The latest Beane deal:
| A steal for the A's (eventually). |  54 (33.96%) |
| White Sox win this one. | 15 (9.43%) |
| Beane is too in love with his own strategizing and cleverness. | 21 (13.21%) |
| What is Kenny Williams *doing*? | 42 (26.42%) |
| Meh. Don't care. A wash either way. | 27 (16.98%) |
159 votes | 5 featured comments
In case you missed it ... there is really good discussion about Beane and the deal going on in the thread linked in the poll question.
Me, I am in the minority that likes the White Sox in this one. I think Swisher is going to be a 35-homer guy for several years. Maybe the young pitchers work out for OAK, and in that case I'm just plain wrong. But as we hear so often, TINSTAAPP.
I do think the poll results reflect a general "get Billy and Kenny together in a room and something bad is going to happen to the White Sox" attitude. It may be true that Beane has outperformed Williams as a GM, um, "generally" speaking. But one of those guys has a ring and the other doesn't.
Aren't options 1 and 4 the same thing?
I've given my opinion already, but really I see this as a pretty even deal. I think the White Sox will be happy with Swisher, who is just a ridiculous bargain over the next 4 seasons and should be very productive. He will be an easy fan favorite and will help make the next two years more tolerable for a team that otherwise might have been battling the Royals for the basement.
That said, I think the A's could be very happy with this deal in the end too. They don't have a lot of young pitching, and if Beane catches lightning in a bottle (which it seems like he's trying to do), and one of the pitchers becomes another young ace, it will be a brilliant trade. And hey, when Gio is 27, Beane can flip him for more young players!
I've given my opinion already, but really I see this as a pretty even deal. I think the White Sox will be happy with Swisher, who is just a ridiculous bargain over the next 4 seasons and should be very productive. He will be an easy fan favorite and will help make the next two years more tolerable for a team that otherwise might have been battling the Royals for the basement.
That said, I think the A's could be very happy with this deal in the end too. They don't have a lot of young pitching, and if Beane catches lightning in a bottle (which it seems like he's trying to do), and one of the pitchers becomes another young ace, it will be a brilliant trade. And hey, when Gio is 27, Beane can flip him for more young players!
Aren't options 1 and 4 the same thing?
No. The value back and forth in this trade seems about fair, but Kenny Williams just resigned Jarmaine Dye. Also trading what slim farm they had for a win now approach makes zero sense for Chicago, since they're still going to be behind a surging KC, a strong and young Cleveland, and a ridiculous Detroit. This seems to be pretty much the worst possible time to be shedding prospects for a 27 year old player.
No. The value back and forth in this trade seems about fair, but Kenny Williams just resigned Jarmaine Dye. Also trading what slim farm they had for a win now approach makes zero sense for Chicago, since they're still going to be behind a surging KC, a strong and young Cleveland, and a ridiculous Detroit. This seems to be pretty much the worst possible time to be shedding prospects for a 27 year old player.
I agree with that, but even if the White Sox are awful for the next two years...in 2010 Swisher will still be in his prime and will still be under contract at a cheap salary. Maybe by then the Sox can be contenders again.
There is a theory that young players with "old player skills" age more quickly. Swisher's closest BBRef comp is Phil Plantier who peaked very early. However, the next one on his BBRef list, Bob Allison, lasted until his early 30s.
The deal does not really make sense to me from either perspective, although Oakland's side is somewhat more understandable. Chicago ought to be rebuilding, and Swisher is a poor choice to be rebuilding around. Oakland's medium term task is less daunting than the White Sox. The Angels do not look to me to be as tough competition as the AL Central, and so Swisher is actually a better fit for the A's than for the White Sox, in my view. Gio Gonzalez did take a step forward last year, and might absolutely blow away the league. If that happens, the A's win the trade. If he blows out his arm, the White Sox end up as a mediocre team in a very good division and the A's end up worse.
The deal does not really make sense to me from either perspective, although Oakland's side is somewhat more understandable. Chicago ought to be rebuilding, and Swisher is a poor choice to be rebuilding around. Oakland's medium term task is less daunting than the White Sox. The Angels do not look to me to be as tough competition as the AL Central, and so Swisher is actually a better fit for the A's than for the White Sox, in my view. Gio Gonzalez did take a step forward last year, and might absolutely blow away the league. If that happens, the A's win the trade. If he blows out his arm, the White Sox end up as a mediocre team in a very good division and the A's end up worse.