There has been some heated debate among White Sox fans since the news broke Monday about Ozzie Guillen’s decision not to bring back Jim Thome for this coming season. There are people that think it was the right call, there are people that think the Sox really need Thome’s power in the lineup with Jermaine Dye gone, and there are people who think he should be on the roster regardless of production or playing time just because he’s a great club house guy and will help the younger players along. I tend to side with the people who feel it was the right call, but I will discuss the other opinions as well.
I really do believe Ozzie did the right thing here. When I heard the decision was up to Ozzie, I was hoping he would decide not to bring Big Jim back. He had a couple productive years for the Sox but if you look up and down this roster, he doesn’t really fit into a role. A player like Thome would really mess up the balance of the roster. This is a team that was built on athleticism and that definitely isn’t Thome. There just isn’t room on this roster for a guy that can’t score from second on a single or from first on a double and can’t contribute in any way defensively.
To those of you who think the Sox need Thome’s power in the lineup, I think you might be remembering the Thome of 2006, not the Thome from 2009. Thome didn’t have what you could call a stellar year in 2009. Last year his homerun total was by far the lowest of his career for a full season. And he struck out A LOT, hit only .249, and was a total liability on the bases. A .366 on base percent is great for a guy with his batting average but his lack of anything even resembling speed really hurt the White Sox last year. There are games when you are in a pitchers duel and may only have 1 or 2 innings when there are scoring opportunities and when Jim Thome draws a walk in the 4th inning you can’t pinch run for him that early in the game so he becomes a liability. He’s not going to steal (hell the pitcher could throw from the windup and he couldn’t go anywhere) so the first baseman can play behind him in a better defensive position which hurts the guy at bat, the outfield can play a little closer in the take away a bloop hit because he can’t score from first on anything over the outfielders’ heads, and he’s very easy to double up because he won’t be able to disrupt the throw from second. It got to the point last year where teams would walk him to kill a rally because they knew he totally threw off the rhythm of the offense by being on base. At this point in his career he is best served as just a pinch hitter, but with a 25 man roster and, at most, only 14 of those spots going to position players, you can’t give up a spot to a guy that can only pinch hit and can’t in any way help on defense. And while the White Sox probably only have one guy with 35 homerun potential, 8 of the 9 guys in the batter order will hit 15 or more homruns, with at least 5 or 6 of them probably getting to 20 or more. They don’t have huge power guys, but they will still hit plenty of home runs. They just won’t all come from 3 or 4 guys like they have in years past.
And for the argument that Thome should be on the team regardless of playing time because he’s a “club house guy” and a mentor to the younger players, well that’s actually a pretty compelling argument. I don’t disagree with that at all. The problem lies with what I mentioned in the previous paragraph about the roster spots. I would love to see Thome in a White Sox uniform for those reasons, but the roster size doesn’t allow it. Maybe he decides to retire after this coming season and they could bring him back as some sort of consultant or a bench coach in a mentoring role. I would love to see that, but unfortunately he just doesn’t fit on this organization as a player anymore.
I would like to make it know that I am a huge Jim Thome fan and I am not trying to slam him. I’m just pointing out the realities of his career at the stage its in. I think the numbers he put up in the steroid and PED era without ever using them are amazing. He should be a first ballot Hall of Famer and anyone who doesn’t vote for him on the first ballot should permanently lose their Hall of Fame vote. And as a person, he was one of the best human beings to ever put on a uniform. That’s why, as a Sox fan, I would welcome him back to the organization after his playing days are over.
It just been reported the Jim signed a one year deal with the Twins. I wish him well and hope he has a good season, except for the 18 games against the White Sox.
Thome is a stand up guy in an era full as idiots. But I completely agree that he doesn’t belong on a team looking to compete seriously. It doesn’t matter if you can get on base if you can’t get over and get in. And the only way Thome is doing that is with a series of walks or singles behind him.
The Sox have relied on power and the long ball for too long. It is nice to see them focusing on small ball.
Get on, get over, get in. Do that and you will win ball games.
Being a White sox fan and a Jim Thome fan I have mixed emotions with it. I agree that he is no shape to steel or to run when the need is there but the power, yes it is diminished a little, but it is still there. Now that he is not on the team what do you do with the DH? Ozzie wants rotating DH. That means such players as Mark Kotsay and Andrew Jones could be used. I just don’t know if that is a good idea or not. Will have to wait and see what happens right.
Absolutely love big Jim but it’s time for the sox to move on and get away from being overloaded in the middle of the lineup with station to station hulks. I don’t know if the dh by committee is a good idea either because hitters need consistant ab’s. That’s why Ozzie didn’t want to bring Jim back right? He wouldn’t get enough ab’s. I’ll bet by June either Jones or Quinten is the everyday dh.
I really think Ozzie is hoping Jones will have a decent offensive year playing in The Cell and not having to worry about playing the field everyday. I know they want to keep Quinten in the field and not DH him too much. He thinks about his at bats too much and over analyzes every little thing. They are worried he’ll drive himself crazy without the distraction of playing defense. Ideally, Jones will have a decent year, doesn’t even have to be really good, just good enough, and Carlos can stay healthy enough to play the outfield everyday. Then Ozzie can keep Kotsay on the bench since he can be a defensive replacement late in games and is one of the best pinch hitters in all of baseball. But that’s the perfect scenario and things rarely work out as planned.
I love it! You’re right, Quentin does over analyze his swing, he would be a horrible dh! Now that I think about it. He wouldn’t even be able to a walk! Lets hope Jones can come through as a solid dh!