I'm with White Sox fan Tom Fornelli: I don't get this deal at all.
Don't get me wrong, anytime you add an All-Star shortstop to your team, that's a good thing. But was Cabrera really needed?
Juan Uribe isn't the best offensive player in the world, but defensively, there aren't many better shortstops than he is. Cabrera has won two Gold Gloves, but he's not a marked improvement defensively. Offensively, it's a whole new world.
Still, this trade makes no sense to me. Over the last three seasons, Jon Garland has been the White Sox most consistent starting pitcher. He's won 46 games since 2005, and though his 10-13 record in 2007 wasn't good, it's just as much a result of lack of offense than it was his pitching.
How trading Garland is going to help the White Sox get back to the top of the AL Central, I have no idea. I just know that [General manager Kenny] Williams better be planning on moving Uribe in a deal for some pitching.
The No. 1 principle of making deals is buy low, sell high -- which is what the Angels are doing, and exactly the opposite of what the White Sox are doing.
Garland is solid. He's made 32 or 33 starts in each of the last six seasons and his ERA is always right around the league average or a little better. I suppose somebody might see his 10-13 record last season and think he doesn't know how to win, but I see his 18-7 record in 2006 and think he was particularly lucky in 2006 and particularly unlucky in 2007. True, he'll probably be the Angels' fourth-best starter. But what a luxury!
Meanwhile, Cabrera probably will never again play as well as he did last season. He was 32, and it was his best season wince 2003. He won the Gold Glove this year, but didn't deserve it. He's solid with the glove, but probably no better than Uribe. Yes, he's the better hitter. But he's not
that much better. In fact, the projections in the 2008 Bill James Handbook predict that Uribe will actually out-hit Cabrera next season.
That doesn't account for park effects, and Cabrera's new home should boost his numbers a bit. Realistically, though? The White Sox just gave up a 15-game winner to gain a marginal upgrade for one season at shortstop.
Rob Neyer
