Handing Out the Grades

As the resident educator, it is my job to hand out the Final Grades for your 2010 White Sox.  2010 was a very strange year.  From the Great Depression of April and May, to the Phoenix-like rising of June and July, to the collapse of August and to the final September run, which got thwarted by Mauer and the other Minneapolis Misfits.  There will be many questions asked going into the offseason.  Will Paul Konerko come back?  Will AJ still be behind the backstop?  Will Freddy Garcia accept my invitation to the Sybaris?  Those are questions for another time.  For now, let's reflect on the season that was 2010.

The Frank Thomas ceremony was my

personal favorite 2010 moment.  

via cbswscram.files.wordpress.com

AJ Pierzynski:  AJ had a down year.  His batting average was in the .240 area for much of the season, yet he surged to end the season at .270/.300/.388.  He managed to hit 9 homers and knock in 56 RBIs.  On defense, he was his normal fairly mediocre self.  Final Grade: C-

Paul Konerko:  The captain had one of, if not his finest season in 2010.  He stepped it way up in his contract year again and put together a very impressive line of .312/.393/.584.  He hit 39 homers and knocked in 111 runs.  Some people knocked his defense, but I didn't really see much of a difference between this year and previous years.  He always does a nice job with the glove.  This one is a no brainer.  Final Grade: A+

Gordon Beckham:  The so called Savior was a major disappointment.  He struggled mightily in the first half, seemed to find himself in the 2nd half and then left us for most of September with a hand injury.  I, and many of you, predicted a Pedroia-like season for the man with the perfect hair.  We were all wrong.  Final Grade: D+

Alexei Ramirez:  The Cuban Missel had a real nice season for the Sox.  He hit .282/.313/.431 with 18 homers and 70 knocked in.  While we would all like to see his OBP rise, the other numbers were there.  All this, while playing absolutely wonderful defense and not showing the lapses in focus we have seen in the past.  Final Grade: A

Mark Teahen:  The Teahen move was questioned from day 1.  The Teahen extension was ridiculed from day 1.  It should have been ridiculed more.  The guy was absolute garbage with the glove, and minus the one huge game he had in Toronto, the bat was just as bad.  The team playing its best baseball when he was banished makes this grade an easy one.  Final Grade: F

Omar Vizquel: I thought the signing was ridiculous.  I was wrong.  Vizquel brought a wonderful presence to the team, filled in admirably for Teahen at third and fit in nicely into the 2 spot after Beckham failed.  Vizquel finished the year with a .276 average after having far more at bats than he, or anyone else expected.  I don't think anyone would have predicted a better season from him.  Final Grade: A

Juan Pierre:  Although I questioned the acquisition and despised him early in the season, Pierre finished the year as one of my favorite players of 2010.  His .275 average was lower than expected but he did reach that magical .340 OBP mark of a passable leadoff man as he finished at .341.  He came up with a lot of clutch hits, played a very nice left field (even though he throws like a girl) and stole 68 bases.  Final Grade: B+

Alex Rios:  Rios had a remarkable first half both offensively and defensively.  He proved Kenny Williams right in taking on his contract and gave the Sox a legit center fielder for the first time in a long time.  He struggled in the 2nd half but finished with a .284/.334/.457 line, which included 21 homers and 34 stolen bases.  If I did this at the All Star break he would have gotten an easy A.  Final Grade: B

Carlos Quentin: Qperman he wasn't.  Injuries, lack of quality outfield play and a .243 average made him one of my personal least favorite Sox players.  He had a hot streak in mid June but for the most part was just there all year long.  Did finish to hit the softest 26 homers and 87 RBI's I ever remember.  Still his only real talent is his ability to get hit by a pitch.  Final Grade: D

Mark Kotsay:  Kotsay took the brunt of the attack from the Ozzie decision to not bring in a quality DH.  It was well worth it as Kotsay finished with a .239/.306/.376 line which included 8 homers and 31 RBI.  Ed Farmer will tell you hit hit the ball hard all season and could have easily hit .310.  Ed Farmer is an idiot.  Final Grade: F

Andruw Jones:  Jones was one of the only bright spots in April, before he too fell down to the rest of his teammates level.  He disappeared from site for a while, then after finally hitting homer #400 came up with some big hits in limited duty.  He finished with a .230/.341/.486 line, with 19 homers and 48 RBIs.  Andruw had a couple of lapses with the glove but overall provided much better defense than Quentin.  If I was sitting in Ozzie's chair I would have had thoughts to leave him play right field on an every day basis.  Final Grade: C+

Razor Ramon Castro: Castro had a pretty good season and should have played a lot more, especially early on.  He only had 1 less homer than AJ in about 360 less AB's.  He came up with a lot of big hits and his defense was no worse (and probably better) than AJ's.  Final Grade: B+

Dayan Viciedo:  The Tank, Pimp, Jack and Dayan etc.... finished his rookie season at .308/.321/.519 with 5 homers, and 13 RBI's in 104 ABs.  His defense proved to be ineffective at third (not that it was much worse than Teahen's but that isn't saying much).  Personally, I think he should have been given a shot as the DH over Kotsay.  Final Grade: A-

Brent Lillibridge: Started strong, then became Brent Lillibridge.  .224/.248/.378.  Wife is mediocre.  Writes funny tweets.  Final Grade: D

Manny Ramirez: Much was made about his arrival.  As soon as he came to the team the Sox rattled off 7 wins in a row.  He was credited for 2 homers from the on deck circle in his first 2 games and that ended up being more than his actual homer total of 1.  Cool to see him in a Sox jersey but the only reason he doesn't fail is his .420 OBP.  Final Grade: D

Brent Morel: Looked like he could play a nice third base and showed some signs of life in his bat with 6 of his 15 hits being XBH.  Final Grade: B

PITCHING STAFF

John Danks: Had a couple of real rotten starts thrown in, but his final numbers are pretty nice.  Had a 3.72 ERA to go with a 15-11 record over 213 innings.  Not as great as some of this community would have you believe, and even though we are facebook feuding I will be the better man.  Final Grade: B+

Mark Buehrle: Buehrle again threw 200+ innings and made 33 starts.  He finished 13-13 with a 4.28 ERA and a sweet play on opening day.  He gave up 246 hits in 210 innings, and only struck out 99, but he was about where we thought he would be. Final Grade: B-

Gavin Floyd: Floyd showed signs of Javy syndrome down the stretch and ended up missing a couple of starts due to injury.  He finished with a 10-13 record and again really struggled to open the season.  The guy has great stuff, but I would like to start seeing better results.  Final Grade: C

Freddy Garcia: Early on, Freddy was the best pitcher on the team.  He solidified the 5th starter role and went 12-6 with a 4.64 ERA.  If he didn't have it, you could tell early and often as he got tagged in a few of his games, but as a 5th starter, coming off of 3 injury plagued seasons he had a really excellent year. Could have easily won 15 games if the bullpen didn't screw him. Final Grade: A-

Jake Peavy:  He was dog crap early on.  Then he seemed to get back to his All Star self. Then got hurt.  Finished 7-6 with a 4.63.  Final Grade: C

Edwin Jackson: Jackson started 11 games for the Sox and finished 4-2 with a 3.24 ERA.  He looked absolutely dominant at times.  He didn't face the stiffest of competition, but 77 K's in 75 IP is still very nice.  Looking forward to seeing what he can do in 2011. Final Grade: A

Tony Pena: Pena's final numbers are 5-3 with a 5.10 ERA.  However, I am going to look past that ERA because he was asked to be the long man/spot starter even though that is not what he has ever done.  Personally, I think he did well for what he was asked to do.  Ozzie's decision to not bring a long man and the starting rotations inability to stay in games early hurt his final numbers.  Final Grade: C

Matt Thornton: Thornton was an all star and finished 5-4 with a 2.67.  He was a key part of the August blow job by the bullpen, but was still very impressive for the most part.  Thornton/Sale could make for an unhittable lefty combination if they choose to go that route.  Final Grade: B+

JJ Putz: Putz was amazing throughout the first half, then struggled in the 2nd half.  He finished 7-5 with a 2.83, but was unable to fill the closer role that most of us wanted him to have.  Part of the August SuckFest.  Final Grade: B

Scott Linebrink:  He was given less of a role this year, which suited him much better.  He finished the year 3-2 with a 4.40 and at times had me thinking he should be brought in during more important stretches of the game.  Wasn't as big of a failure as normal.  Final Grade: C

Bobby Jenks: Again failed to stay healthy and again was subpar when he was healthy.  The former World Series hero has probably squeezed into his rather large White Sox pants for the final time.  Still converted 27/31 saves but they were always an adventure.  Final Grade: C-

Sergio Santos: Sergio was babied in his first full year of pitching.  He finished with a 2.96 ERA over 51+ innings and tallied 56 strikeouts.  Will be nice to see what he can do with an expanded role next season. Final Grade: A-

Chris Sale:  This guy was pitching in college when the season started.  By seasons end I wanted to go buy a gold chain.  Did an outstanding job when called upon as evidenced by his 1.93 ERA over 23+ IP with 32 strikeouts.  Will be interesting to see what direction they choose to take with him.  Final Grade: A+

MANAGEMENT 

Ozzie Guillen (and staff):  Ozzie's DH approach was borderline Special Ed.  His not bringing in a true innings eater in the bullpen cost us games.  He played AJ and Kotsay too much, Castro and Jones too little, kept putting Quentin in right and left Beckham in the 9 hole when he started tearing it up.  The team again tanked in August- an Ozzie tradition.  Had ridiculous run-ins with upper management and refused to tell his son to shut the hell up.  Second subpar season in a row from 13.  Final Grade: D-

Kenny Williams:  He hit on Pierre, Putz, Freddy and Vizquel.  Missed on Teahen, Peavy (that move was made last year but had a huge eye on 2010 when it was made), Kotsay and Manny.  Pushed on Jackson and Jones.  All in all it was his failure to veto ozzie's anti-thome sentiment that caused us to scramble all deadline to find a replacement and then pay Manny at the waiver deadline.  Final Grade: D

Chicago White Sox Final Grade:  The Sox finished with 88 wins, which is what I predicted in my pre-season predictions thread.  Unlike last season, the Sox went on many streaks (both winning and losing).  It made for a shitty spring, a sweet june and july, a BS August and a September of hating the Twins for not losing. They did pretty well in spite of their manager/GM.  Final Grade: B  

Thoughts? Reactions?