Um, I know that Garland is a little overrated because his shiny stats are the "intangible" ones that dumb sportswriters and media types drool over (stuff like wins and being "playoff-tested"), but I didn't think that GMs were this smart. Considering the sort of contracts that guys like Ted Lilly, Jeff Suppan, and Gil Meche signed last offseason (all guys who don't have the youth, health, and track record that Garland have), it's a little tough to swallow that there wasn't a better deal available for the oh-so-coveted Starting Pitching.
That's not to say that the OC is terrible, because he isn't. He's an upgrade to Uribe's historically bad hacktastic-ness, although that's not saying a lot. He'll play good defense, he won't strike out too much, and he'll steal bases and play that grinder brand of baseball that made Darin Erstad and the White Sox promotions staff so rich. And he's 33 years old. Garland is 28.
The good thing is that both of them are in the last years of their contract, which means the Sox would have had to sign Garland to a long-term contract in his big-money years, which nobody really wanted to do, even if he did kind of earn it. Is he the guy you want to spend $13mm per? On the other hand, the OC costs only a $9 mm commitment for this year only. Which is a great move for a team that's trying to win right now, but not so great for a team like the Sox that has a lot of holes. The Sox are still the 4th best team in the division after this move. At best, I think adding OC and subtracting Garland is break-even, maybe less if Uribe ends up playing a lot of second base this year. The verdict ultimately depends on Kenny spends all the savings. Here's a hint: no Torii Hunter, although the Sun-Times is saying otherwise.I'm not overly excited about it, because I don't think either of these guys is money well-spent, but there aren't really any better players out there (the Sox are not creative enough to get Miguel Cabrera). I think whether we can get a decent leadoff guy and the performance of Floyd and Danks will have more to do with success than Hunter or Cabrera. Yah, just to remind everybody, WE STILL HAVE JOSE CONTRERAS. Kenny's sure hit gold with all of those re-signings from the 2005 championship team.
Jill: #7 - "Heartbeats" Jose Gonzales (2:45)
#8 - "Fake Empire" The National (3:27)
#9 - "Is There a Ghost" Band of Horses (3:02)
#10 - "Summer in the City" Regina Spektor (3:50)
(I didn't forget 3-6, I just hid them somewhere else.)
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