Triple-header

After getting rained out in Kansas City last night, the White Sox are playing a double-header tonight and then a day game tomorrow. They might as well play a triple-header. There will be little rest to be had, and the Sox really need to win all three games.

Edwin Jackson threw seven pitches last night before the game was delayed and later postponed, yet he probably will not be pitching either game tonight, if the radio reports I've been hearing are true. That's too bad. He has been the Sox' best starter over the last two weeks (or at least sharing the honor with Mark Buehrle), and with the bullpen suddenly in a shambles and other starters having poor outings, seeing him take the mound last night was a welcome sight.

The Sox ended a four-game losing streak and avoided a series sweep in Minnesota Thursday in the strongest possible way, with an 11-0 trouncing, led by Buehrle and Paul Konerko, who was 5-for-5. After things seemed pretty dire after the first two losses in Minnesota Tuesday and Wednesday, that route gave us reason to believe again.

Upon further review

Maybe Blake DeWitt will work out after all. He went 3-4 today in another loss for the Cubs (in which Carlos Silva exited in the first inning, this time with an abnormal heart rate). One of the things I didn't realize when I first heard about the Lilly/Theriot-for DeWitt/minor leaguers trade was that DeWitt is a left-handed hitter and also just 24 (and therefore still developing). And, at times the last few years, he's hit nwell above above the .270 he's sitting around now.

The minor league pitchers include Brett Wallach (son of Tim), who has been burning up the minors and looks like an eventual good bet for the starting rotation. The other is Kyle Smit, about whom little has been reported.

I still think this is a somewhat lopsided trade, with the Cubs getting the short end of the deal--though maybe not "poor," as I described it yesterday. One thing is for sure: The Cubs are getting younger, quickly. Perhaps to better set the stage for Ryne Sandberg to take over next year?

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After the trade deadline passed with the White Sox standing pat and holding onto recent acquisition Edwin Jackson, a lot of us breathed a sigh of relief. I really hope the lack of a power bat at DH doesn't prove to be a sore thumb the rest of the season, but I'm glad the Sox held onto Gordon Beckham and Dayan Viciedo.

Jackson isn't a bad pitcher. He's had problems with walks and was overall crappy for Arizona (even his no-hitter kinda sucked), but Arizona is an overall crappy team. He's got great experience, and was a winning pitcher in Detroit for two years previous. A lot depends on whether the Sox can get him to rein in his control, but he certainly isn't bad for a No. 5 starter and the experience card could make him more valuable than Daniel Hudson might have been in a pennant race.

Reports: Lilly, Theriot gone to L.A.

Yahoo! Sports and others have been reporting in the last 20 minutes that the Cubs have traded Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot to the Dodgers for Blake DeWitt and two minor league pitchers.

Wow.

Both of their names have been mentioned for weeks concerning possible trades, but as recently as yesterday, many observers were discounting the likelihood that they would be shipped. I personally hoped the Cubs would pass on trading Lilly and try to sign him next year--he would basically be their No. 1 starter, pending other deals.

If these most recent reports are true, it also would be sad to see The Riot go. He's streaky, but he's a scrappy, speedy hitter and fielder offering flexibility in the line-up and the field. The best you could say about DeWitt is that he is about the same thing, but not as speedy and maybe a slightly better fielder.

Right now, this looks like a pretty poor trade by General Manager Jim Hendry, not long after his boss gave him a vote of confidence. Of course, a lot could depend on who those minor leaguers are--I haven't seen them named anywhere.

There has suddenly been a lot of trading in the last 24 hours leading up to the MLB rade deadline. the White Sox yesterday acquired staring pitcher Edwin Jackson from the Diamondbacks for Daniel Hudson. I have been holding off examining that one too closely because Jackson reportedly could be making a very quick stop in Chicago, but we'll take a good look at it tomorrow.