Saturday, August 3, 2002

Well, that's why they don't call him Todd Pitchie...

For tonight's entry, we travel way back in time to December 2001, when the following trade summary could be seen on your favorite baseball web site's Transactions page:



Chicago White Sox acquired RHP Todd Ritchie and C Lee Evans from the Pittsburgh Pirates for RHP Sean Lowe, RHP Kip Wells and RHP Josh Fogg.



These guys weren't the best or even the most popular players traded in the offseason, but — of the top of my head — this deal strikes me as the worst of the offseason. After his shelling tonight, here's what Ritchie's season stat line looks like:



WLIPSOWHIPERA
515131.0751.706.18




Yuck. The other player Chicago received was minor-league catcher Lee Evans, who has progressed from AA to AAA in the Sox’s system this season. Evans, however, has not contributed to the ballclub this year. How does Ritchie compare to the big-leaguers the Pirates fetched for him?







WLIPSOWHIPERA
Ritchie515131.0751.706.18

Fogg107131.2671.254.10

Wells109135.2951.353.45

Lowe4267.0551.665.10




Hmm. It sure looks like the Pirates cleaned Chicago’s clock on this deal. Before the 2001 season, White Sox GM Kenny Williams appeared to have pulled a fast one on Toronto when the Blue Jays discovered that Mike Sirotka — whom Williams had sent north of the border for Boomer Wells — was unable to pitch. While Wells was far from a success during his one-year tenure in the Windy City, Sirotka has yet to return to the majors.



Since the Sirotka-Wells deal, it seems every deal Kenny Williams makes eventually turns to rubbish. An anti-Midas in his field, Williams has traded away backfired free-agent signings (Kenny Lofton, Sandy Alomar, Jr.) and promising young talent (Fogg, Wells, Ray Durham) alike, and has almost nothing to show for it. Mark Buehrle, Paul Konerko and Magglio Ordoñez are the only things keeping the White Sox respectable, while Fogg and Wells have been bright spots in the Pittsburgh rotation. What really gooses me about the deal (gooses?) is that Williams actually mistook Ritchie for the type of player who could have helped the White Sox win. I mean, you don’t give up two young pitchers like Fogg and Wells unless you’re on the “win now” end of a vet-for-kids swap. I can think of no reason for Williams to make that trade unless he thought he was immediately helping the ballclub. If I haven’t made my opinion clear by now: Williams failed.



With Fogg and Wells coming into their own and Kris Benson’s return-to-form expected soon, along with Jimmy Anderson establishing himself as slightly better than the Pirates’ other options (not the highest compliment, but it's something), Pittsburgh fans should feel good about the relative stability in a rotation that hasn’t been anchored since Denny Neagle got his lottery ticket to Atlanta all those years ago.



Meanwhile, Chicago stinks. It isn’t fair to put all the blame for the failed 2002 campaign on Kenny Williams’ shoulders. The team’s young pitchers have been subpar, Keith Foulke hasn’t been very good and Lofton produced little after a hot start. But as the White Sox fall farther in the standings behind a team (Minnesota) with a much lower payroll, Kenny Williams needs to follow the leads of other recently-hired GMs Mark Shapiro and J.P Ricciardi. Otherwise, the White Sox will very soon be able to lay claim to one of the more dubious distinctions in sports: worst team in Chicago. I’m serious. I think they could really give the Bulls a run for their money in the next year or two. Hopefully, fans of the South Siders will find some consolation in the startup of NFL training camp.

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