by acquiring Jim Thome. There will be clunkers, but Williams is one of the best GM's in sports, escpecially with the Reinsdorphian salary restraints he has to work with. But this restructering comes with the feel of "Everything is all right for this '07 team. We will be winning. We will win 90+ games again. Our staff has never been better."

These are harsh word to any Sox fan, or indeed to any lover of professional sports. Modern day Sox fans have had to live with the etrenal shame of 1997's "White Flags Trade", in which the Sox traded two top starters and the #1 reliever for six Giant prospects with White Sox hovering just outside of first place by 3 1/2 games= ON JULY 31st . Every July 31st since I look @ the standings and think "What fans with their team only 3 1/2 out would get mad if the season was declared over on this day?" If the Sox were 3 1/2 out with four to play I would be trying to figure out how they can make it to first, not alone 60 games left. The rades of Freddy Garcia and Brandon McCarthy are starting to get the feel of that trades logic : Salary dumps for prospects that will come through in 3 years time.

So, with the Sox a 90 win team and seemingly needing a little tweaking, the management has started to reallt dismantle the championship team. Talk of that feared Championship Rotation is starting to turn to the rotation of the future, with such names as a Gavin and a Gio, a Matt and a Mike, and Sisco, Phillips, and Lance taking precedence over this year chances. Yes, we trust Williams. Yes, it may be a good time to look to the future without totally raking the team. But Sox fans, burned in 1997, do not want to look to the furure when we don't have to. We want trades and parades for this year: '09 is too far away in the context of this 90 win team. We don't want Minister of Information Williams insisting, like his basketball counterpart after the destruction of the SuperBulls in 1998, that everything is safe for Sox fans. We've been burned before, and don't want it again. We liked '05's '72 virgins in paradise', and would like to taste it again this year.