Scot Gregor of the Daily Herald suggested the White Sox should look into trading Carlos Quentin to make room for Dayan Viciedo. It's food for thought, but if the Sox trade somebody to clear a path for Viciedo, it should be Juan Pierre.
The argument for trading Quentin goes like this: Viciedo is tearing up Triple-A in the last few weeks while Quentin has struggled as of late. That streakiness, coupled with Quentin's penchant for injury, is reason enough to deal him to make room for Viciedo.
Gregor cites Quentin's .255 batting average as evidence he's underachieving, which is a rather nasty case of cherry-picking with an out-dated stat. Quentin has an above-average on-base percentage (.344, MLB average=.319) and a well above-average slugging percentage (.515, MLB average=.387). Only Quentin's batting average and walk rate (the latter of which is a slight concern) could be considered offensive stats in which Quentin is deficient.
I think Gregor does a bang-up job with the Daily Herald, but this argument is way off base. If the Sox are going to trade anyone because they feel Viciedo is ready for the majors, it should be the guy playing left field.
In terms of offensive value, Quentin is light years ahead of Pierre. Going into Tuesday's action, Quentin rates as the third-best hitter on the White Sox, behind Brent Lillibridge and Paul Konerko. Despite his recent struggles, Quentin is just 10 points behind Konerko in OPS. Plus, he's the Sox's best regular power threat (.261 ISO, only behind Lillibridge).
May hasn't been kind to Quentin, who has a .659 OPS in the month. Are we to give up on Quentin because of 18 bad games to clear the way for Viciedo? Or should the Sox, if they are so inclined to promote Viciedo, turn to one of the biggest offensive liabilities on the team to make room for the young Cuban?
Pierre has seen his OBP go up to .320 after a nice homestand, but his .618 OPS is the second-lowest of any regular on the White Sox. But, eventually, it'll probably end up the worst, as Alex Rios won't have a .573 OPS for the remainder of 2011—his swing will come at some point, and it'll return with a regression to the mean on his .209 BABIP.
Dumping Pierre would then leave the Sox without a true leadoff hitter, but let's be real—a true leadoff hitter doesn't have a .320 OBP. The Sox could bank on Gordon Beckham improving and move him to leadoff, or they could insert Alexei Ramirez and his .347 OBP into the No. 1 spot. Are these ideal options? No, especially because we don't know how Ramirez would adapt to the different mindset of leading off. But Pierre has proven to not be an ideal leadoff hitter this season, so the Sox probably couldn't do a whole lot worse.
The issue of where Viciedo would play is easily resolved by the fact Quentin has played 1,918.1 major league innings in left field. Shifting him to left would allow Viciedo to stick to right field, where Buddy Bell feels he's MLB-ready defensively. It's really not that difficult a solution.
Viciedo is looking more and more MLB-ready by the day, as his improved walk rate and lowered strikeout rate are encouraging signs (even if his walk rate is still a little low).
If the Sox really want to maximize their offensive output, they won't deal away one of their best hitters to make way for a promising prospect. Instead, they'll deal away one of their worst hitters to make way for a promising prospect.
That's the plan: Trade Pierre, Move Q to Left, Call up the Tank and put him in Right
But will anyone be willing to take Pierre at this point? As for the return, 2 gallons of ice-cream would be enough.
Posted by: The Wizard | 05/24/2011 at 09:38 PM
I'd take a six-pack of moderately-priced beer. Linenkugel's, preferably.
Posted by: JJ -- White Sox Beerleaguer | 05/25/2011 at 12:42 AM
Although teams like Philadelphia and Atlanta are searching for a RHH OF, I can't see a Quentin trade since these teams would only give up minor league talent. They wouldn't give up ML talent which would hurt their current pennant chances. And minor league talent won't help KW and the Sox to win now. THerefore, dumping Pierre makes sense.
OT: Please help me with this Sox minor league conundrum.
At AA, the Sox have Tyler Kuhn with a .358 BA/.421 OBP with 1 HR, but he doesn't bat leadoff. Instead, the Sox continue with an OF leading off with a .190 BA/.248 OBP with 30 SO in 105 AB...some guy named Kenny Williams Jr.
I'm so confused.
Posted by: Buford | 05/25/2011 at 09:50 PM
I know Williams has good speed...I'd hope Birmingham is leading him off because of the antiquated notion that leadoff hitters need to be fast rather than nepotism.
Posted by: JJ -- White Sox Beerleaguer | 05/25/2011 at 11:47 PM
But speed doesn't matter if he can't hit. His highest OBP since being drafted in 2008 was .312 in 2009 at Low A.
In 2010 at High A, he put up a .252/.306/.365 line with 0 SB in 3 attempts. This year he has 2 SB in 5 attempts. If he has speed, he doesn't use it very well.
Only a GM's son gets promoted to AA with such a horrible High A performance. Now 25 years old, he's just an organizational player taking playing time from younger players.
His AA manager said in a 5-2-11 article KW Jr. "brings energy to the team"...but nothing about hitting, defense or speed. Talk about damning with faint praise.
Just nepotism at its finest...or worst.
Posted by: Buford | 05/26/2011 at 01:53 AM
Liene's as a moderately priced beer? I gotta go with the old standby of Sierra Nevada when it comes to a cheap craft beer, Dale's Pale Ale or Ska Brewing Company have some great canned beers as well.
Anyways, I really don't know who you are going to get for Pierre, but it would be great to be able to move him and stick another Power Hitter in the lineup. In true Sox fan fashion, we have some people now complaining that we don't produce enough runs and are trying to hit the homerun to much. Well, that is what we wanted and that is how we have been successful.
When a guy like Pierre stops stealing bases and stops making good defensive catches you have a recipe for disaster, and that is just what he is doing. Pierre is one of the last of a dying breed in the MLB. Left Field has become another power hitting position.
I think Pierre is a great guy and a good example. If the guy wants a job in baseball post playing days he should get it. But it just looks like age has finally caught up with him. It sucks that so many want to pile everything on him. It is nowhere near only his fault. I think Rio's hitting into that DP yesterday was what hurt us the most, but it was a suckfest.
I still think this Sox team takes the division at the end of the year, but I really hope our GM and Manager have the cajones to make the tough decisions.
Posted by: Steve from Rockford | 05/26/2011 at 11:29 AM
Buford -- It looks bad just given his last name, but knowing what we know about Kenny Williams, do you really think he's calling the shots to help his son? I see him more as the hardass father who wouldn't hand a job to his kids, but that's just me. Although they did take Williams Jr. curiously high...
Steve -- Liney's should be moderately priced. But I was surprised to find that a 12 of it was more expensive than a 12 of Goose Island at Binny's yesterday...odd.
I think for all the reasons you stated, pulling Pierre out of left field would be an incredibly tough decision. That whole "he plays the game the right way" thing is probably a big factor in why he hasn't been benched yet (side note: I'd rather have a player who plays the game the wrong way but is good). Pierre's been a big part of why this team has struggled, and now that he can barely steal bases, he doesn't provide much value. Either have a good OBP and steal bases with a high success rate or have a good OBP with some power. Pierre just has a good OBP in his last few games, and a mediocre one for the season.
Posted by: JJ -- White Sox Beerleaguer | 05/26/2011 at 12:24 PM
JJ - KW is a hardass but evidently not with his son. What other reason would you have for a 25 year-old in AA with those dismal numbers and still the starting leadoff hitter. And yes, he was considered a terrible overdraft by all...except the Sox.
JJ & Steve - It's not cheap but...Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA. A case for $60 seems like a fair return for JP.
Posted by: Buford | 05/26/2011 at 04:50 PM
In tonight's AA game, Tyler Kuhn is leading off and Junior is batting sixth.
They got it half right.
Posted by: Buford | 05/26/2011 at 07:42 PM
Maybe they're reading these comments. Hi, Birmingham!
Posted by: JJ -- White Sox Beerleaguer | 05/26/2011 at 07:44 PM