I was outside on this wonderful 60 degree day on December 23rd fixing one of the kitchen chairs. It is close to pooping the bed as kid-friendly morticians say, but I figured a few screws and maybe I can delay having to purchase a whole new set. I had my XM radio on and heard the news the White Sox had dealt Brandon McCarthy to the Rangers for John Danks and Nick Masset.
My first thoughts were that Kenny Williams dealt for essentially the same pitcher with a couple fewer seasons until arbitration and free agency with a young middle reliever thrown-in. It sounded just like a shrewd fantasy trade where one gets the other team to throw-in an extra player just to get the deal done i.e Derek Jeter for Carlos Guillen and a minor leaguer like...John Danks.
What was interesting to me is I have been giving Danks some serious thought as a possible sleeper in 2007/8. A lefty who strikes out more than a batter an inning in AA and AAA has to be better than his organization's prospect development reputation.
Maybe this is the reason I view the deal as more favorable to the White Sox. I just don't see a lot of fantasy baseball difference between the know quantity of Brandon McCarthy, and as Ozzie Guillen said, "The guy pitches two good games and all of a sudden he's Cy Young. Right now he is 2-3. He has a losing season. He pitches two good games [and] he's better than Mark Buehrle." And the White Sox got a high-potential reliever thrown-in.