Nothing in the way of critical news to report here, but just some things to catch up on:
1. According to a report from Bob Dutton of the KC Star, Mark Teahan did in arrive with $1 million, which makes me feel pretty smart with my little calculator, and my pocket protector, and my abacus, and my Poindexter playing the violin in one of those "Revenge of the Nerds" movies. Awesome. The more I think about this trade and its implications to our defensive positioning, the more I like it. I think that Gordon Beckham being at second is going to improve Alexei Ramirez as a shortstop. Double plays are going to develop more quickly coming from Bacon, and Alexei's going to have to properly position himself to roll up the tail end of those plays. The ball will be coming, quickly and accurately, to the bag. No more of the "40 feet from the bag in double play scenarios" positioning. Alexei won't be able to get away with that as much, in theory. We'll see if I'm right about this.
2. According to Tim Kurkjian, both the White Sox AND the Cubs could be in on the Chone Figgins sweepstakes. Personally, I feel like Tom Ricketts might be a bit financially tied up as far as his team is concerned, thanks to Jim Hendry's abhorrent use of the franchise's coffers over the last few years. At this point, I am pretty sure that he'd be a stretch for the Sox as well. I like Chone Figgins, but I don't like him at all for around $12M per year for four years... Oh, and the Orioles are also contenders for Figgins, apparently. Wake me up when Earl Weaver is managing the Orioles again.
Managers used to be managers. Now they're all... math professors.
3. Also, the Cubs will have to go a few ways this offseason, according to Kurkjian:
"The first point of business will be trading volatile outfielder Milton Bradley, but they likely won't be able to do that without picking up most of the two years, $20 million left on his contract. Then they have to sign, find or trade for a dominant personality for that clubhouse -- they haven't replaced the leadership they lost with the departures of Mark DeRosa and Kerry Wood last offseason. And, with the way their offense fell off last year, they have to find a big bat for the middle of the order, someone even bigger than Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez, and someone much, much better than Alfonso Soriano."
4. According to MLB Trade Rumors, the White Sox would be a good fit for a short-term deal with Vladimir Guerrero. I'm not sure how I'd feel about this. Just for shits and giggles, I ran a comparison of three hypothetical solutions for the White Sox at DH for next year: Vlad, Dye, and Thome. The results can be found here.
All three players are clearly on the downslope of their respective careers. This makes sense, because they're all pretty old. I still think think Dye makes the most sense. Thome walks a lot, but he also strikes out at a fair clip. Vlad doesn't strike out as much, but he also doesn't take as many walks. Dye seems like the middle ground to me.
Showing posts with label Jim Thome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jim Thome. Show all posts
Monday, November 9, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Teabaggin' & Hypothetical JD
Rumor mills have Sox swapping Getz and Fields for KC utility guru Teahen: more to follow?
According to multiple sources, the White Sox are in the process of acquiring Kansas City Royals jack of all trades Mark Teahen for second baseman Chris Getz and "third baseman" Josh Fields. The deal was announced as complete all throughout the day on Chicago's WSCR-670, but as of yet has not been officially confirmed. What's the holdup?
According to the Sun-Times White Sox beat reporter Joe Cowley: "There were still talks about the possibility of minor-league prospects being involved."
The notorious/exhalted/all-powerful Brian Kovar of STATS weighed in with his professional opinion. He felt the White Sox may have given up too much for Teahen. Could the Sox be getting back a prospect or two in return for giving up two of their own younger players? Don't get me wrong here, I never for one second felt that Getz and/or Fields were the building blocks of a championship contending team... but they certainly have the potential to be serviceable. Fields could make a decent/replacement level first baseman with good enough pop at the plate, and Getz showed that at times he could actually hold his own at the top of our lineup this year. The fielding needs work for both of them, but on the whole they weren't bad players. They weren't exactly good players, however, and that must have been enough in Kenny's mind to send them packing. That's life, I suppose. And that's certainly baseball.
According to most sources, Teahen is slated to start next year in right field. My "bullshit meter" is just blaring. Last year, Teahen hit 12 home runs. Dye- he of the incredible and all-encompassing second half slump- hit 27 of them last year. That's well over double the power output that Teahen provided for his club, and Jermaine had a historically bad campaign from July onward. Where in the presently anemic lineup do the Sox get those 15 home runs back? You certainly can't lean on Carlos Quentin (he might break). Kenny Williams is well aware that his ball club is a home run hitting team, in a home run hitting ballpark.
Here's what I see:
I think Kenny is going to go after Chone Figgins first and foremost, and be quickly outbid by someone else. Plan B?
How's this for a possible scenario: Sox management guilt trips the living hell out of Dye for his shoddy performance (the public has been since the first week of July), and ink him to a short-term "hometown" deal. It really makes sense: he wants to stay here, his family is rooted here, and we've clearly put up with off years before (cough Paulie cough). He's a solid presence on the team, he's a respected leader, and he was a keystone to our winning the Series in '05. Plus, he wanted to choke out Orlando Cabrera last year, which clearly shows sound judgment on Jermaine's part.
All this aside, Dye's second half performance certainly couldn't have earned him much in the way of leverage in the free agent market. Jermaine Dye is getting old, and commanding very little. His mobility in the field is decreasing, and his bat is (now, thanks to last year) suspect. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but this is exactly why I believe he is primed to be the White Sox designated hitter. They're going to let him test free agency, and when he can't land a deal even remotely close to what his option with the Sox would have been ($12M), he's going to come back. In a way, you can argue that the 2009 slump of Jermaine Dye could be a very good thing for the 2010 club.
Remember when Kenny dicked around with Buerhle when contract time came around a couple of years back? Yeah, me too. And that was a "pride of the franchise" type of guy Kenny was playing slap 'n tickle with.
Let's be honest: even if Jermaine sucks beyond belief next year, he should be capable of doubling up, power wise, on the "replacement level" of outfielder which Kenny Williams has set for his 2010 club (Mark Teahen and/or Mark Kotsay). I'd like to see Figgins at the top of our order, but I've steadily become more and more convinced that it's not going to happen... especially now that the Yankees just won it all. Nancy, fire up the pipes. Figgins is gone.
I think Dye's coming back.
Let's say this happens just as I'm saying. If they resign Dye, where does Teahen go? #4 outfielder? I don't think so. He could well be the new third baseman. Teahen played 107 games there last year, and has played the bulk of his career at third (363 at third, 261 in right). The sudden Getz absence opens things up a bit for the Sox: Alexei could shift over to second, where he will have a much harder time screwing up routine outs. He clearly had focus problems last year, which is not something you can afford from your shortstop. I also like the idea of Alexei's offensive numbers coming out of the 2B position. Bacon could then scoot over to short, which is his natural position.
Let's say Figgins falls through, AND someone else inks Dye... I think that then, and only then, Jim Thome gets called back to play. Teahen takes over in right/third, depending on possible moves.
So, in short, Teahen is insurance against losing an actual starting right fielder, and he could actually be our new third baseman. Here's wishful thinking: Teahen's defensive range factor numbers line up comparably at this stage in his career to Joe Crede's range factor numbers, circa 2004. This might be the last sentence I will ever type, for the thundergod Rowand may strike me down with a bolt of lightning from the heavens at any second.
...
I'm still here. Phew. Clearly, the god of XTREME OUTFIELDING has little time to meddle in the affairs of a peon such as myself. Thank you, oh merciful one. You are the Grindiest of Grindy. He was probably too busy skydiving on the back of a tiger and pounding enough Red Bull to kill six men twice over.
You selfish heathen. Don't you realize? That is Aaron Rowand's sacrifice for YOU: XTREME MARTYRDOM- HE HAS CAST HIMSELF INTO THE DEPTHS OF XTREME AWESOMENESS TO MAKE UP FOR YOUR DULL, MUNDANE EXISTENCE!
DOUBLE U DOUBLE U DOUBLE U DOT REMETEE DOT COM ON A LIGHTNING BOLT
LAZERS AND BMX FLIPS
DRAG RACING AND PYROTECHNICS
Anyway, to close my original point, Mark Teahen was also the #39 pick in the 2002 draft, so he obviously had the pedigree to stand out to the talent scouts. Maybe the Kansas City coaching staff could only get through to him to a point? Some quality time with Joey Cora should improve him... and even if he is a slight downgrade from Beckham at third, he'll still be an upgrade from Fields at third.
-=-=-
Terry Boers, whose baseball knowledge I greatly respect, is steadfastly maintaining that Tampa is a team who is in need of a closer. Namely, Bobby Jenks. Tampa is also a team that has Carl Crawford. I would honestly donate my testicles if it meant that the Sox could have a shot at acquiring Carl Crawford. Now THERE'S a top of the order guy for all you Scott Podsednik apologists to watch. See how he doesn't get picked off? See how he can actually track a ball when he's in the field? Revolutionary!
Speaking of Podsednik, Cowley says "There were initial talks with Scott Podsednik to re-sign with the club, but that might have been nothing more than a PR move by the club, allowing them to stall and find out the asking price for Figgins in just over two weeks." Talk to him all day, but I beg of you, do not sign him. Last year was a mirage, and I hope to God that Kenny wasn't fooled... we'll see who was. I bet the Nationals sign him.
-=-=-
Aside from the hypothetical, more reality: the Sox re-signed Mark Kotsay. 1 year, $1.5 million. For a backup outfielder and a backup for Paulie, I like it. I'd rather have Mark Kotsay as my #4 outfielder as opposed to DeWayne Wise or Brian Anderson. Although, I still pine for Anderson's glove. If he could just have learned to bat .260... sigh.
It's when you're pining for Brian Anderson that you know your post has gone too far. Good night.
According to multiple sources, the White Sox are in the process of acquiring Kansas City Royals jack of all trades Mark Teahen for second baseman Chris Getz and "third baseman" Josh Fields. The deal was announced as complete all throughout the day on Chicago's WSCR-670, but as of yet has not been officially confirmed. What's the holdup?
According to the Sun-Times White Sox beat reporter Joe Cowley: "There were still talks about the possibility of minor-league prospects being involved."
The notorious/exhalted/all-powerful Brian Kovar of STATS weighed in with his professional opinion. He felt the White Sox may have given up too much for Teahen. Could the Sox be getting back a prospect or two in return for giving up two of their own younger players? Don't get me wrong here, I never for one second felt that Getz and/or Fields were the building blocks of a championship contending team... but they certainly have the potential to be serviceable. Fields could make a decent/replacement level first baseman with good enough pop at the plate, and Getz showed that at times he could actually hold his own at the top of our lineup this year. The fielding needs work for both of them, but on the whole they weren't bad players. They weren't exactly good players, however, and that must have been enough in Kenny's mind to send them packing. That's life, I suppose. And that's certainly baseball.
According to most sources, Teahen is slated to start next year in right field. My "bullshit meter" is just blaring. Last year, Teahen hit 12 home runs. Dye- he of the incredible and all-encompassing second half slump- hit 27 of them last year. That's well over double the power output that Teahen provided for his club, and Jermaine had a historically bad campaign from July onward. Where in the presently anemic lineup do the Sox get those 15 home runs back? You certainly can't lean on Carlos Quentin (he might break). Kenny Williams is well aware that his ball club is a home run hitting team, in a home run hitting ballpark.
Here's what I see:
I think Kenny is going to go after Chone Figgins first and foremost, and be quickly outbid by someone else. Plan B?
How's this for a possible scenario: Sox management guilt trips the living hell out of Dye for his shoddy performance (the public has been since the first week of July), and ink him to a short-term "hometown" deal. It really makes sense: he wants to stay here, his family is rooted here, and we've clearly put up with off years before (cough Paulie cough). He's a solid presence on the team, he's a respected leader, and he was a keystone to our winning the Series in '05. Plus, he wanted to choke out Orlando Cabrera last year, which clearly shows sound judgment on Jermaine's part.
All this aside, Dye's second half performance certainly couldn't have earned him much in the way of leverage in the free agent market. Jermaine Dye is getting old, and commanding very little. His mobility in the field is decreasing, and his bat is (now, thanks to last year) suspect. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but this is exactly why I believe he is primed to be the White Sox designated hitter. They're going to let him test free agency, and when he can't land a deal even remotely close to what his option with the Sox would have been ($12M), he's going to come back. In a way, you can argue that the 2009 slump of Jermaine Dye could be a very good thing for the 2010 club.
Remember when Kenny dicked around with Buerhle when contract time came around a couple of years back? Yeah, me too. And that was a "pride of the franchise" type of guy Kenny was playing slap 'n tickle with.
Let's be honest: even if Jermaine sucks beyond belief next year, he should be capable of doubling up, power wise, on the "replacement level" of outfielder which Kenny Williams has set for his 2010 club (Mark Teahen and/or Mark Kotsay). I'd like to see Figgins at the top of our order, but I've steadily become more and more convinced that it's not going to happen... especially now that the Yankees just won it all. Nancy, fire up the pipes. Figgins is gone.
I think Dye's coming back.
Let's say this happens just as I'm saying. If they resign Dye, where does Teahen go? #4 outfielder? I don't think so. He could well be the new third baseman. Teahen played 107 games there last year, and has played the bulk of his career at third (363 at third, 261 in right). The sudden Getz absence opens things up a bit for the Sox: Alexei could shift over to second, where he will have a much harder time screwing up routine outs. He clearly had focus problems last year, which is not something you can afford from your shortstop. I also like the idea of Alexei's offensive numbers coming out of the 2B position. Bacon could then scoot over to short, which is his natural position.
Let's say Figgins falls through, AND someone else inks Dye... I think that then, and only then, Jim Thome gets called back to play. Teahen takes over in right/third, depending on possible moves.
So, in short, Teahen is insurance against losing an actual starting right fielder, and he could actually be our new third baseman. Here's wishful thinking: Teahen's defensive range factor numbers line up comparably at this stage in his career to Joe Crede's range factor numbers, circa 2004. This might be the last sentence I will ever type, for the thundergod Rowand may strike me down with a bolt of lightning from the heavens at any second.
...I'm still here. Phew. Clearly, the god of XTREME OUTFIELDING has little time to meddle in the affairs of a peon such as myself. Thank you, oh merciful one. You are the Grindiest of Grindy. He was probably too busy skydiving on the back of a tiger and pounding enough Red Bull to kill six men twice over.
You selfish heathen. Don't you realize? That is Aaron Rowand's sacrifice for YOU: XTREME MARTYRDOM- HE HAS CAST HIMSELF INTO THE DEPTHS OF XTREME AWESOMENESS TO MAKE UP FOR YOUR DULL, MUNDANE EXISTENCE!
DOUBLE U DOUBLE U DOUBLE U DOT REMETEE DOT COM ON A LIGHTNING BOLT
LAZERS AND BMX FLIPS
DRAG RACING AND PYROTECHNICS
Anyway, to close my original point, Mark Teahen was also the #39 pick in the 2002 draft, so he obviously had the pedigree to stand out to the talent scouts. Maybe the Kansas City coaching staff could only get through to him to a point? Some quality time with Joey Cora should improve him... and even if he is a slight downgrade from Beckham at third, he'll still be an upgrade from Fields at third.
-=-=-
Terry Boers, whose baseball knowledge I greatly respect, is steadfastly maintaining that Tampa is a team who is in need of a closer. Namely, Bobby Jenks. Tampa is also a team that has Carl Crawford. I would honestly donate my testicles if it meant that the Sox could have a shot at acquiring Carl Crawford. Now THERE'S a top of the order guy for all you Scott Podsednik apologists to watch. See how he doesn't get picked off? See how he can actually track a ball when he's in the field? Revolutionary!
Speaking of Podsednik, Cowley says "There were initial talks with Scott Podsednik to re-sign with the club, but that might have been nothing more than a PR move by the club, allowing them to stall and find out the asking price for Figgins in just over two weeks." Talk to him all day, but I beg of you, do not sign him. Last year was a mirage, and I hope to God that Kenny wasn't fooled... we'll see who was. I bet the Nationals sign him.
-=-=-
Aside from the hypothetical, more reality: the Sox re-signed Mark Kotsay. 1 year, $1.5 million. For a backup outfielder and a backup for Paulie, I like it. I'd rather have Mark Kotsay as my #4 outfielder as opposed to DeWayne Wise or Brian Anderson. Although, I still pine for Anderson's glove. If he could just have learned to bat .260... sigh.
It's when you're pining for Brian Anderson that you know your post has gone too far. Good night.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
BACON!
It's been quite some time since I dropped a post here, like a turd into a punch bowl at a soiree, but I heard something here that's worth mentioning:
The Sporting News has announced that White Sox Gordon Beckham as their winner for the 2009 American League Rookie of the Year, according to Scott Merkin of MLB.com.
Beckham's splits, for a rookie, are impressive: .270 batting average, 65 runs batted in, 41 walks, an .808 on base + slugging percentage, 28 doubles, and 14 home runs - all in 108 games and 378 plate appearances.
By contrast, take those numbers with Evan Longoria's from the year before: .272 batting average, 85 runs batted in, 46 walks, .874 on base + slugging percentage, 31 doubles, and 27 homers. However, Longoria played in 122 games and had 508 plate appearances.
Let's take these two head-to-head and break the statistics down, shall we?
Beckham '09 RBI/PA - .171
Longoria '08 RBI/PA - .167
Beckham '09 BB/PA - .108
Longoria '08 BB/PA - .09
Beckham '09 2B/PA - .074
Longoria '08 2B/PA - .061
Beckham '09 HR/PA - .037
Longoria '08 HR/PA - .053
I think, on the whole, you can make an argument that Gordon Beckham in 2009 had a better rookie year at the plate than the much-touted, Peter Gammons chubbie-backed Longoria did in 2008. The statistics back me up for the most part: Beckham's never going to be a home run hitter, but you can see that he's a doubles machine and takes more walks than Longoria. I love guys who take walks.
Another aspect of this debate which is a critical point: look at the surrounding cast for each player in their respective Rookie of the Year campaigns. TheDevil Rays went to the World Series in 2008, and had BJ Upton and Carl Crawford in front of Longoria. The 2009 White Sox finished up 79-83 on the year, and had Scott Podsednik in front of Beckham.
I ran a graph comparison between the two on FanGraphs, and the results look pretty nice.
And, on top of that, Bacon has the best walk up music in all of the Major Leagues. This is not open for debate:
So, let's not go out and have a Soto-esque sophomore campaign, Bacon. I don't wanna lose your love tonight. Congrats!
-=-=-
Other points of note which I should cover while I'm busy typing:
-=-=-
I had been hoping for an All-LA Series this year, so that the plot to "Colors" could possibly unfold before our very eyes, and possibly force Sean Penn and Robert DuVall into a squad car together to play good cop / bad cop amongst the chaos which would surely ensue.
"But you're just like them, Pac-Man. Nothin' but a gangster."
Anyway, it's looking more like Philly/Yankees, which actually should be a pretty good series. There's a bunch of great players on both those squads- not that there aren't on the LA ones- but it would be cool to see Mo Rivera close out another World Series game perhaps. Or watch Hamels chump A-Rod with that unholy changeup of his. I like the dramatic angle of Pedro starting against the Yankees again. And bad things could happen to Shane Victorino! We'll see. The Divisional Series were piss poor, and these Championship Series have been pretty nice.
I was also hoping that Thome could get his Series ring. That's not looking too good at this point. Come home, Slugger Jim!
The Sporting News has announced that White Sox Gordon Beckham as their winner for the 2009 American League Rookie of the Year, according to Scott Merkin of MLB.com.
Beckham's splits, for a rookie, are impressive: .270 batting average, 65 runs batted in, 41 walks, an .808 on base + slugging percentage, 28 doubles, and 14 home runs - all in 108 games and 378 plate appearances.
By contrast, take those numbers with Evan Longoria's from the year before: .272 batting average, 85 runs batted in, 46 walks, .874 on base + slugging percentage, 31 doubles, and 27 homers. However, Longoria played in 122 games and had 508 plate appearances.
Let's take these two head-to-head and break the statistics down, shall we?
Beckham '09 RBI/PA - .171
Longoria '08 RBI/PA - .167
Beckham '09 BB/PA - .108
Longoria '08 BB/PA - .09
Beckham '09 2B/PA - .074
Longoria '08 2B/PA - .061
Beckham '09 HR/PA - .037
Longoria '08 HR/PA - .053
I think, on the whole, you can make an argument that Gordon Beckham in 2009 had a better rookie year at the plate than the much-touted, Peter Gammons chubbie-backed Longoria did in 2008. The statistics back me up for the most part: Beckham's never going to be a home run hitter, but you can see that he's a doubles machine and takes more walks than Longoria. I love guys who take walks.
Another aspect of this debate which is a critical point: look at the surrounding cast for each player in their respective Rookie of the Year campaigns. The
I ran a graph comparison between the two on FanGraphs, and the results look pretty nice.
And, on top of that, Bacon has the best walk up music in all of the Major Leagues. This is not open for debate:
So, let's not go out and have a Soto-esque sophomore campaign, Bacon. I don't wanna lose your love tonight. Congrats!
-=-=-
Other points of note which I should cover while I'm busy typing:
- The Sox picked up Freddy Garcia's option for $1M, with $2M in possible incentives. Perhaps he gets some sort of bonus for sweating profusely?
- Matt Thornton's option was also exercised, at $2.25M. His next option will be $3M after this year, which by my logic is probably a lot less than Bobby Jenks will demand, and without that whole declining velocity thing.
- DeWayne Wise declared himself a free agent. I'm really glad he was there at the fence to save Buehrle's perfect game. That catch was awesome. But, on the realistic side, DeWayne Wise can't really hit. At all. Thanks for playing some D for us.
- The Sox are discussing a Podsednik deal. Somehow, the UZR ratings used to evaluate a player's worth if he goes to free agency graded out Pod's defensive play as "average". Clearly, the UZR rating system is in need of an overhaul if this is the case.
- Will they deal Jenks? Will they not? His velocity is on the decline, and he popped his calf at the end of the year, so methinks his value may not be what it once was. This is unfortunate. I also heard an interesting rumor regarding Jenks + prospects being sent to Tampa for Carl Crawford. Tampa could use some bullpen bolstering, and we could certainly use someone like Carl Crawford at the top end of our lineup. But what prospects do we have that can be used to balance out such a deal? I'm thinking this won't happen. Jenks supposedly wants to stay in Chicago, but isn't pleased that the team more or less called him "a fatty boom-batty." Yes, he's a total lard-ass. And he's out of shape. And he keeps getting hurt because of it. We'll see how Big Bad looks when pitchers and catchers report: your over/under is 290 el-bees. (FYI: I'm takin' the over.)
- Jim Thome: ''I'll be honest, I would still love to come back. I still care about the city. I mean, we're going to live there. Chicago's very fond in my heart. The time that I spent there, Jerry Reinsdorf treated me great. I guess we'll deal with that when this is all over with.'' I would love for this to happen. I'm a sentimental man. And I don't want to see him in a Twins uniform... because he would absolutely kill us.
-=-=-
I had been hoping for an All-LA Series this year, so that the plot to "Colors" could possibly unfold before our very eyes, and possibly force Sean Penn and Robert DuVall into a squad car together to play good cop / bad cop amongst the chaos which would surely ensue.
"But you're just like them, Pac-Man. Nothin' but a gangster."
Anyway, it's looking more like Philly/Yankees, which actually should be a pretty good series. There's a bunch of great players on both those squads- not that there aren't on the LA ones- but it would be cool to see Mo Rivera close out another World Series game perhaps. Or watch Hamels chump A-Rod with that unholy changeup of his. I like the dramatic angle of Pedro starting against the Yankees again. And bad things could happen to Shane Victorino! We'll see. The Divisional Series were piss poor, and these Championship Series have been pretty nice.
I was also hoping that Thome could get his Series ring. That's not looking too good at this point. Come home, Slugger Jim!
Monday, August 31, 2009
One Loss After Another
Twins - 4White Sox - 1
So the Sox lost again, this time to the Minnesota Twins. No surprise there. Two more games of this pinballesque nonsense and we can all move on with our AL Central lives.
But that's not the big news of the night.
Say it ain't so, Joe. Sox beat reporter Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times is declaring via his Twitter feed that Jim Thome has waived his no-trade clause and is being shipped out as we speak. To where? I'm not sure. And for what? Who knows.
According to MLB Trade Rumors, the White Sox sent out a list of available veteran players in a league-wide memo. Besides Thome, it reportedly included:
- Paul Konerko
- Jermaine Dye
- Scott Podsednik
- Octavio Dotel
- Scott Linebrink
Jose Contreras
Jim Thome was a great Sox player. He really, genuinely seems like a kind, down-to-Earth guy. Hell, he grew up in Peoria... so without baseball in his life he'd probably have ended up a farmer or a truck driver. To the best of my knowledge, he never caused any problems for the White Sox. I've only witnessed him get tossed from one game, and it was because the umpire was definitely full of shit. If Jim Thome's arguing with you, you're wrong. And also full of shit.
I hope he hits 600 home runs. He's got one of the sweetest swings that I've ever seen in my life. Even when he was with Cleveland, and killed the Sox, I actually enjoyed watching him hit. And whenever he comes back to US Cellular, if he gets to, he's going to kill us again. And I'll cheer for him. I don't suspect that his name will ever show up on any PED-positive list. He's always looked like a lumberjack.
Jim Thome is a future member of the Hall of Fame. He's a good guy, a great ballplayer, and (to me, anyway) is one of the best examples in today's world of how a professional athlete should hope to conduct themself on and off of the field of play.
Vaya con dios, Slugger Jim. You were good.
-=-=-
11:28PM - Cowley updates: Thome sent to Dodgers with cash for 2B/SS Justin Fuller, Contreras sent to Colorado for cash and AAA pitching prospect Brandon Hynick.
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