Dan McGuinness

On Thursday, Ken “The Hawk” Harrelson made some comments on the “Carmen & Jurko Show” on ESPN that some fans didn’t like very much. According to Hawk there are no untouchables on the Sox roster right now. He is right.

“I’ve never, ever seen a player who couldn’t be traded. Never. If the deal is right you can trade anybody,” Harrelson said Thursday on “The Carmen & Jurko Show” on ESPN Chicago 1000. “Would I hate to lose Chris Sale? Yes. First of all, because he’s something special in the talent department, and the other thing is he’s one of the nicest young men you’ll ever meet. He’s great in the clubhouse, he’s great for the team. But if the right deal came up, I’d trade him, I’d trade anybody on our ballclub. There’s no untouchables, and if you’re going to have one good outstanding talent on a club that’s trying to get ready maybe not so much for next year but 2015, then you’ve got to think about things. It will be interesting to see what (general manager) Rick (Hahn) and his staff does.”

Fans are quick to criticize the Sox announcer bringing up how Hawk’s one year as Sox GM in the 1980’s was an utter disaster and he should just stick to announcing. Harrelson is the only GM to ever fire Tony LaRussa as manager. Something he sarcastically jokes about nowadays. But… Hawk is right. The White Sox are in no position to be stubborn and hold onto players when the team has no chance. They gave too many chances to Brian Anderson in 2006 when the team traded away fan-favorite Aaron Rowand. Giving Anderson the starting center fielder job. Anderson is now in the Kansas City Royals minor league system trying to be a pitcher.

I agree, if the Sox were in the “process” of re-building, then yes, you hang onto a guy like Sale as long as there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. But there’s a problem. The Sox have not even remotely started rebuilding or have made the decision to rebuild. GM Rick Hahn recently made a comment suggesting he was still waiting for the Sox to roll off a winning streak to climb back into contention. Yeah, that’ll happen. Even winning two of three from the division leading Tigers this week isn’t enough to show that the Sox are capable of doing that. It’s not going to happen.

This team is easily two to three years away from being a sustainable, steady contender in the division, not just the AL. This is Detroit’s division for a long time to come unless the Sox make some serious changes. 2008 was a flash in the pan. The Sox had to trade for old man Griffey and got the best game John Danks will ever pitch in his life to even get to the playoffs that year. Then were easily disposed by the Rays. Look who contends every year… The Rays. Look who has traded valuable trade piece after trade piece WHEN their trade-value was at it’s highest, but still able to contend, The Rays. 2005 was what it was but we haven’t been close to that since. Sale will be near the end of his contract when the team is even remotely able to contend. A team can be in first place and not be a first-place caliber team. We saw that in 2012 when the Sox were in first place for over 100 days. Everyone kept waiting for the shoe to drop and we finally saw that happen in September.

You can’t count on the team being contenders in 3-4 years. Chris Sale’s value is extremely high right now and he’s a lefty. The fact that he’s as good as he is and he’s a lefty, makes him the most intriguing pitcher on the market, IF the Sox make him available. Consider the wear & tear on Sale’s arm by then. Sure he may hold up but considering they’re already watching his innings and he’s skipped starts b/c of elbow soreness or whatever, the Sox should trade him. He EASILY becomes the TOP pitcher on the market if the Sox put him out there. If they find the right deal and can get back one of two or even three top prospects back for him, then you do it. Depending on how bad a team needs him. Factoring in the extra Wild Card in both leagues this year, there are more contenders this year and every team always needs a Chris Sale. He’s an amazing pitcher, probably the best the Sox have seen since Jose Contreras went an entire calendar year without losing a game in 2005-2006.

The problem is if you trade him or someone else, this team has not been good at identifying prospects. You can’t argue with the pitching. It’s either Don Cooper or the Sox Minor League pitching scouts that should be given raises. But when you get to position players, the Sox have swung & missed, immensely. So far, Josh Phegley cannot be added to a prospect conversation. He’s off to a great start but give big-league pitchers a chance to study him and make adjustments. The real watch will be how he makes adjustments to those pitchers’ adjustments. But, so far so good.

Brent Morel, Josh Fields (and his quietest hands Hawk has ever seen), Jerry Owens, Gordon Beckham, Brian Anderson, Jordan Danks, Jared Mitchell, Tyler Flowers, etc. are just a handful of names the Sox have pushed out onto the field the past five to six years stating they were the next “guy” at their given position. Beckham has been in the league how long now? Even in limited action this year because of his broke bone in his hand, he is batting .342 (thru Thurs, July 11th’s game). He has only played in 42 games this season… roughly half of the Sox’ season. That doesn’t qualify for being a league-competitive average.

So the next time you hear Hawk Harrelson spew out this or that, it’s always worth listening to. He does know baseball. Sure he’s a homer, he’ll even admit it. But he’s right when he says the Sox have no untouchables on their roster. They’re not a good team. They can use Chris Sale to become a better team for the future or hang on to him and continue to lose games and win here or there. They weren’t winning many games when he pitches anyways because the team cannot hit.

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