El Caballo...

by simplesinger on Apr 14, 2006 3:19 PM CDT

With Carlos Lee front and center in the news for almost singlehandedly beating the cardinals yesterday; I thought it might be interesting to see if and what people are thinking about El Caballo. I'm of the opinion that regardless of what Podsednik looks like right now, the White Sox would not have won the World Series last year without the move that sent Lee to Milwaukee for Pods & The Viz. As has already been mentioned numerous times, this trade also freed up the money to get El Duque, A.J., and Iguchi, but Carlos is sure looking good while our left fielder is batting
.059.

Anyways, so what are your thoughts?

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living in Wisconsin

and attending many, many Brewer games, the trade is a Win-Win situation.

Chicago freed up money to spend on more players and won the World Series.

Milwaukee received a slugger and respectability. It was an important PR move since it says that Milwaukee is willing to spend money.

Also, judging from SoxTalk, Podsednik is a fan favorite in Chicago. In Milwaukee, Lee is a huge fan favorite.

Lee > Podsednik
Podsednik, Vizcaino, 6 million saved > Lee.

AIM: shaftr01

XBL: TheMattressMan

by shaftr on Apr 14, 2006 3:29 PM CDT reply actions

Well put...

I have a buddy who's a huge Brewers fan, and he was actually kind of pissed at the trade when it happened. I told him not to worry, and the Lee would be great for them. He's a big el caballo fan now, and he's convinced that the Brewers are going to the world series. I like they're team, but I think he might be a little delusional.

my blog

by simplesinger on Apr 14, 2006 5:15 PM CDT up reply actions

Since we're on the subject of ex-Sox

Superman and Aaron Rowand have the same follow-through on their swing.

AIM: SouthSideCheat

by The Cheat on Apr 14, 2006 5:27 PM CDT reply actions

with similar results

Lee was a dick (Marte incident, stealing base contest with Ordonez, lackluster OF play)and while I think chemistry is a way over-rated concept, just generally speaking, fewer assholes improves group dynamics

by dyspeptic on Apr 14, 2006 6:11 PM CDT up reply actions

Nice find

IMHO, it was a terrible trade at the time, it is a terrible trade now, and it will be a terrible trade in the future.

by Tybor on Apr 15, 2006 12:18 PM CDT up reply actions

2005 results

Do you think the Sox win the division, Pennant, and World Series if they don't make that trade? I guess we'll never know.

Comonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn You White Sox!

by zokmaad on Apr 15, 2006 9:40 PM CDT up reply actions

I think so

I'm too lazy to look up the WARP for Pods and Lee last year, but I'd have to believe Lee beat him rather easily.

Now, it's much more complicated then that obviously, and conventional wisdom seems to be that the Lee trade was made in order to free up some funds for Iguchi, Dye, etc. If that is true, then the trade absolutely had to be made, as the Sox would have entered the season with huge holes at RF and 2B.

Still, Vizcaino--essentially a replacement level bullpen guy, or (slightly above) and Scott Podsednik for Carlos Lee--that isn't exactly how you draw up the ideal trade. Lee likely would have bettered the 110 OPS+ he put up in MIL at homer happy Chicago. For comparison Pods had an OPS+ of 86--cough cough, but he was a real "sparkplug" for the offense. Viz somehow posted an ERA+ of 119 with a WHIP of 1.47, only striking out 43 in 70 innings, and a K/B ratio of under 2. One word: luck.

KW, I love you, but no more of these trades please--granted JR continues his free spending ways.

Sox officially have the 4th highest payroll in MLB this year--hell yea!

by madvillian on Apr 15, 2006 10:32 PM CDT up reply actions

So-so trade

I've argued in the past (repeatedly over the off-season) that this trade signalled a larger philosophical shift in the organization towards defense and run prevention. I still think that is true, but Lee was a hell of player for us, and I'd much rather have him than Pods.

While it's great that Pods rated pretty highly on the various defensive metrics last season, he's still a below average run creator, and compared to Lee, he's got nothing.

Given unlimited funds, KW would have been a fool to make this trade, but since it freed up some much needed money, he's only a half-fool.

by madvillian on Apr 15, 2006 3:43 PM CDT reply actions