KHALIL & BELL TO THE WHITE SOX RUMOR

by Drama on Aug 15, 2007 2:20 PM PDT Comment 18 comments

The Khalil Greene & Heath Bell to the White Sox rumor was started by Nathaniel Whalen from the Daily Southtown. I shot him an email asking him to explain just what the hell he was talking about. He sent me an interesting response. I wanted to share it with you guys.

Here it is:

First off, I never said that this deal is going to happen. It was me speculating on what I think would be a good deal. I'm basing the Sox asking for Greene on the fact that they did, they need a shortstop and he's one of the best in baseball.

You're actually the third person to write me -- the first without asking what I was smoking -- about how crazy this deal was. I'll tell you what I told them.

I think Garland is a potential 20-game winner with better stuff than Young, who you have seen dominate in that uniform and park. I think he would be willing to sign a decreased contract because of his hometown California connections, and so I think you would eventually get a Cy Young candidate heading into the prime of his career to team up with Young and Peavy for the future. I do know that Greene is cheap, but I also know that you have a guy, Luis R. Figueroa, who's hitting the ball well down in Fresno and could probably fill in soon enough. Not to say he's of Greene's caliber, but I think he would fill in nicely with a 20-game winner and . . .

You guys are going to lose Cameron to free agency -- at least that's my guess -- and in gaining Brian Anderson, you get a defensive centerfielder who can cover about as much range as anyone I've seen in baseball.

Bell, I understand, is doing well for the Padres and could be a closer in the near future. However, having seen him play for the Mets, I'm not sure I would entrust him with the closer's role.

As far as the pitching prospects, I don't think they have to be top guys or anything like that. Maybe a Single-A pitcher or two.

I'm sorry that you find the trade so disagreeable, but, from where I'm sitting, it sends a 20-game winner and solid defensive outfielder in exchange for a good reliever, a great shortstop and so throw-in pitchers. I, personally, would rather have a great pitcher than a great shortstop -- and I think pretty much every GM in baseball would agree with that assessment.

Nathaniel Whalen
Staff writer
Daily Southtown

This FanPost was written by a member of the Gaslamp Ball community and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Gaslamp Ball managers or SB Nation.

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He is right

with his assessment. But you have to assume that 1) Garland is a 20-Game winner, which he is not and has shown no signs of being a 20-game winner. 2)Anderson is serviceable replacement, which he is not. He is a late innning defensive replacement at best. 3) Money had no play in the trade. GM's trade contracts more than they trade players.

The problem with the rumor, besides his assessment of his own talent, is he puts ZERO analysis into what the Padres Management value. KT, Alderson and Deposidato all look at k/BB, k/innings, whip, BAA - all of which Garland is in the average MLB sp range. Alderson also values CHEAP talent over anything else, and we have not had a history of signing other teams starting pitchers to long term contracts, which is the only way this deal gets done.

"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. " ~Frank Sinatra

by Sammy G on Aug 15, 2007 2:45 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

edit

WITHIN his assessment, not with his assessment.

"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. " ~Frank Sinatra

by Sammy G on Aug 15, 2007 2:45 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

On the money

Agree completely with what you said here.

The other thing he missed entirely on is Bell. His quick dismissal of Bell based on his time with the Mets is dumb. (Two yrs ago, he could've said the same thing about Young and Adrian re: their time in TX.) Based on what we've seen from Bell this yr and knowing that Trevor may only pitch for one more yr, Bell's value to the Pads is greatly enhanced.

by Winfield's Ghost on Aug 15, 2007 3:56 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Pisses me off.

When are these idiots going to give our pitchers the damn credit that they deserve. I will admit that Petco does indeed play a factor. Anyone can see that. Even though CY's road ERA is significantly higher than at home, .74 vs. 3.30, if he played strictly on the road he would still be in the top 10 in the NL. Take out the one bad outing at Chavez Latrine on #42 day it it's even better! Freaking idiots!!!

Sorry. Had to vent.

by jburtrum1 on Aug 15, 2007 2:46 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Ummmmm

Someone should tell him that Fresno is a Giants affiliate and not a Padres

by CurbEnthusiasm on Aug 15, 2007 3:36 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Like I said

Idiot!! Where the hell do they find these people. If you're going to write a story for a major news publication than do some research. Watch a game or two!!

by jburtrum1 on Aug 15, 2007 3:50 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

That was precisely

the first thing I noticed. I was like, "Fresno? Pretty sure we don't have a team there..."

And its laughable that Garland would be a 20 game winner and that hes potentially better than CY.

by Phantom on Aug 15, 2007 6:34 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

At the risk of sounding like a Garland lover

I don't think it's entirely laughable that he has the potential to be a 20-game winner. He's very recently posted 18 wins two years in a row (2005-2006). Granted, his ERA has never been below 3.50 nor his WHIP below 1.17, but he can (as Joe Morgan might retardedly put it) "win ballgames".

And, just for the record, I'll take CY over him any day of the week with or without a strained abdominal muscle. And I would never get rid of Greene.

"At the end, excitement maintained its hysteria." - Jerry Coleman

by TheGrandHatching on Aug 16, 2007 8:07 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Drama, send this guy the link to this thread

He might actually learn something about baseball.

Padres for life

by sdgaucho on Aug 15, 2007 4:18 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Another problem with his assessment

I think that he misses the value that a strong defense adds to pitchers. I would rank defense up there with park factors when it comes to how successful a pitcher is. Take Khalil away and replace him with a mediocre (at best) defensive shortstop, and all of our pitchers have higher ERAs and WHIPs. While this would not be definitive in the right situation, I think it would seriously detract from this deal when we're giving up a proven reliever with closer stuff and one of our best defensive players for an unproven "20 game winner" and okay defensive center fielder.

by Demoira on Aug 15, 2007 4:32 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Another great point

by Winfield's Ghost on Aug 15, 2007 5:44 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

If only she helped people save money on car insurance...then she'd be flawless.

by Drama on Aug 15, 2007 6:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

and another note

U.S. Celluar field is a pitcher park. So its not like Garland is going from a hitters haven to a pitchers park.

We also need to get her a pink wig.......

"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. " ~Frank Sinatra

by Sammy G on Aug 15, 2007 7:01 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

why is everyone so pissed

at this guy for talking about trade rumors.

by LJbumfool on Aug 16, 2007 12:24 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

mostly because he seems to be making them up

and, like other people have said, its a little insulting at this point for people to assume the padres are some cute little franchise so desperate to make friends with 'real' baseball teams that they'll trade away their best players for essentially nothing.

by goose1 on Aug 16, 2007 8:52 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

i didnt get that vibe

but those kinds of vibes do piss me off

by LJbumfool on Aug 16, 2007 6:00 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah we shouldn't be pissed

At someone who doesn't know what he's talking about. Luis Figueroa at Fresno? Nice, dude!! Do your freaking homework!

by Nick G on Aug 16, 2007 3:41 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Figueroa

This is exactly what was wrong with his article in the first place. He did ten minutes of research and wrote an article. Not only is Figueroa not a Padre, he also isn't a major leaguer. He's a career AAA guy with (at best) a .700 OPS in the hitter-friendly PCL. He would be a huge downgrade on Geoff Blum, let alone Khalil.

Also, Jon Garland is going to make $10mil next year, and trading for him on the assumption that he'd get better means taking on payroll that makes it harder to re-sign Peavy/Young, and also makes it harder to improve the offense. Trading Greene and replacing him with a career AAA guy makes the offense worse.

The problem with guys like this is that they only think about the teams they cover, and never about the needs/concerns of the other team. They don't consider the salary restrictions, team philosophies, etc., just that the other team should be happy to have their spare parts.

And yeah, Brian Anderson can play defense for the Padres. Unfortunately, he has a .255/.318/.435 line at AAA, which is just barely better than Yordany Ramirez's career minor league numbers, and Yordany is two years younger than Anderson.

"Winfield's head hits the wall! It's rolling toward second base!" - Jerry Coleman

by metalsupplier on Aug 17, 2007 10:12 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs