The Chicago White Sox, making a play to stay atop the AL Central and get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2005, made a pretty weird deal yesterday, picking up an aging Ken Griffey Junior from the Reds in exchange for two mid-level prospects. The deal is less strange in its details than it is in its effects and implications: Paul Konerko, captain of the ballclub and mayor of South Side Chicago has basically been bumped from the lineup.
Konerko was drafted all the way back in strike-shortened, summer-of-O.J. 1994, going 13th overall to the Los Angeles Dodgers (right between Nomar Garciaparra and Jason Varitek). Hailing from Providence, Rhode Island, the 6′3″ Konerko was selected as a catcher, but was shifted to 1B when they bumped him up to the AA San Antonio Missions. He responded by increasing his OPS 120 points over the previous year, and aside from brief stints at third base and in the outfield, the change was a permanent one. The Dodgers called him up in September of 1997 and he singled in his first at-bat as a pinch hitter for the legendary Mike Harkey.
He broke camp with the Dodgers in 1998 as a 22 year old, but stunk, slugging just .306 in 144 at-bats (he somehow managed to hit only one double in that span). The Dodgers weren’t thrilled with what they saw, and so they traded Konerko on July 4th (along with Denny Reyes – yes, THAT Dennys Reyes) to the Reds for closer Jeff Shaw. Konerko failed to impress the Reds, and was traded after a half-season to the Chicago White Sox who, after shifting Frank Thomas to DH, were looking for a young and talented first baseman (Cameron was expendable after going .210/.285/.336 with 101 strikeouts in 396 at-bats in ‘98).
Jerry Manuel and the White Sox handed Konerko the starting first baseman job out of spring training, and he responded by posting an OPS of .558 in April. The team stuck with him though, and he began to hit: he batted .420 with 7 homers in July, and then drove in 26 runs in August. He finished the year at .294 with 81 RBI. He earned his first All-Star nod in 2002, and from 2004-2006 was especially prolific, batting .291 over that span with 330 RBI and 116 HR. The White Sox, of course, won the World Series in 2005, thanks in no small part to Konerko’s 15 post-season RBI (he was named MVP of the ALCS and knocked a grand slam in the World Series). Konerko’s contract expired following that season, but he decided to accept Chicago’s 5-year, $60-million dollar offer to stay part of the ballclub along with new DH Jim Thome, whose signing signaled the end of Frank Thomas’ 16-year career with the club. The 30 year old Konerko was named team captain by Ozzie Guillen in April 2006.
Chicago finished in 3rd in 2006 and 4th in 2007, but the team currently sits atop the AL Central division, and yesterday added 38 year old first-ballot Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Junior to the club. The move was necessitated largely by the ineffectiveness of certain key members of the Sox offense, including Konerko. The organization plans to play Griffey in center field – which at face value is a terrible idea – and shift Nick Swisher to first base. The move will seriously affect Konerko who, in his 10th year with the White Sox is posting a miserable .214/.312/.349 line with just 35 RBI on the year. Swisher (L) and Konerko (R) are likely platoon partners now, and the club is obviously hoping that the arrangement lights a fire under one of them, as Swisher himself has disappointed with a .228 average. Konerko had this to say two days ago:
“No doubt, Kenny is working,” White Sox first baseman and team captain Paul Konerko added. “He’s not working to get a deal done, but you can rest assured he’s on top of everything. He’s working on everything from every angle. This year, above any other year here, probably excluding last year because we were out of it, it just doesn’t feel like there’s anything going on, like there’s any moves that are going to happen.”
As it turns out, the one move that did happen will affect Konerko the most. For his part, he’s taken the Griffey rental (the White Sox and Reds will split the $4 million buyout of his 2009 option) like the true professional that he is, but it has to sting a little bit. Kenny Williams is a very smart GM, and one has to wonder if he made the trade as much to take pressure off Konerko’s bat as he did to put pressure on him to produce. Konerko’s sudden and precipitous decline has seemed to be prompted by either a pitch recognition problem, an injury, or because he’s pressing desperately. Here’s a few numbers to chew on: coming into August, Konerko’s swinging at 2.60% more balls outside the strike zone than he was in 2007, and at 2.73% more pitches overall. On balls outside the strike zone, he’s making contact with an incredible 11% fewer pitches, the most dramatic dropoff in the majors from 2007-2008. His contact rate overall is down 5.33%, third worst in the majors, and when you – albeit crudely – combine his change in the rate of balls outside the strike zone that he swings at with his change in his outside-the-zone contact rate, Paul Konerko has experienced the most dramatic dropoff in the majors over the past year where the ability to handle pitches off the plate is concerned. If you’re interested, the most-improved player is B.J. Upton.
The White Sox control Swisher through 2011 (club option for 2012) and, should he play like the White Sox hope he’s capable of playing, he’s a steal (he’ll make $5.3m in 2009). Konerko’s under contract at $12m per through the 2010 season, after which he’ll be entering his age 35 season. There is no organizational shake-up occurring here: Kenny Williams appears to be making a bold and interesting move in acquiring a half-year bat to take playing time away from his team captain during a deep and prolonged slump. It’s difficult to say how this will effect the team’s defense as a whole: Swisher is probably an upgrade from Konerko at 1B (Konerko’s defense is getting quite bad these days), but Griffey is very old and a very, very bad defender. Bordered by Quentin and Dye, the White Sox might have the worst defensive starting outfield in the majors.
They obviously don’t expect Griffey to stay healthy, no one is that stupid. Since the turn of the millennium, Griffey has averaged 374 at-bats per season, and roaming center field at U.S. Cellular, the man is a mortal lock to miss time, which would shift Swisher back to center and put Konerko at first. Theoretically, that could happen as soon as tonight: Griffey’s never safe, never far from a strained hamstring or pulled quad. Perhaps that’s how the trade should be viewed. This isn’t that big of a deal, because Griffey is basically volatile bench depth who will happen to be starting when healthy, which will add up to anywhere from 0-200 at-bats (and that upper limit is mighty generous). If Konerko’s humble attitude continues and they get decent production from the Swisher-Konerko-Griffey-Thome mélange, Williams will have pulled off an enviable feat: adding depth and usurping playing time from a star veteran without having to worry about hurting anyone’s pride or feelings. Griffey hasn’t had a playoff at-bat since grounding out to Cal Ripken Jr. off Armando Benitez in the 1997 ALDS against the Orioles. Thome’s last playoff AB was a groundout to Bret Boone off Jeff Nelson in the 2001 ALDS. With 34+ years of playing time between them, neither has a World Series ring, and both badly want one. The White Sox have told Konerko that where they need him most right now is in a reduced role, but make no mistake about it: they need their veteran captain more than ever.
“I’m pretty sure it will cut playing time, so I’ll just do what’s asked of me,” Konerko said Thursday. “I don’t care what, where or whenever, but I’ll just do what’s asked of me. That’s it. Make the best of it. We have a good team here, just help when I can help, that’s all I can do.”
To those ends, winning a World Series probably wouldn’t hurt very much either. If that happens, with a few more productive years from Konerko, he’s arguably approaching Retired Number status. Konerko was offered more money by the Orioles after the 2005 season, but came back to Chicago because it was, ultimately, where he wanted to be. With his effective demotion, he’s got a bittersweet chance to prove that love, and cement his place in the Windy City’s long and illustrious baseball lore.
