White Sox trade McCarthy

forgot to link the article this came from:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/baseball/rangers/stories/122406dnsporangerstrade.39f a6227.html

The White Sox traded McCarthy to the Rangers for John Danks

some other prospects were involved with the White Sox making the better end of the deal on the minor prospects involved

but for the most part this has been a REALLY REALLY interesting offseason for the white sox, they've now dealt Garcia and McCarthy to leave the rotation with: Contreras, Buehrle, Vazquez, Garland, and Haeger

Buehrle is a FA at the end of the season and has expressed his desire to pitch for the Cardinals, his hometown team.

So they've gotten there surplus of 7 quality starting pitching options down to 5 and in the process re-stocked their farm system with some higher level pitching

the question becomes in a market starved for SP, could they have gotten more? Gio Gonzalez and John Danks are two of the top 25-30 pitching prospects in baseball but at the same time they essentially have dealt two-for-two with pitching unless a guy like Buccholtz turns it around

The key with this is the White Sox have shed salary committments with Garcia this season and then McCarthy further along in the arbitration period than Danks or Gonzalez so he gets control of them longer

Plus with Dye as an impending FA and Crede as well, it appears the White Sox are trying to make the transition on the fly into a rebuilding process

the question is did they close their window too early? or is it still open this season?

With the Indians and Twins loaded for what appears to be years to come and with the Tigers in a similar situation this off-season appeared to be a preemptive strike against the rebuilding process to catch up to those teams in the long term

i think it was a good strategy, unfortunately i'm not sure Williams took enough advantage in this market thats so starved for pitching

...anyway you slice it.

Do they really feel strong about Gavin Floyd or Charlie Haeger being able to step into the #5 slot? Or are they about to make a push for Barry Zito?

If I'm a Sox fan, Kenny Williams is burning up a lot of the currency he earned from 2005.

Just think of the howling in Cubdom if Hendry had made this deal...

but not necessarily a bad one.  If you look past the impact it will have on next years rotation (probably not that big of an impact anyway) and look at how the Sox are stockpiling talented young pitching it looks like they are trying to set themselves up for years to come.  It's a risky thing to try and do while you are also competing for your division but in a perfect world a team should be able to deal from a strength, keep it's payroll somewhat in check and still be able to contend.  If they played in a division other than the competetive A.L. Central it wouldn't look like a bad move at all.

That said, I'm sure they would have rather traded Garland or Vasquez but it makes you wonder.  Do they know something about McCarthy that they aren't telling?  Or maybe they think Haeger is the real deal?  Either way, I doubt McCarthy was going to be one of their two or three best starters next year and I'm guessing that Haeger can do an adequate job in the rotation, so barring an injury they shouldn't be a great deal weaker next year because of this.

After winning the WS, Kenny has made some bold moves.

I really like what he has done with his team.  If you look at their Minor League reviews, the talent was thin at best.  He has stocked the system with the some power arms.  IMHO, he is doing the smart thing in restocking on the fly.  Too many teams let things get out of hand before they begin a transition.  Even though he lost Garcia and McCarthy, the team that won in 05 is pretty much intact.

If Floyd, Gonzales, Danks and Masset come through, this team will be scary in a season or two......

...my perspective on this whole situation is this.........we didn't have anyone of equal value to trade......therefore this is an absolute zero in  Jim Hendry's off-season diary.  Why are we even talking about this as it means absolutely nothing to our organization.

So if we had traded Rich Hill or Sean Marshall would we have been any better of a team??????

McCarthy would have been an excellent pickup one or two years ago when he was a PROSPECT.  right now though, I would rather have a couple proven pitchers, rather than pitchers still trying to prove themselves..........and mark my words.....Marquis will give us more than 200 innings with an ERA near 4.15.........for a #4 or $5 starter I will take that 8 days a week.

The biggest problem on this site is that everyone seems to think that the roster needs to be filled with 25 future hall-of-famers.  Bottom line is that no team is filled entirely with all-stars.

is that this could have a domino effect. It could be a precursor to an A-Rod trade. The Yankees need a younger rotation and seem to be going in that direction. On the Rangers side, it appears that they're afraid that Zito is signing elsewhere.

It's obvious what Sox are doing and what Cubs are trying to do by stop-gapping with Lilly, Marquis while trying to restock the arms in minors.

with the ridiculous price of pitching--gasp when think what Z is gonna command from us or elsewhere--teams need to develop their own pitchers. At least 2 of them not tenured and high salaried in rotation is desirable...Sox will have this in '08 and Cubs may too if Prior doesn't work out.

It's absurd to pay $10 M for .500 pitchers but that's what you do when you don't have arms ready for major leagues.

I think Kenny Williams will be vindicated with most of these deals, Garcia is not a great pitcher...McCarthy we'll see, but they've got a lot in return to stock system.

Cubs have lotta question marks in system but after this year if they don't have to recall everyone like last they make be OK too...

I thought the Sox had more needs in the OF, so to focus only on pitchers in return seems strange but maybe W thinks at the very least he'll have more of what the market values right now?

I liked McCarthy, I thought that he was capable of much more than how the Sox used him, but perhaps the Sox see the highest rated guy they received as a potental No. 1 starter.  In deals like this I think you'd rather move a Beurhle for these guys because the salary gains are huge.

Williams is not afraid to take risks and I like that.

Right now they have the best pen.... I think that was their concern ..... also some of these arms are going for a Baldelli or some other Out fielder.... and maybe a short stop.... I think they are making some good gambles here.... pitching is strength.... but there must have been something about MacCarthy that wanted them to deal..... getting Baldelli would be great for them.... and I have heard Scott Anderson & and a young Pitcher for Scott Olsen LHP Marlins as a possible....