The Andy Gonzalez of Offseason Acquisitions

Andrew Reilly · Posted on

The Sox made a strong play for Torii Hunter. The Sox made a strong play for Miguel Cabrera. The Sox targeted Edgar Renteria for years. Those guys all play for someone else now. Take a second to think about that.

Now, this isn’t a knock on Orlando Cabrera. This isn’t a slight against Scott Linebrink or Carlos Quentin. But if there’s a time to start worrying about the much-hyped “plan” that Kenny Williams was going to reveal, it’s approaching fast unless something very big happens very soon. But consider this:

  • The Tigers, with the acquisition of Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis in exchange for four players who wouldn’t have made the 2008 Opening Day roster, not only strengthened themselves considerably but also distanced themselves from the bottom of the AL Central, namely the Royals and White Sox.
  • The Twins, with the acquisition of this year’s second-best AL rookie and the inevitable mother lode they’re set to receive for Johan Santana, just solidified their outfield and could actually strengthen their rotation: with the possible acquisition of Jon Lester and a re-emergence of Francisco Liriano, they’ve improved their chances in 2 of every 5 games, rather than the 1 in 5 that Santana pitched last year.
  • The Indians were already a 96-win team.
  • There are four playoff spots in the American League; at least six teams are better (on paper) than the Sox, and that’s assuming the Good Guys merely play to their potential. But we all saw last year how even that can be asking too much.

There are those who will say that games are won on the field, it’s only December, something big could happen, and a million other sports cliches,ÂÂ but those people forget that any team is only as good as the teams they have to beat. Even the most casual observer could see that the Sox, as it stands, are not in an enviable position, and if they can’t even do something as simple as make the best offer to a free agent it’s hard to envision them pulling off trades of immediate consequence or landing what, if any, impact mercenaries are left.