The Cheat: Passing On Thome Is Ozzie's "All The Pieces Are In Place" Moment

Dear Cheat,

Please don't make stupid, irrelevant comparisons anymore. My friend Ricky reads your stuff everyday and usually takes what you say very seriously. Today he mistakenly let himself be influenced by your porous argument comparing Ozzie to Dave Wandstedt.

"The Cheat's" comparison of Wanny to Ozzie made absolutely no sense.

The blog post said it himself that DW was saying "all the pieces were in place" mainly to rid his team of the Ditka era. Ozzie on the other hand is saying it because he ACTUALLY believes the guys he has can win.

Ozzie has no shadow he needs to try to outrun. If anything it's his shadow that is going to scare the next two or three managers.

Wannstedt didn't sniff the success Ozzie has had. He never won a division crown, he reached the playoffs just once and never won more than nine games.

I trust Ozzie's judgment, in Year 5 of his managing of the Sox- a team he has gone to the playoffs with twice already and won a title- 100 times more than I trust Dave Wannstedt in Year 4 in his wildly-disappointing tenure as Bears head coach.

So we're talking on two different scales here. Ozzie has won enough games and pushed the right buttons enough times to make this "his" team and have the ability to say he feels everything is ready to go. And he isn't saying it just to assure people he is capable of managing the team; unlike DW.

Just because the guy "wasn't even a good shortstop" should not scare people away from the idea that he might be able to manage an offense efficiently.

And by far the least important argument I would like to make is that the 1996 Bears did not succeed just because Kevin Butler was not the kicker.

I'll miss Thome, but there are a lot of reasons why I think this is good.

All teams for basically the past 4 years have done the "Thome shift." Only once, ONCE, have I seen Thome try to push a ball down the third base line. He only hit for the fences.

Also, now, if the DH rotation gets on base, it won't be station to station ball. They already have enough guys that can clog the bases.

The Sox never did anything great with Thome anyways. Yes, he hit the homerun in game 163, but what did that amount to? He went 2 for 16 in the loss against the Rays. Just getting into the playoffs is not what I consider a successful season.

Phil: the comparison has more to do with ego getting in the way with logic. In both cases, the coaches wanted to win on their terms. I think that's as far as he was trying to stretch that.

Mike: It's not so much about Thome as it is heading into the season with Kotsay-Jones-Vizquel. Thome is a safe bet to out-produce those guys, but so would a number of other "real" DHs. Jack Cust (who resigned with the A's), or Russ Branyan, or Dye...you name it. It's the Sox's (and Ozzie's) refusal to add another batter because of "flexibility" that is the head-scrather. This offense is bad now as it as, why not sign another guy who can hit for power and drive in runs? That's the advantage you have in the AL. It's like the Sox of purposely conceding that.

But like I said, if this DH Rotation isn't working out, I trust Kenny will get another bat.

Ricky, you need to hop on the Greg Oden story asap (no pun intended.)

I like Thome as much as the next guy (or gal) but I don't feel he's that much of an offensive threat anymore. His days of pounding out 40+ homers are in the rear view mirror.

Guys with big swings like Jim struggle getting into a groove when the weather is inclement, as it often is for at least two months out of every season here in Chicago.

Players with a shorter stroke, and a little speed are better equipped to put the ball in play, and make something happen when temperatures are in the 40's and 50's.

Also; with youth comes the advantage of agility and quicker reflexes; components that begin to fade rapidly as one approaches the age of 40. It's just a fact of life, and roster decisions should not be made based upon those rare exceptions.

I just can't see paying the kind of money that a future HOF player such as Thome would command for 20 to 30 dingers, and 60 to 70 walks. It just doesn't add up, especially when you factor into the equation that he's about as useless as a broken bat once he gets on base, and is unable to sub defensively for any players in the starting line-up.

At this stage in his career, he's a luxury that we can't afford.