Phil Rogers is the Worst Reporter Ever

I know people hated Mariotti, but at least he's no longer employed at a major newspaper. Marrioti was just a stuff-stirrer. He wanted to get everyone riled up under the theory of "any reaction from the reader is a good reaction." Phil Rogers just doesn't seem to understand baseball. At all. And he's been covering it for like 5000 years or so. I don' even know what number of article this is about him. But he's turning this blog into his own personal showcase. Here's the newest entry (Phil in italics, me in regular typeface):

Standing pat at deadline right move for Sox

This is a continuation of his theory that adding good players hurts you team. Why? Cause change kills unicorns.

No Adam Dunn, no worries.

Well no worries except every time Juan Pierre and his 72 OPS+ come to the plate to pop out to the shortstop. (Though thanks to his fielding his WAR is .7, gotta give him that.)

And, hey, Kenny Williams, way to go. Way to say no.As constructed during the 26-5 stretch that carried them from 9 1/2 games back into the American League Central lead, there was really nothing wrong with the White Sox.

Team OPS+ 98, slightly below the league average.

That's why Paul Konerko took some time at the All-Star Game to talk about how he hoped Williams wouldn't do what's so easy to do in this age of short attention spans and ceaseless public pressure to do something, anything!

And this is how you write a run on sentence by just throwing in word after word and confusing everyone who is reading and trying to enjoy what you wrote the night before when you were watching the game with a can of Milwaukee's Beast and you had to get an article in before deadline and you might as well congratulate the GM on failing to get land any offensive help because obviously if the White Sox were playing .800+ ball for a month that will continue for eternity as long as you don't mess with the "gosh dang it" chemistry of the ball club.

That is, to try to fix something that wasn't broken.

Team OPS+ 98. Black holes of offense include:

A.J. Pierzynski: OPS+ 65

Gordon Beckham: OPS+ 74 (Though definitely hot as of late.)

Juan Pierre: OPS+ 71

Mark Kotsay: OPS+ 72


Konerko prodded Williams to believe in the role players who have meant so much to this point.

If by "role players" he meant the best bullpen in the MLB, then yes, he should believe in them. If he meant "role players" as in Mark Kotsay...then no.

This shouldn't have been too tough of a sales job, as it was Williams who brought all those guys to Chicago.But the temptation to add a fourth run-producer to the middle of an order Alex Rios, Carlos Quentin and Konerko anchor was great.

Yes. The temptation to improve the frickin team was great. Good thing Williams recognized the only thing that could come from that is winning a lot more games. Phew...close one there.

That's why Williams even called Dodgers GM Ned Colletti at one point to discuss Manny Ramirez.Williams' nature is to be hyperactive. But this time Williams did the right thing. He refused to consider trading Gordon Beckham and says he let it be known he valued Dayan Viciedo so highly teams didn't even ask about him.

Yes...that's why they didn't ask about him....You know in 66 plate appearances he has walked a grand total of.......................ZERO TIMES!!!! Not even hit by a pitch. That's actually hard to do. You have to have a real dedication to swinging the bat at everything to accomplish that one. (Yes small sample size I know. But 66 times and no walks...geez.)

Williams might have been able to say no Saturday because he had scratched his trading Jones

At first I thought he was talking about Andruw Jones...

...on Friday, dealing Daniel Hudson and David Holmberg to the Diamondbacks for Edwin Jackson. For those counting — OK, I may be the only one in America doing this — they were the 52nd and 53rd ranked prospects (Sox's top 30, Baseball America) that Williams has traded in his decade as a GM........

It's a good sign that Williams wouldn't mortgage the future once again by trading Beckham for Dunn or Jose Bautista. He hoped Nationals GM Mike Rizzo would give him a way to add Dunn without having Beckham in the package, but the counteroffer never arrived."I was not trading Gordon Beckham,'' Williams said.It's an even better sign that teams did not even ask about Viciedo, who the Sox project as a game-changing power hitter at either third base or (post-Konerko) first base. He's in the second year of a four-year, $10 million contract and is valued higher than it might have seemed heading into the weekend of the trade deadline."People know how we feel,'' Williams said, explaining why no teams asked for him. "He's 21 years old. A talent like that will be a major force in the league. I'd like you to find one or two (prospects) at his level who can do the things he can do, are as explosive. The ball comes off his bat. People understood we weren't going to (consider trading him)."

Here is a list of the top 50 prospects in the Minors at the beginning of the year one MLB.com. Use Edit->Find to look for Viciedo's name. See what happens. Go on. Try it.

Williams said he understands why some analysts have said the Sox are only "marginally better'' after adding Jackson in Jake Peavy's rotation spot, where Hudson had been. But he remembers being criticized for not making major moves at the deadline in 2005.

Past results may not predict future returns.

Names aren't known but it appears he would have added Nos. 54 and 55 to the list of those he traded away if Lance Berkman had been willing to come to Chicago.Berkman vetoed a deal with the White Sox so he could join old Astros teammate Andy Pettitte with the Yankees. This could be a blessing in disguise, as his batting average has been in steady decline (from .312 in 2008 to .274 in '09 to .245 this year) and he never has had to deal with the adjustments that come from being traded.

Wow. Still using batting average huh? Berkman's OPS+ 114. Beats the chum the White Sox are throwing out at DH right now doesn't it? Also the whole "dealing with the adjustments that come from being traded" thing. My suggestion? Remember to set your watch ahead a couple hours. There's, you've adjusted. Heck, your cell should do it automatically.

Nothing sometimes can be the right thing to do.Given the price tag placed on the available run-producers like Dunn and Bautista, this was one of those times.

I don't know the exact terms of the agreement for Beckham and Dunn and everyone else. All I know is Dunn hits like a mythological beast and would have a fun time hitting in US Cellular. (Park Factor 104. Favorable to hitters.) Beckham may be the future, but Dunn is the present.

Case Closed.