Okay, setting aside that Gio Gonzalez is a pretty interesting pitching prospect, the Phillies now have a pretty nice pair of problems on their hands: shopping Jon Lieber, and looking forward to a rotation that starts with Chief Garcia and Brett Myers, and then boasts Cole Hamels, Adam Eaton, and Jamie Moyer. Sure, there’s risk involved with the durability of everyone beyond Garcia, but it’s a better unit than the ones that won the pennant in ‘93 and ‘83. Now, if they can use Lieber to acquire the right fielder this lineup lacks, they’re not in bad shape as far as an initial hand with which to pursue the pennant.
As for the White Sox, maybe they really wanted Gonzalez back, but I expect there’s another shoe that needs to drop now that they’ve saved themselves more than $9 million in salary. Until then, it would be hasty to pass judgment on Kenny Williams. Floyd and Gonzalez both have talent, and Don Cooper’s an underrated pitching coach who might get more out of Floyd than the Phillies did. Certainly, this creates a nice potential competition for Brandon McCarthy in camp for the fifth slot, and if Floyd takes to Cooper’s instruction, the Sox might not wind up that far behind in terms of talent alone for the one year of Chief they’ve dealt. If they put that extra payroll to work, this could be the first part of a winter that makes life that much harder for the rest of the AL Central.
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