GM Kenny Williams is in the process of cleaning house. Ozzie Guillen has been spun out of town to the Marlins, and replaced by a manager who will listen to the GM, Robin Ventura, who has zero managerial experience.
Williams surprised many by trading his closer, Santos, to the Blue Jays for a good, 22 year old pitching prospect. Williams further surprised when he sent back reliever Jason Frasor back to the Jays for two low minor pitching prospects (one good, one not so good). Then feeling good about that, Williams finally traded RF Carlos Quentin to the Padres for two low minor league pitching prospects (one good, one not so good). Clearly, a pattern is developing here: trade for low level prospects and cut the payroll for 2012. Williams has pared $34 million off the 2011 payroll, which in a long recession and announced ticket price reductions, is a prudent course. But the cleaning of payroll is not over; rumors have it Williams wants to dump reliever Thorton ($12 million owed for 2 years) and starter Floyd ($16 million/2 years). Since 4th starter free agents are commanding $10 million, Floyd could be moved to a contender by the trade deadline.
But the real trading chip for Williams was power hitting RF Quentin. As the off-season began, a good match for a trade partner would have been the Atlanta Braves, who were looking for a power hitting right handed outfielder. And the Braves put it out there that starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens and second baseman Martin Prado were available. It would have been a good match to send Quentin (and Gordon Beckman and prospect/cash) to Atlanta for the Jurrjens and Prado, who would be two position upgrades for the Sox. But the teams were never linked in any trade discussions. (The Rockies were looking for a package deal with the Braves, but it stalled.)
Even the Cubs were not in the discussion, which can only be explained by the fact that the team cannot take on the salaries of Jurrjens and/or Prado, who would be huge upgrades for the Cubs. At the time, the Cubs had Colvin, LeMathieu and could toss in pitching prospects such as Carpenter or McNutt, to make the deal. The Braves have a surplus of young pitching so Jurrjens, who had an injury last season but is still has All Star potential, was available. The Braves price may be too high for any team.
