Keep Dye, trade Anderson
There has been endless speculation this off-season that a White Sox outfielder is going to be traded.
Jermaine Dye, the 35-year-old right fielder, is the name that keeps coming up, but he’s staying put unless the Sox are out of contention when the July 31 trade deadline rolls around.
I didn’t hear anything concrete at SoxFest this weekend, but don’t be surprised if Brian Anderson is the one to go.
I’m thinking Anderson would welcome a change of scenery, because he’s currently third on the depth chart among White Sox center fielders behind Jerry Owens and Dewayne Wise.
Brent Lillibridge, who has been getting rave reviews since being acquired in a trade from Atlanta, can also play center.
For reasons I still don’t fully understand, Anderson has a hard-core fan base even though he pretty much flopped (.225) when he got a chance to play every day in 2006.
After spending most of 2007 at Class AAA Charlotte, Anderson stuck with the Sox last season but made just 39 starts while mainly serving as a late-inning defensive replacement.
When a player is blocked from getting on the field, GM Kenny Williams often looks for a trade. Anderson is clearly in that position.
Two days before SoxFest started, Williams pointed out Anderson’s skills. Maybe he’s hoping other teams read this quote:
“If Brian Anderson would have played every day last year, he would have hit about .275 and would have hit 25 home runs,” Williams said. “I don't think you can disagree with that.”
Anderson and Owens should go bye-bye give Lillibridge a shot fresh face maybe better results. Certainly a more accomplished base-stelling threat from a fundamentally sound organization.
Uh, Kenny....how exactly do you project a guy to hit .275 with 25 home runs if he played everyday when he hit .232 in the 181 at-bats he did get?
And you're insane if you think he would hit 25 homers in a full season. In a full season, Anderson would be facing right-handed pitchers 75% of the time. Anderson faced right-handers 101 times last year. Take a guess as to how many homers he hit..........Answer: ZERO.
Just stop Kenny. You hit grand slams with Danks, Quentin, and Ramirez. Anderson's a disaster. You missed on him. Huge. It's OK. Nobody is perfect.
He has a "cult following" because he is the best defensive OF in the Sox franchise and the fact that Ozzie/KW seem to think Owens and Wise would be better CF's is pretty terrible. I would take BA in a heartbeat over either of those 2.
Owens - no power, no OBP, ehh D, speed
Wise - miniscule power, no OBP, bad D, some speed
BA - decent power, no OBP, GG D, some speed
Ozzie needs to remove BA from his '06 "dog house" and give him another shot instead of force feeding the mythical "leadoff hitter" who can't hit or field.
They claim that it will be a competition in ST for CF. So when BA destroys in ST like he usually does, what are the odds he gets to start? Close to 0.
The only real argument you gave for trading Anderson is to satisfy him. There is little or no trade value for him. if you were a GM would you give very much for a good defensive, .230 to .240 hitter? didn't think so! sure, Dye has been terrific for the Sox, and you would expect more of the same in '09. but that's just the point, you have to offer something to get a good return on a trade. otherwise, what's the point? I do agree there are trades that can be made that are "addition by subtraction", such as the Swisher deal. but in Anderson's case, I don't feel Anderson would start for too many Major League teams and according to your blog that's what he wants.