http://bleacherreport.com/articles/331708-why-the-white-sox-should-sign-jim-thome
Why the Chicago White Sox Should Sign Jim Thome
by 643 Sports http://bleacherreport.com/users/219218-643-Sports643 Sports
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<SMALL>Contributor</SMALL> Written on January 24, 2010
With Sox Fest in full swing, much of the baseball talk here in Chicago has been centered on the team playing on the South Side, with particular attention being paid to the designated hitter (DH) spot in the 2010 lineup.
Manager Ozzie Guillen has professed his want of a "DH by committee" for the Sox in 2010, with that committee comprised of Omar Vizquel, Andruw Jones, and Mark Kotsay.
General Manager Kenny Williams has stated that he will defer to Guillen on the decision, a sentiment which falls in line with how the GM of the White Sox has assembled his 2010 team to date.
Guillen has made it clear that the 2010 White Sox will be asked to perform in a way that the always-colorful manager has talked about for years: small ball.
Even in spring training, the manager of the White Sox has said that sacrifices, steal attempts, and hit-and-run plays will be instituted more so than any other year on the South Side.
Indeed, this is Ozzie's team, more so than it ever has been.
However, the decision on how to approach and fill the DH position for the 2010 White Sox is not one that should be taken lightly.
True, the AL Central is looking to have another down year, and with the Sox possessing possibly one of the best starting pitching rotations in the American League, a playoff run is just shy of inevitable for the White Sox.
This is not a reason, though, to weaken the lineup of the White Sox by passing up Jim Thome for the DH position.
As is, the 2010 Chicago White Sox will more than likely be hurting for power and, specifically, home runs.
Right now, a rotating DH with players like Jones (supposedly in great shape), Kotsay and Vizquel can reasonably produce anywhere from 15 to 25 home runs.
This unscientific figure is a littler lower than some might expect because while Andruw Jones has shown prodigious power at times (though not in the last two years), he will be splitting plate appearances in the DH spot with Mark Kotsay and Omar Vizquel, players who are decidedly not home run-hitters.
However, with Thome as the regular DH, the Sox can reasonable expect anywhere between 25 and 35 home runs, totals that can go a long way in helping a team that will almost certainly be lacking in that specific department.
But why the focus on home runs?
The answer to that is two-fold, but still simple.
1.) The White Sox play 81 games a season in U.S. Cellular Field, a paradise for home-run hitters, as it has been in the top-five of all MLB parks in HR-factor since 2005. It would not be wise to arbitrarily move away from trying to hit home runs, especially since at least half of all White Sox games are played in a park friendly to the long ball.
2.) The White Sox win when they hit home runs. In 2005 (the World Series year), the Sox were fourth in the American League with 200 home runs. When they won 90 games in 2006, the Sox lead the AL in home runs with 236. And in 2008 when they made the playoffs, the White Sox were again first in the AL with 235 HR's.
Of course, there were other contributing factors to those recent winning seasons (pitching is one of the biggest), but the ability to hit home runs and play to the style dictated by their home ballpark certainly helped the Sox in each of the aforementioned seasons.
The current White Sox roster though, does not project to hit nearly that many home runs in 2010 (more on the order of 130 to 160 HR's), and to not sign Thome would be to foolishly cut out a significant number of home runs. And it would be especially foolish to cut that power production from a spot in the lineup (the designated hitter) that allows for a power-hitter to be played regularly without much care as to his defensive abilities.
Jim Thome also brings something else to the table for the White Sox, something that none of the current DH prospects have in plenty: the ability to get on base.
Thome had an on-base percentage of .372 with the White Sox last season, the highest on the team by far.
And over the last two seasons, Thome's OBP of .364 is higher than the career averages of each of the three current DH candidates by wide margins in each case.
Thome has shown that he can get on-base at an above-average rate while at the same time hitting for power, usually manifested in the form of home runs.
Now, the fact that the White Sox are in such a position that a 39 year old power-hitter is the best foreseeable option for the DH slot is disheartening, to be sure.
However, seeing that Thome is significantly better in two of the most important categories for a DH (on-base ability and the ability to hit for power, specifically home runs) than the current option set forth by the Sox, and given the friendliness of U.S. Cellular Field to home runs along with the anemic home run total the 2010 team projects to have, the White Sox need to swing for the fences and sign Thome.
-Jonathan Platek
Why the Chicago White Sox Should Sign Jim Thome
by 643 Sports http://bleacherreport.com/users/219218-643-Sports643 SportsView Profile
<SMALL>Contributor</SMALL> Written on January 24, 2010
With Sox Fest in full swing, much of the baseball talk here in Chicago has been centered on the team playing on the South Side, with particular attention being paid to the designated hitter (DH) spot in the 2010 lineup.
Manager Ozzie Guillen has professed his want of a "DH by committee" for the Sox in 2010, with that committee comprised of Omar Vizquel, Andruw Jones, and Mark Kotsay.
General Manager Kenny Williams has stated that he will defer to Guillen on the decision, a sentiment which falls in line with how the GM of the White Sox has assembled his 2010 team to date.
Guillen has made it clear that the 2010 White Sox will be asked to perform in a way that the always-colorful manager has talked about for years: small ball.
Even in spring training, the manager of the White Sox has said that sacrifices, steal attempts, and hit-and-run plays will be instituted more so than any other year on the South Side.
Indeed, this is Ozzie's team, more so than it ever has been.
However, the decision on how to approach and fill the DH position for the 2010 White Sox is not one that should be taken lightly.
True, the AL Central is looking to have another down year, and with the Sox possessing possibly one of the best starting pitching rotations in the American League, a playoff run is just shy of inevitable for the White Sox.
This is not a reason, though, to weaken the lineup of the White Sox by passing up Jim Thome for the DH position.
As is, the 2010 Chicago White Sox will more than likely be hurting for power and, specifically, home runs.
Right now, a rotating DH with players like Jones (supposedly in great shape), Kotsay and Vizquel can reasonably produce anywhere from 15 to 25 home runs.
This unscientific figure is a littler lower than some might expect because while Andruw Jones has shown prodigious power at times (though not in the last two years), he will be splitting plate appearances in the DH spot with Mark Kotsay and Omar Vizquel, players who are decidedly not home run-hitters.
However, with Thome as the regular DH, the Sox can reasonable expect anywhere between 25 and 35 home runs, totals that can go a long way in helping a team that will almost certainly be lacking in that specific department.
But why the focus on home runs?
The answer to that is two-fold, but still simple.
1.) The White Sox play 81 games a season in U.S. Cellular Field, a paradise for home-run hitters, as it has been in the top-five of all MLB parks in HR-factor since 2005. It would not be wise to arbitrarily move away from trying to hit home runs, especially since at least half of all White Sox games are played in a park friendly to the long ball.
2.) The White Sox win when they hit home runs. In 2005 (the World Series year), the Sox were fourth in the American League with 200 home runs. When they won 90 games in 2006, the Sox lead the AL in home runs with 236. And in 2008 when they made the playoffs, the White Sox were again first in the AL with 235 HR's.
Of course, there were other contributing factors to those recent winning seasons (pitching is one of the biggest), but the ability to hit home runs and play to the style dictated by their home ballpark certainly helped the Sox in each of the aforementioned seasons.
The current White Sox roster though, does not project to hit nearly that many home runs in 2010 (more on the order of 130 to 160 HR's), and to not sign Thome would be to foolishly cut out a significant number of home runs. And it would be especially foolish to cut that power production from a spot in the lineup (the designated hitter) that allows for a power-hitter to be played regularly without much care as to his defensive abilities.
Jim Thome also brings something else to the table for the White Sox, something that none of the current DH prospects have in plenty: the ability to get on base.
Thome had an on-base percentage of .372 with the White Sox last season, the highest on the team by far.
And over the last two seasons, Thome's OBP of .364 is higher than the career averages of each of the three current DH candidates by wide margins in each case.
Thome has shown that he can get on-base at an above-average rate while at the same time hitting for power, usually manifested in the form of home runs.
Now, the fact that the White Sox are in such a position that a 39 year old power-hitter is the best foreseeable option for the DH slot is disheartening, to be sure.
However, seeing that Thome is significantly better in two of the most important categories for a DH (on-base ability and the ability to hit for power, specifically home runs) than the current option set forth by the Sox, and given the friendliness of U.S. Cellular Field to home runs along with the anemic home run total the 2010 team projects to have, the White Sox need to swing for the fences and sign Thome.
-Jonathan Platek
