My Precious

More than anyone, White Sox fans should balk at trading away prospects for veterans. I know I don’t like it. After winning the AL pennant in 1959, Sox owner Bill Veeck thought what he needed to repeat was more power, this despite his team playing in beautiful, cavernous Comiskey Park. So, he traded away five young players—catcher Earl Battey; outfielder Johnny Callison; first baseman Norm Cash; first baseman Don Mincher; and catcher John Romano. And what did they get in return? Two years of Minnie Minoso and Roy Sievers along with one season of Gene Freese. Three of those players—Callison, Cash and Mincher—were good for 795 homeruns between them while Battey and Romano totaled another 182 homers after being traded away. The thing of it is the Sox didn’t strip all the talent from their farm system, just most of the hitting. Combine the above with the likes of Gary Peters and Joel Horlen, and you’ve got a team that could have sent the Yankees into decline years before it happened. Then we have the Sox trading off all that young talent from the 1970s. Goodbye, Bucky Dent; Brian Downing; Terry Forster; and Goose Gossage. Hello, mediocrity. And let’s not forget the miscellaneous trades down through the years: Doug Drabek for Roy Smalley; Bob Wickman and others for Steve Sax; Chris Devenski and others for Brett Myers. So, excuse me for not jumping up and down yesterday over the Sox trading Dane Dunning and a prospect for Lance Lynn. That’s a soon-to-be 26-year old for a starter who turns 34 in May and will be in his walk-year. GM Rick Hahn better hope Dunning has already hit his ceiling. Because, if not… On the other hand, I don’t have any problem with the Sox signing Adam Eaton to a one-year deal with a club option. Eaton rubs a lot of people the wrong way, which I think comes with the territory of being small player; Eaton stands 5’9”. Yes, he called 14-year old Drake LaRoche a clubhouse leader, but we all say dumb things. In a way, the Sox just got younger, with Lynn and Eaton in place of Gio Gonzalez and Edwin Encarnacion. So, that’s a plus. As far as trading away young talent, all I can do is cross my fingers and hope.