Four irksome White Sox talking points

1. What are we learning from intense scrutiny of Tim Anderson‘s walk rate at this point? Anderson is an aggressive hitter who will never walk a lot, and will likely not flash enough power early on to force caution, and his athleticism and bat speed has pushed him at least a level beyond where he would be based on the maturity of his plate approach. He is going to strike out a lot, walk rarely and take plenty of time to develop, because his offense was going to be raw for the majors even if he had not arrived ahead of schedule.

Sure, it would be better if Anderson walked a ton. His lack of on-base skills mean he will probably never be a good top of the order guy even at his peak, yet harping on a basic part of his profile during the fits and starts of his first month in the league doesn’t read as insight, but a lack of understanding of who he is.

2. The Todd Frazier trade has to be viewed in the context in which it was made. Trayce Thompson, though currently slumping like Frazier himself, is matching his offensive production, so if Frankie Montas can eventually return to action and fulfill his destiny as a late-inning reliever, this deal will wind up looking like a net loss in the short-term, when it was already a short-term focused trade.

But the Sox were not dealing Trayce Thompson, finished project, they were dealing with a guy who, stripped of his prospect shine and with a very carefully issued 135 plate appearances, was equally expected to persist as a fourth outfielder/fringe major leaguer as he was to be an asset. For Frazier, they were paying for certainty, and maybe it’s James Shields and Adam LaRoche lowering my standards, but he’s mostly as advertised. There’s a ton of power, the defense is declining but very playable, and if his BABIP ever normalizes (a garish 25 percent infield fly rate isn’t helping) he’s easily in range of a typical Frazier season.

That the Sox could be taken by surprise by Thompson’s success is a big mark against a scouting department that already has to answer for a lot by the end of the year, but they got a fair return for the league wide value for Thompson. There’s a way to be disappointed about this trade–for example, acquiring Frazier to bolster the roster over the next two years, and then failing to replace Thompson with anything richer than a one-year buy low deal with Austin Jackson, makes this whole operation a farce–but it has to go beyond comparing the fWAR of Thompson and Frazier and declaring a winner. Most trades are between teams with contrasting needs and timelines, and this was no exception.

3. Focusing a critique on any single item of the team is not an argument that a change in that area will singlehandedly fix the team. Save for talking Mike Trout out of taking a year off to backpacking through New Zealand, it’s hard to conceive of a single move that can change any team from pedestrian to playoff-worthy on its own. Baseball, to its beauty, is full of marginal elements, adding together to an impossibly interdependent whole. Yet just because there is no clarity and guaranteed significant impact doesn’t render any single action pointless.

In sum, no one thinks Robin Ventura is keeping the White Sox from suddenly being the Cubs, but problems can be identified as problems, and any problem that affects games is worth fixing.

4. $9 million per year for a No. 4 starter is not a big deal or a waste of money. Trading a 17-year-old midlevel IFA prospect for major league talent is not an issue, and trading Erik Johnson is clearly not an issue.

Erik Johnson gave up a game-tying, leadoff home run to Trumbo in the second. Johnson has allowed six homers in 12 innings as a Padre.

— Dennis Lin (@sdutdennislin) June 22, 2016

The only issue with this trade is that the Sox might have failed to catch any hint that they were trading for someone completely useless to their immediate goal of winning more games in the immediate. With the exploding cost of pitching, what the Sox got San Diego to eat from James Shields’ contract means they have him for what would constitute a reasonable deal for mid-to-back end guy.

If Shields is absolutely useless, $9 million on the tab per year is certainly a hindrance, but almost every team is carrying some bad money. In a so-called competing year, $9 million should only hamstring the Sox if they are operating under the same payroll restrictions that kept them from making any multi-year commitments or signings beyond $5 million all offseason, which is to say, unrealistic restrictions for a team that wants to compete while avoiding a full rebuild, which the Sox have also been unwilling to do.

Lead Image Credit: Caylor Arnold // USA Today Sports Images