Thoughts On Trading Carlos Quentin

Once the Philadelphia Phillies knew they were going to lose Jayson Werth, they quickly started looking for options to replace him. One solution tot ehir problem was trading with the White Sox to acquire Carlos Quentin.

GM Kenny Williams quickly responded to the rumor of the Phillies being interested in Quentin by saying that Quentin is not available on the market, and would not be made available any time soon. To that, I ask Kenny Williams why?

All of us as White Sox fans know the history of Carlos Quentin in a White Sox uniform. In a move that everyone thought was crazy, Williams traded Chris Young, who was tabbed as the next superstar for the White Sox, to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Carlos Quentin. Quentin was coming off of surgery and a very short season so no one really knew what to expect from him. He came to the White Sox and showed the Diamondbacks exactly what they were missing out on, by hitting 36 home runs and having 100 RBI in an MVP type season. That season was shortened by a self-inflicted injury to his wrist, and he missed the last month of the season. Regardless of that, Quentin gave White Sox fans a ton of hope in terms of a major power hitter to play alongside Paul Konerko.

Since injuring his wrist, Quentin just hasn’t been able to get back into that amazing form he once had. He has been injured a lot since then and has missed quite a bit of time. He seems to not have the ability to continue a hot streak for a long period of time, only a week or two at the most. He will flash a sign of brilliance, going on a huge tear for a week or so, but then start striking out in nearly every at bat, and find himself in a prolonged slump. He still puts up average numbers with all of these slumps throughout the season, but it’s nowhere near the production he could have in he could just stay hot for a long period of time over the course of a season.

That being said, is it really worth going through the hot and cold streaks for another season? Sure the White Sox could use his production when he is hot, but it’s just absolute torture when he isn’t. The strikeout after strikeout on horrible pitching is enough to drive a hitting coach crazy, and is extremely painful to watch as a fan.

If the White Sox could get something in return for Quentin, then I say that they should go for it. There were a number of rumors saying that the Phillies wanted to get rid of Raul Ibanez and the could fit in with the White Sox. He is up in age, but he could still give around the production the Quentin has given over the last few seasons. Quentin does hit more home runs than Ibanez, but Ibanez has more RBI, more walks, a lower strike out ratio, and has a better average than Quentin. Plus we could tack on a few more home runs to Ibanez’s total because of the Cell being a hitter’s park.

If Ibanez couldn’t be acquired, then I’d like to see Jordan Danks get a shot to play in the outfield. Everyone in the organization has raved about how he has played from time to time, so I’d like to see what this kid can do at the Major League level.

Losing Quentin would be a loss in production and power, but consistency is something the White Sox need much more. A home run here and there is nice, but if you can have a guy that can drive in runs on a consistent basis and can get on base a lot more, it’s definitely an advantage. It’s time to cut ties with Quentin and move onto someone else. He may burn us with one good season like he did to the Diamondbacks when we acquired him, but I’m confident enough to say that in the long run, it will be for the best.