Why the White Sox Won't Miss Nick Swisher

After reading article after article about how great an acquisition Swisher will be for the New York Yankees, I think it is important to look at the trade from the perspective of the White Sox.

I was excited as anyone last winter when the Sox acquired Swisher for three unproven prospects.  It seemed like Kenny Williams was getting a proven, young player with a ton of upside.  He had the grinder mentality the Sox praise and he even could take a walk.

After a few months, however, Swisher’s act got tired.  His goofy personality couldn’t hide the fact that his .218 batting average was hurting the team. 

The typical baseball stat head response to that statement is that Swisher’s OBP was still relatively high at .350.  They yell about how little batting average tells about a player’s productivity, etc.

Now admittedly, I don’t prescribe to this school of thought in any way.  Hitters are supposed to hit.  The reason they go up to the plate is to hit the ball hard.  That is how you get on base, move runners over, and drive them all in one.  Sure, base stealers can get away with walks instead of hits.  That is because when Willy Tavarez takes a walk, he most likely ends up turning it into a double or triple. 

For a guy like Swisher, the OBP obsession is misplaced.  He isn’t slow, but he certainly doesn’t steal any bases.  So, his walks are simply singles that don’t knock guys in from scoring position.  Swisher is a power hitter.  His role is to drive in runs; taking the walk just doesn’t really help get that done.

Swisher’s .218 batting average was the lowest in baseball for a player eligible for the batting title.  Hear that Yankees fans?  You just acquired the winner of the bizarro world batting title. 

Ozzie Guillen benched Swisher by mid-September for career minor leaguer Dewayne Wise.  Ozzie was sick of watching Swisher pop up and take called third strikes in big situations.

Now, maybe Wise didn’t get on base at a .350 clip over the last two weeks of the season and into the playoffs, but he did get hits, stole bases, and drove in big runs.  Those were things Nick Swisher just wasn’t doing.

The fact that Swisher had been benched makes this trade a prudent move.  Seven million dollars for a backup first baseman is too much.  For Kenny Williams to get anything for the statistically worst hitter in baseball is pretty impressive.

The trade may have gotten him his fifth starter in Marquez and Juan Uribe’s replacement in Wilson Betimet.  Kenny got two players who will contribute for a guy who played his way out of a starting job even on a roster decimated by injuries.  Enjoy Yankee fans