Wednesday, December 15, 2004

So long, El Caballo.

In a lamentable move, the White Sox moved outfielder Carlos Lee to Milwaukee for Scott Podsednik, some mediocre reliever, and a player to be named later. Doesn't seem like anyone noticed.

Yeah, it's a yawner. And unfortunately, it cost the Sox a pretty darn good hitter. Lee's career numbers (.288/.340/.488) won't overly impress you, but the man has been important to the White Sox (especially after Frank Thomas went down last year). I always knew Thomas-Ordonez-Lee-Konerko wouldn't last ... nice while it did, though.

Podsednik is coming off a pretty bad year in Milwaukee, so at least the Sox should expect some kind of a rebound in 2005. I'm assuming he'll leadoff in Chicago as he did with the Brewers, although I'm not sure I like him there. He'll be serviceable if he can bring his average up to around .280. He'll also swipe a ton of bags, which is both good and bad. It's good in that he's fast and takes them at a high percentage; it's bad in that Ozzie Guillen will be more inclined to do dumb things like bunt in the second inning with Podsednik on first or simply allow him complete reign on the basepaths.

For the first time in a while, the White Sox have some apparent holes in the lineup. Aaron Rowand had better keep hitting in 2005...

And Frank Thomas will be absolutely vital. Gotta get him healthy and keep him that way.

Too many ifs. But at least the White Sox saved some $$$ by dealing Carlos Lee.

And it's not like they gave Pedro Martinez $53 million or something.