Comments on: Kenny Williams: Good GM?

By: Marco

Marco — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:08:15 +0000

I can only speak for media in Chicago — and he’s rated one of the best GMs in the history of any sports team. I say among baseball, he’s probably rated top 10 because of his longevity and because he has a ring.

I think he’s had a lot of luck in his career, but he’s pulled off some nice deals. The last two deals just stick out to me as horrible, horrible trades, and it’s handcuffing the team.

By: Monty

Monty — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:40:31 +0000

Marco you say KW is overrated. I ask you, where do you think he is rated by the media, baseball people, etc, and then, where you personally rank him. Some things to keep in mind. His era (2000-current), he has only 2 teams under .500, 3 teams with 90 or more wins, 6 times the White Sox have finished in first or second in the division with a WS. Not saying he’s the best, but he keeps his teams competitive, and that says more than alot of other GMs around baseball.

By: mradenkovich

mradenkovich — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:39:54 +0000

Not only is Teahen not the answer, he might not be as good as Fields in 2010. Same defense, while Fields offers more power. Fields is under Sox control at $350K while Teahen makes 14.2 times as much… that’s the issue I have with the deal.

I know Fields and Getz are average at best, but so is Teahen.

As for the history of KW, he’s done well in the past. But Flowers, Danks, Peavy were hardly guys that weren’t wanted. Floyd, Jenks essentially were, but have those guys reached their ceilings.

The other side of town is different. Sure, Soriano had a bad contract, but nobody predicted this kind of downfall. Who else is overpaid that’s “average” — Miles is overpaid, and Gregg is overpaid. If the Cubs bring in Luis Castillo, then it’s like a Mark Teahen trade.

By: Chris Cwik

Chris Cwik — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:17:09 +0000

While Teahen is not the answer at 3rd, Getz and Fields were average at best. Rios hasn’t been worth anything thus far, but I bet he turns it around. If he can up his line drive rate, which he did in 2007, he is going to have a nice season for the Sox. Don’t forget that Williams has a history of taking guys that no one else wants and turning them around.

He traded Brandon McCarthy for John Danks.
Traded Freddy Garcia for Gavin Floyd.
Got Alexei Ramirez for essentially nothing.
Acquired highly touted catching prospect Tyler Flowers.
Picked up Bobby Jenks for nothing.
Traded Aaron Poreda (a guy with upside, but only one pitch) and Clayton Richard (3rd starter upside) for Jake Peavy.
Signed Jim Thome and Jermaine Dye and got productive seasons out of both of them.

The thing is, Williams’ moves are often highly criticized by the stat-head community, but at the same time, they acknowledge that he goes after undervalued guys. I was really hard on Williams two seasons ago, and the team actually went to the playoffs.

If we want to talk about teams spending money on average players, let’s take a look across town.