It's a fair question. Certainly, he is enthusiastic enough and talks a good game. He did put together a championship team in the 2004 off-season, but is that enough? We'll have to see in July 2008. If the Sox are in contention, his Plan #863 worked.
It's a bit painful to see Kenny Williams swing and miss so often this off-season. You can't control what players do, but this is getting a bit ridiculous. Torii Hunter taking the Angels offer without seeing if the White Sox will match or best it is one thing. That's out of Kenny's control. Missing out on Miguel Cabrera is quite another.
Miguel Cabrera and Ozzie Guillen have a great friendship outside of baseball. Miguel has expressed his desire to play for Ozzie and Ozzie has expressed his wish to manage Miguel. How on Earth do you screw up a situation like that? My guess is the Marlins didn't take into consideration what Miguel wanted, for very long or at all. But he's not a free agent, so Miguel doesn't have a lot of say in the matter yet. I don't pretend to know what goes on in negotiations or what other teams try to pull on each other. I'm not paid to know these things, Kenny Williams is.
I can only sit back and marvel at all the possibilities and wait to see what pans out and what doesn't. I see what teams settle for for some of these trades and wonder why Kenny couldn't beat that. The White Sox have better prospects than that. I know Kenny is taking it a little too personally about not getting Torii Hunter. I'd be frustrated too. That was a pretty rotten thing to do to the White Sox, Rangers and Dodgers. Plus when there are quotes from Torii saying he would have accepted less from the Angels, that has to really hurt.
Teams put in fake offers and spread rumors to drive up the price. Kenny used to be very good at sniffing out the BS. This season he seems to be way off. Considering what some low level starting pitchers are commanding, Kenny could have gotten some bullpen help from the Angels too in exchange for Jon Garland. Some of these mediocre pitchers are commanding three or four top prospects just to start the talking. That's unreal!
Orlando Cabrera, Carlos Quentin and Scott Linebrink is a great start, but it's not a good finish. They still need an outfielder, a leadoff man, a starting pitcher, and another bullpen arm. Not to mention getting rid of at least one outfielder, a shortstop and a third baseman. Unless Kenny pulls Johan Santana out of his butt, I don't see him making a big splash, like he says is coming. I don't see that happening, since the Twins are in the same division. I also see the Cubs overpaying for Fukudome, not the White Sox. Kenny may even lose out on Rowand, which would be a last resort from what I'm hearing.
As teams hold the White Sox hostage, instead of the other way around, I see the off-season as a C+ so far. An upgrade at shortstop and an upgrade in the bullpen and more holes to fill. It stands at a C+ as of this writing. C'mon Kenny, prove me wrong and bump up that grade.
How's this for strange. When Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen called his wife last night to tell her that the Tigers had just traded for Miguel Cabrera, she had an unexpected reply.
