The Path Not Taken

The White Sox have had themselves a nice little run of starting pitching the first five games of the season, including last night, when Rule-5 acquisition Shane Smith threw 5-2/3 shutout innings against the Twins. Too bad Smith lost his control and walked the final two batters he face3d. That led Will Venable to call on his bullpen, as if he had one. A 3-0 lead turned into an 8-3 loss. Of course, Smith and Martin Perez might not be with the Sox if management had decided to keep Garrett Crochet, someone the Red Sox think enough of to award a six-year, $170 million extension. But, hey, we got a whole bunch of minor leaguers in exchange for the 25-year old lefty. Who cares if Kyle Teel sits in Triple-A? Crochet and Sean Burke and Jonathan Cannon and Davis Martin and Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith? We don’t need no stinkin’ high-priced ace. That’s big-market ball. The White Sox prefer to develop, then trade. It’s the path they’ve taken, every time.