By Mark GonzalesThere's a great chance that J.J. Putz won't be another Bartolo Colon for the White Sox.
For starters, Putz is scheduled to throw off a mound next month, unlike the more deliberate schedule Colon was placed on last spring.
Second, Putz is scheduled to be ready when the Sox hold their first workout for pitchers and catchers on Feb. 21 without any restrictions after undergoing surgery last June to remove a bone spur and fragments from his right pitching elbow.
Whether Putz can regain his 2007 American League all-star form remains to be seen, but at least the Sox kept track of Putz's rehab dating back to last season and the information made available to them through Brett Fischer, who supervised Putz's rehabilitation in Phoenix.
Fischer has been instrumental in the longevity of five-time Cy Young
Award winner Randy Johnson and the health of other top baseball players. He recently
expanded his duties and now works with the NFL's Arizona Cardinals.
Fischer reported that Putz has thrown well recently in long toss drills in front of several teams. The plans call for Putz to take a break over Christmas before throwing off a mound for the first time since his surgery.
It's not uncommon for pitchers to not throw off a mound until a few weeks prior to spring training, so Putz is ahead of schedule.
"We've had no problems," Fischer said. "He's working hard, whether it's on his throwing program or his core work. He's been a good guy to work with."
With D.J. Carrasco likely to not be tendered a contract Saturday night and become a free agent, there is the chance that rookie Daniel Hudson could slide into Carrasco's long relief role while receiving hands-on training from pitching coach Don Cooper and veteran pitchers Jake Peavy and Mark Buehrle.
But another consideration would be to send Hudson to the minors for more consistent work until he's ready to join the major league staff. That would create a spot for Sergio Santos, who was converted from an infielder to a pitcher and possesses a 98 mph fastball.
Santos is out of options, and the Sox avoided losing him in Thursday's Rule 5 draft by putting him on their 40-man roster. If Santos doesn't pitch well in spring, the Sox could be faced with exposing him to waivers.
Meanwhile, general manager Ken Williams didn't seem enthused about possibly acquiring a left-handed reliever from the list of players not tendered contracts late Saturday night.
Williams added that the Sox have enough faith in Randy Williams, who limited left-handed batters to a .162 batting average with 14 strikeouts in 27 at-bats. Randy Williams finished with a 4.58 ERA in 25 appearances, and the Sox's GM said Randy Williams' troubles stemmed from being asked to perform duties he was unsuited for.
Simply, Randy Williams is more effective against left-handed batters than right-handed batters (who hit .269 against him).
If the Sox want to add competition, they may consider a member of their 2005 World Series title team.
Neal Cotts is expected to be non-tendered by the Cubs, who may try to sign him to a minor league contract. Cotts, not a favorite of Cubs manager Lou Piniella, had a 2.84 ERA in 12 games with Triple-A Iowa but had a 7.36 ERA in 19 games with the Cubs.
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has been a fan of Cotts for his work in 2005, and pitching coach Don Cooper may be able to help Cotts regain his form during his World Series season.
Fischer reported that Putz has thrown well recently in long toss drills in front of several teams. The plans call for Putz to take a break over Christmas before throwing off a mound for the first time since his surgery.
It's not uncommon for pitchers to not throw off a mound until a few weeks prior to spring training, so Putz is ahead of schedule.
"We've had no problems," Fischer said. "He's working hard, whether it's on his throwing program or his core work. He's been a good guy to work with."
With D.J. Carrasco likely to not be tendered a contract Saturday night and become a free agent, there is the chance that rookie Daniel Hudson could slide into Carrasco's long relief role while receiving hands-on training from pitching coach Don Cooper and veteran pitchers Jake Peavy and Mark Buehrle.
But another consideration would be to send Hudson to the minors for more consistent work until he's ready to join the major league staff. That would create a spot for Sergio Santos, who was converted from an infielder to a pitcher and possesses a 98 mph fastball.
Santos is out of options, and the Sox avoided losing him in Thursday's Rule 5 draft by putting him on their 40-man roster. If Santos doesn't pitch well in spring, the Sox could be faced with exposing him to waivers.
Meanwhile, general manager Ken Williams didn't seem enthused about possibly acquiring a left-handed reliever from the list of players not tendered contracts late Saturday night.
Williams added that the Sox have enough faith in Randy Williams, who limited left-handed batters to a .162 batting average with 14 strikeouts in 27 at-bats. Randy Williams finished with a 4.58 ERA in 25 appearances, and the Sox's GM said Randy Williams' troubles stemmed from being asked to perform duties he was unsuited for.
Simply, Randy Williams is more effective against left-handed batters than right-handed batters (who hit .269 against him).
If the Sox want to add competition, they may consider a member of their 2005 World Series title team.
Neal Cotts is expected to be non-tendered by the Cubs, who may try to sign him to a minor league contract. Cotts, not a favorite of Cubs manager Lou Piniella, had a 2.84 ERA in 12 games with Triple-A Iowa but had a 7.36 ERA in 19 games with the Cubs.
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has been a fan of Cotts for his work in 2005, and pitching coach Don Cooper may be able to help Cotts regain his form during his World Series season.
Photo: J.J. Putz and Bartolo Colon. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images and Phil Velasquez/Tribune)
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It cracks me up when people proclaim a player is "washed up" or "finished" without reading any of the medical reports on the guy or seeing him pitch in the last week or so when several teams looked at him.
Reading stat lines is soooo much easier.
Kenny can't tell whether he's got his Putz in his hand or his thumb up his Colon.
MartyKS on December 12, 2009 10:53 PM
Perhaps you are correct and I have been too quick on the "Submit" button and not quick enough on stats and spell check. If he can get back anywhere near 2007 he will be a great improvement over what we had. My apologizes to Minneapolis Sox Fan!
The proof's in the pudding. Let's just remember these people who made all these "He's finnish." types of statements and impale them on them next season. If they turn out to right, they can crow all they want to, but at least KW tried to improve the club. It's obvious that Linebrink is not the answer, well, unless the question is, "Who's the worst pitcher in Chicago?"
Minnesota Sox Fan on December 12, 2009 7:19 AM
First of all I know more about Baseball than you ever will. This guy is washed up PERIOD! Why do you think they cut him. Nothing wrong with my english but I did miss spell finished. Sorry for the TYPO - You must be a joke because you have no idea what you are talking about. This guy is way over rated and proved it by his stats last year. I been around baseball for 50 years. How many years have you been around? Not many I can tell - Its obvious you would not know a STUD if you saw one. This guy will prove to be a bust. I suggest that you do some reading and try to understand what talent is, because this guy is not it. Maybe it is you who should not post here any more as you are embarrising yourself with your ignorance!
Minnesota Sox Fan on December 12, 2009 7:19 AM
First of all I know more about Baseball than you ever will. This guy is washed up PERIOD! Why do you think they cut him. Nothing wrong with my english but I did miss spell finished. Sorry for the TYPO - You must be a joke because you have no idea what you are talking about. This guy is way over rated and proved it by his stats last year. I been around baseball for 50 years. How many years have you been around? Not many I can tell - Its obvious you would not know a STUD if you saw one. This guy will prove to be a bust. I suggest that you do some reading and try to understand what talent is, because this guy is not it. Maybe it is you who should not post here any more as you are embarrising yourself with your ignorance!
Minnesota Sox Fan on December 12, 2009 7:19 AM
First of all I know more about Baseball than you ever will. This guy is washed up PERIOD! Why do you think they cut him. Nothing wrong with my english but I did miss spell finished. Sorry for the TYPO - You must be a joke because you have no idea what you are talking about. This guy is way over rated and proved it by his stats last year. I been around baseball for 50 years. How many years have you been around? Not many I can tell - Its obvious you would not know a STUD if you saw one. This guy will prove to be a bust. I suggest that you do some reading and try to understand what talent is, because this guy is not it. Maybe it is you who should not post here any more as you are embarrising yourself with your ignorance!
Cotts had tommy john surgery in july.he is done for another year,why sign him?
Bad Baseball Move:
You are the one who is brainless.
Winning a division title is only a "really bad year" in the minds of the brainless.
No, I didn't have any alcohol mixed in with my Kool-ade when I previously posted that Putz, The 400lb .210 hitting Andrew Jones, and the beyond awful Alex Rios were good pickups. While, for reasons unbeknownst to anyone with a clue, compared those middling pickups to the Cubs.
I just felt the need to turn a meesage board devoted to the White Sox picking up an injured pitcher who had an ERA north of 5 in the best pitchers park in the league into a Cubs discussion. Yep, like fellow poster Robert LeGear, I could resist the urge to share my creepy obsession with all things Cubs.
The White Sox picking up a washed up relief pitcher made me post about the Cubs. I guess you could say I am typical southside trash.
Rodger Harris:
Please SHUT UP and don't re-post here until 1: you learn how to spell and use correct English, 2: you learn SOMETHING about baseball (because apparently, you don't know anything), and 3: you realize that ONE bad year doesn't mean someone is finished (or in your words, "finnish").
Putz is a STUD! Was an All-Star with Seattle and went to the Mets and got hurt (big surprise...most pitchers that go to the Mets get hurt). Putz will regain his All-Star form with Don Cooper watching over him.
AWESOME pickup K-Dub
This was a great pick up by KW. Pitchers recover extremely well from elbow surgery whereas the shoulder is much riskier so i have more faith in Putz` return to excellence than the Cubs` Ted Lilly coming back healthy from a "routine clean up" of the shoulder.KW is now free to dangle Jenks for Crawford or Upton to cure our lead off man issues. .
Another good pick up by Mr. Williams. Let's see now, in the last few months: he's added Peavy, Rios, Teahen, Jones, [(.214 BA,17Hrs,and 42RBI's) for $500,000 compared to North Siders, left handed bat, world series guarantee (,257BA, 40RBI's, 12hrs, club house cancer) @ 30Mil for 3 years] and a utility infielder who made zero errors last year. Great job Mr. Williams.
However, you didn't refurbish the back of the scoreboard, you didn't put up a wall to block a casino's advertizing,you didn't freeze part of your spacious parking lot for an ice skating rink, you didn't raise ticket prices, you didn't preserve the troughs in the washrooms, and you are not shopping for a new marketing manager. In other words Mr. Williams you didn't do all those things necessary to please your fans. Is it any wonder, that the north side fans are so very, very, very, critical (jealous) of you. Keep it up Kenny - stick it to them. Those masochists love it.
Sure "Ozzie", no one good has ever gotten injured and come back and ever been good again. It's a little known fact that if you ever have a bad season you will never be good ever, ever EVER again. The Sox just felt like spending money and decided to spend it on a guy who is guaranteed to be bad. Its not like they monitored his progress or anything, or they have one of the best pitching coaches in baseball. Nope, Kenny Williams just felt like picking up a player for the hell of it. Pure genius, you know, kind of like you.
Rodger Harris - Please be on this board next July. Putz compiled a sub-2 era over 2 seasons combined at Seattle. Cannot wait to see how much crow you can eat. Got a big fork?
Finnish? I don't think he's actually from Finland.
Why would anybody pay this guy that kind of money. Putz was 1-4 with a 5.22 ERA with the Mets in 29 appearances last season. I don't get it - this guy cant pitch his way out of a wet paper bag. He's is obviously finnish and will never recover. What a bumb and now like the Bears and Jerry NO JUDGE OF TALENT. KW has lost his mind. What is it with GM' in Chicago what have they been smokin! Terrible deal KW - You need to go on Oprah or maybe Dr. Phil, might ever get WEBMD to have to fully understand what is wrong with you.l