White Sox general manager Ken Williams expected to be busy this offseason, and he wasted very little time showing his hand.
The club announced that Nick Swisher was traded to the New York Yankees in exchange for infielder Wilson Betemit and right-handed pitchers Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez. The Sox also threw in right-handed pitcher Kanekoa Texeira.
"Very simply, we kind of assessed where we stood today and where we finished the season," Williams said of the trade. "And while we still love (Swisher) and the energy he brings -- and he will certainly have a bounce-back year next season -- the fit wasn't good enough to continue down this road."
By the end of the season, as a matter of fact, the fit seemed awful.
Swisher was hyped as a say-anything class clown who would bring a swagger to a clubhouse full of choirboys, and in the early stages of the season he more than fit the bill. Whether it was his "Dirty 30" persona, his ever-changing facial hair or his celebration dances in the dugout, bravado was not an area in which Swisher was lacking.
His numbers? That was a different story.
After hitting .176 in the month of May, the switch hitter had lost his leadoff spot and seemed confused on both sides of the plate. Because of his past successes in his Oakland days, he seemed to ignore the advice of a coaching staff that was trying to help him.
"I'm trying to do too much," Swisher said on several occasions. "Coming to a new team, a city like this, I wanted to make a big splash."
He showed signs of life in June, which could have been his downfall. A Sox source told the Sun-Times that because of that brief hot streak, any coaching advice thrown his way fell on deaf ears. By the time he wrapped up July hitting .193 for the month, a frustrated Ozzie Guillen began benching him for the likes of Brian Anderson and Dewayne Wise.
The immediate impact of the deal is obvious, as the GM is now doing what he can to have an arsenal of young pitchers for years to come. Marquez is penciled in as a guy who is ready to compete for a starting job right now, while Nunez is believed to be on the cusp, either as a reliever or a starter. In landing Betemit, they get a reserve infielder, as well as a guy who can push Josh Fields at third base if another body isn't added there. Betemit's arrival also likely ends any chance of the White Sox re-signing free agent Juan Uribe.
"We felt we were at a juncture where we certainly needed some starting pitching, and we ended up getting two quality arms in return," Williams said.
So now what?
The addition of Marquez -- who compares to a Jon Garland type of pitcher -- could open the door for Williams to trade Javier Vazquez, and there's still a hole atop the Sox's lineup. What Williams would say was no current player on his roster is safe from being traded.
"I'm not committing to anyone right now," he added.
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