Turning in the Grades

With the 2009 season officially coming to a close, it is time for the annual report cards.  Since I am the teacher, I will be the first to turn in my grades on the 2009 White Sox.  

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AJ Pierzynski:   The backstop had an above average season.  He is the first catcher to finish with a .300 average in Sox history.  AJ only managed to crank 13 homers and drove in 49 runs.  I would have liked to see more run production out of him, but he was one of the very few consistent hitters in the Sox lineup.  Overall, he called good games, blocked bad pitches and struggled throwing runners out.  Final Grade- B.  

Paul Konerko:  The captain had a much better season in 2009 than he did in 2008.  He led the club with 28 homers, was surprisingly consistent for most of the year and finished with a .277/.353/.489.  He played extremely good defense and totaled 59 extra base hits and threw in a rare stolen base for good measure.  I don't think you could have expected him to do much more than he did under the best circumstances this season.  Final Grade- B+

Gordon Beckham: The Savior came to us in June and after a rough start to his career ended up with a .270/.347/.460 line.  28 doubles, 14 homers and 63 RBI's later and He looks like a future star for many years to come.  Throw in the fact that he learned 3rd base on the fly and improved by leaps and bounds, and the sky is the limit. The average dipped in the final month a bit, but you couldn't have expected much more from Beckham.  Final Grade-  A-

Alexei Ramirez- The Cuban Missile really struggled the first month and a half of the season, even being benched at one point for 3 games.  He rallied late to end up at .277/.333/.389.  His power numbers dipped a bit as he only managed 30 extra base hits and 68 RBI's.  He threw in 14 SB's.  In the field, Ramirez made some incredible plays and botched some very easy ones.  He did come a long way from his terrible April/May so I will give him the benefit of the doubt.  Final Grade: C+

Jermaine Dye-  JD started out like a beast, sticking over .300 with 20 homers at the all star break.  From then on, however, it was all down hill for the former World Series MVP.  Dye finished the season on a terribly bad note and wound up sticking .250/.340/.453.  He did total 27 homers and 81 RBI, each good for 2nd on the team.  He made some good plays in the outfield when he could get to the ball, however, he can't get to too many anymore.  I'd like to grade him higher, however  I can't look past his horrendous finish.  Final Grade: C-

Scott Podsednik- Scotty Pods was brought in on a minor league deal, and arrived in the bigs May 1st.  He went on to lead the team with 163 hits, a .304 BA, 6 triples and 30 stolen bases.  His base running was sometimes maddening, as was his outfield play, but if anyone would have told you in Spring Training that Scott Podsednik would lead the Sox in most offensive categories you would have shat yourself.  For that, only one grade is possible.  Final Grade: A

Carlos Quentin- Quentin was coming off of a self inflicted injury to his wrist, but did show power early in the season.  Then his foot problems put him on the DL for quite awhile.  Quentin managed to come back and play in 99 games this season.  His average was in the .230's for most of the season, but he enjoyed a late surge the last week of 2009 to put his power numbers at 21 homers and 56 RBI's.  His left field play was suspect at best and awful at worst.  Final Grade- D+

Chris Getz-  Getz had a decent rookie season in the big leagues, hitting .261 with 25 stolen bases.  Numerous injuries,however, only put him on the field for 107 games.  He played solid defense at Second Base, and at times looked very solid with the stick.  As with Quentin, however, if you want good grades from KenWo, you better show up to class.  Final Grade- C-

Alex Rios- Rios was acquired from the Blue Jays for nothing but 60 million dollars and played like he was worth .60 cents in his time with the Sox, hitting .197 with 3 homers in his 150 plate appearances.  It was comforting to have an outfielder who could close the gap well, but coming to a club in contention and proceeding to take a dump will not earn you a passing grade.  Final Grade- F

Jim Thome- Thome did what Thome does.  Low average, good power, high on base percentage.  He did what was expected of him and probably would have led the club in HR's and RBI had he stayed aboard.  2009 was nothing special for Mr. Incredible by any means, but he met expectations.  Final Grade- B

Jayson Nix- The primary utility man for the Sox showed some signs of pop, hitting 12 homers in 255 AB's.  He did strike out a whole bunch and wasn't as solid in the field as we all would have hoped.  Final Grade- C

Ramon Castro- Caught Jose Contreras for a string of good starts and caught Mark Buehrle's Perfect Game.  Other than that, he didn't bring much to the table. Final Grade- F

Mark Kotsay- After he was brought over for Brian Anderson, Kotsay batted .303 for the Sox, with 3 homers and 18 RBI in only 109 ABs.  He played well at first base and in right field and contributed more to Chicago in 2 months than Anderson did in 4 seasons.  He also has a hot wife.  Final Grade- A

Dewayne Wise-  Started the season as the starting CF, didn't last long, made historic catch and threw a bunch of runners out in limited time.  Final Grade- D

Brent Lillibridge- Hit .158 with a late surge to get to 3 RBI's.  Had cool theme music, but it isn't enough to pass him. Final Grade- F

Wilson Betemit- Played 3rd base like a bad little leaguer.  Final Grade- F

Josh Fields- Was given the starting 3rd base job, and had it taken away by a guy who played another position and was less than a year into his professional career.  Horrible defense, can't hit a fastball.  Final Grade- F

Pitchers

Mark Buehrle-  Mark had a great first half and threw one of the most memorable games in White Sox history.  Struggled down the stretch when he was needed most, but still posted 13 W's, 3.84 ERA and 213 IP.  Also smacked a homer.  Final Grade- B

John Danks- Danks finished the season 13-11 and led the starters with a 3.77 ERA.  He wasn't as consistent as he was in 2008, but did indeed put up another solid MLB season.  He totaled 200.1 innings and 149 strikeouts.  Final Grade- B

Gavin Floyd- Gavin wasn't as spectacular as he was in 2008.  He struggled early on, then was dominant and then developed a hip issue which hindered his last handful of starts.  Only walked 59 guys while striking out 163 in 193 innings while finishing 11-11.  Final Grade- B

Freddy Garcia- Garcia started 9 games for the Sox after struggling with injuries the past few years.  He came up and posted a 3-4 record with a 4.34 ERA, and really did pitch better than those numbers.  While his velocity is still down, he found a way to get guys out.  Final Grade- B+

Jake Peavy- Peavy was immaculate in his 3 starts, going 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA.  He struck out 18 in 20 innings and gave the Sox faithful reason to be joyous for 2010.  However, he blocked an earlier trade which would have sent him to the Sox and then got injured.  By the time the Sox did acquire him, he needed a lot of rehab time (even more so after taking a liner off the arm).  One can only wonder how this season would have turned out if he accepted the trade in May.  However, I can only grade him on the time he spent here.  Final Grade- A

Jose Contreras- Contreras came back from a major injury to secure a spot in the rotation.  He went on to prove he wasn't quite ready as he couldn't control his splitter.  He came back from the minors and had a nice run, before a series of self-induced collapses led him to be dealt to the Rockies.  Finished 5-13 with a 5.42 ERA.  Final Grade- D-

Bartolo Colon- Colon was 3-6 with a 4.19 ERA, but injuries and a lack of commitment to the organization lead to his demise. Final Grade- F

DJ Carrasco- This guy saved the pitching staff numerous times this season.  Finished 5-1 with a 3.76 ERA and kept the Sox in many games they would have otherwise been blown out in.  Pitched 93 innings out of the bullpen and was there any time he was needed.  DJ did a remarkable job in 2009.  Final Grade- A

Matt Thornton- Thornton has become the premier left handed set up man in all of baseball.  He finished 6-3 with a 2.74 ERA and 87 K's in 72.1 innings.  Showed late in the season he may be ready to close in 2010.  Final Grade- A

Bobby Jenks- Jenks finished 3-4 with a 3.71 ERA while Saving 29 games at an 82.8 percent clip.  His strike out to walk ratio was good at 16:49 in 53.1 innings, yet he had a tough time staying healthy.  Jenks was passable when available, but wasn't very reliable in 2009.  Final Grade- B-

Scott Linebrink- Linebrink was pretty terrible in 2009.  He posted a 3-7 record with a 4.66 ERA (I can't believe it was that low).  It seemed like he only could throw his fastball for strikes.  Hopefully he finds it next year because with his contract, he will be back despite the Final Grade- F

Octavio Dotel- Octavio would sometimes blow up, but for the most part posted a good season in 2009.  He finished 3-3 with a 3.32 ERA and struck out 75 over 62.1 innings.  I'm not so sure why the Sox are throwing him out the door.  He wasn't spectacular but wasn't bad either.  Final Grade- C+

Tony Pena- Pena came aboard midseason and went on to appear in 35 games for the Sox.  He had some good moments, but most will remember him for giving up a few walk off hits.  He finished 1-2 with a 3.75 ERA while wearing silver and black.  Final Grade- C

Randy Williams- Williams pitched in 25 games for the Sox and did a credible job when he was put in his situation of getting out lefties.  Troube came about when he was asked to do more than that leading to an 0-1 record with a 4.58 ERA.  Struck out 22 over 17.2 innings and looks like a decent LOOGY option.  Final Grade- C

Clayton Richard- Richard was a roller coaster. Sometimes he looked unbelievable and others he looked awful.  He wasn't very good coming out of the bullpen early on and can't throw to first on a grounder, but he did net us Peavy with some solid performances midseason.  Final Grade- C

Dan Hudson- Hudson pitched 18.2 late season innings capping off his rise from the A level.  He looked like a very viable option for the near future.  Very limited sample size, but Final Grade- A. 

Management

Ozzie Guillen (and staff)- Ozzie had what I believe to be his best season as manager in 2008.  In 2009, it was the exact opposite.  He was late on making changes to the lineup, very bad on utilizing his bullpen and ranted way too often for anyone other than Bobby Knights liking.  He mishandled the Rios acquisition and for the most part was a move behind all season long.  Final Grade- D

Kenny Williams- We came into the season with no legit CF, 2 injury prone starting pitchers and a failure waiting to happen at 3rd base. He provided no replacements for Nick Swisher (FNS) and Javier Vazquez.  He did pick up Podsednik, who turned out to be gold, and did bring in Peavy and Rios for not only 2009 but many years to come.  His move of Brandon Allen for Tony Pena will be questioned like it was Gio Gonzalez.  He did acquire a nice bench player in Mark Kotsay for Brian Anderson.  Final Grade- C-.... with a chance to improve with solid years to come from Rios/Peavy. 

CHICAGO WHITE SOX- FINAL GRADE- C   This team was almost the definition of average.  They finished 79-83, didn't go on too many long losing streaks or winning streaks, just kind of pissed the season away.