Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Let’s talk baseball.
So Jim Thome’s a South Sider now. Huh. The sox gave up Aaron Rowand and two top pitching prospects to get Thome, who’s coming off his worst season, a season cut short by elbow surgery.
This isn’t to say that the White Sox were nuts to go after Thome. The guy’s good for 40 dingers and 100+ walks a year, and he’s one of the nicest guys in baseball. But the White Sox were nuts for going after him so early. There were not many teams that were even interested in taking on that contract, and the Sox surely could have cut a better deal had they waited a little bit longer and sweated the Phillies out a little bit. On the other hand, this makes Frank Thomas completely expendable, and provides insurance in case they don’t re-sign Paul Konerko. But come on, are they really going to keep Thome and Konerko? Paulie’s as good as gone for Anaheim.
As far as trades go, this is not one of Ken Williams’ best, falling somewhere at or below the trade with Pittsburgh that netted Todd Ritchie but cost them Josh Fogg and Kip Wells. Still, it’s more than the Cubs have done. Juan Pierre is a nice addition and all, but it’s hardly enough.
