Black Betsy

Considering Mark Buehrle

Mark Buehrle won his 15th game last night with another complete game effort - his third of the year. He's now 15-10 with a 4.00 ERA, which is a good (but not great) performance in these inflated offensive times.

In looking at Buehrle's stats over his five-year career, a couple of things stick out about this year. First, his strikeout rate is up - he has struck out 157 in 236 1/3 innings (about 6 per 9 innings), which is up from 119 in 230 1/3 innings in 2003, and 134 in 239 innings in 2002. Second, his walk rate is down to 51 in 236 1/3 innings (about 1.9 per 9 innings), which is good.

So with these two good things, Buehrle's ERA should have gone down significantly from his 4.14 mark in 2003, right? Except for....Third, Buehrle is giving up many more home runs this year than in years past. Here are his gopher ball totals since 2001:

Year	HR	IP
2001	24	221 1/3
2002	25	239
2003	22	230 1/3
2004	33	236 1/3

There it is - Buehrle has given up 50% more home runs in 2004 than in 2003 when he had a 4.14 ERA. And you can't pitch out of a home run situation, those runs go on the board.
And you CAN blame it on the jet streams at US Cellular. Buehrle has given up 22 homers at home and just 11 on the road. Compare this to last year, when he gave up 13 at home and 9 on the road. Take away 8 of those home runs (assume they are solo) and Buehrle would have an ERA of 3.69...which seems about right.

In fact, Buehrle's performance has flip-flopped from a year ago in terms of home v. road performance. In 2003, he had a 3.67 ERA at home and a 4.62 ERA on the road. In 2004, he has a 5.33 ERA at home and a 2.77 ERA on the road. That is an absurd split, and speaks to the fact that US Cellular Field is playing like another Coors Field.

It's time to think about putting the fences back at US Cellular. More on this later, and why the Sox should be pursuing extreme ground ball pitchers like Derek Lowe and Matt Clement in the offseason.

Jose Valentin Stands Alone

Don't get me wrong. I like Jose Valentin. I think his defense is underrated (although I could kill him for dropping Jacque Jones' foul pop up), and he is a clutch hitter. I know a lot of people say that clutch hitters don't exist, but in his career, he's hit 37 points better with runners on base than with the bases empty. He's even better with runners in scoring position - a .275/.367/.517 line compared to his overall .243/.321/.451 line. And that's over 1163 at bats with runners in scoring position.

But Jose has had a tough season. Real tough. So much so that his season sticks out like a sore thumb amongst all MLB players.
As this BP article on Ichiro Suzuki notes, not only does Jose put the ball in play a very low percentage of the time, but his batting average on balls in play is very low - only .255. As you can see, Valentin's dot on the scattergraph is, well, behind the pack. He's not only having a bad season, he's having a historically bad season. Not good for his contract year.

This is probably the last year for Valentin in a White Sox uniform, and it is probably better that we bury Jose rather than praise him. He was one of the hardest and most motivated players on the team during the 2000-2004 era, but his efforts simply weren't enough. He didn't have enough teammates with the same fire he did - even if they shared his penchant for swinging for the fences.

I'll bid you a fond farewell, Jose, and hope you land in the right place. You might like this Colorado place. The curve balls don't break as much and the ball goes a long, long way there.

Now 3-0 In Games The Don't Matter

But it was a hell of a comeback, wasn't it. Joe Crede, this is too little, too late. But you might as well hit 20 homers so the Sox can have 20 home runs from their 3B, SS, 2B and 1B positions this year.

That is, by definition, a White Sox Winner.

It's Clear To Me...Is It Clear to Ozzie?

Despite multiple pronouncements by Ozzie Guillen during the later part of this season, the Sox do not need guys who can play little ball. What they need is pitching. Lots of pitching. Great green globs of pitching. Right-handed pitching. Left-handed pitching. Starting pitching. Relief pitching. Situational pitching. Any pitching will do.

I give you exhibit A:

13 Chicago 5.00 ERA.

Ouch. That's .83 runs higher than last year, when the Sox won 86 games. That more than makes up for the fact that the Sox have already scored 14 more runs than they did in all of 2003.

The offense is not, and never has been the problem for the White Sox - even with Magglio Ordonez and Frank Thomas out. Since the All-Star Break, (without Ordonez and Thomas, essentially) the White Sox are 4th in runs scored in the AL. FOURTH. Ahead of Anaheim, Oakland, Minnesota, and Texas - all teams in playoff contention. The ERA since the All-Star Break has been a disastrous 5.53.

So plan A, plan B, plan C and plan D for the offseason should be the acquisition of pitching. Even if Carl Everett lumbers out to right field for 150 games next year, simply bringing back the current position players should be enough to win 90 games and the AL Central (or the wild card) if the Sox can find one top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher and two good relievers. Simply knocking Jon Garland down to the 5th spot in the rotation should save 60-70 runs alone (Garland has allowed 113 runs in 202 innings, while Sox 5th starters have allowed 107 runs in 104 1/3 innings). Throw in a couple of solid relievers to save 15 runs each, and now the Sox have allowed 100 fewer runs - worth about 10 games in the standings (do the pythagorean math - the Sox would be about 85-66 right now had they allowed 90 fewer runs).

The trouble is finding the one top-of-the-rotation starter and two relievers. But give me Brad Radke ($10 million), a healthy Scott Williamson ($2-$3 million), and Rheal Cormier ($3 million), and I'll get the Sox 10 more wins.

The Sox Are Undefeated!

When playing in games that do not matter. Tonight, they picked up another stat-inflating, meaningless victory against the Twinkies.

Would have been nice when it counted, lads.

P.S., I'm starting, slowly but surely, to like Joe Borchard. He has an uncanny inability to get more than one hit in a game . . . but he does draw bases on balls. God love him, if we could combine his walking ability with Aaron Rowand's hitting ability, the Sox would have a damn good right fielder. Whoops, we already had one.

I say the Sox finish at least 9-4 in games that don't matter (last two of Twins series, eight against Royals, three against Tigers) to wind up 83-79 on the season. Oddly enough, that's exactly the record I predicted for them before the season.

Not So Long Ago, The Sox Had Promise

While trying to track down a rumor about John Boles coming to the White Sox, I stumble acrossthis June, 2000, Peter Gammons article about the up and coming White Sox. It really is fascinating to see how things didn't turn out right for the Sox. Here are a couple of snippets:

No one knows if they will continue to play well. But with Magglio Ordonez, Ray Durham, Paul Konerko, Carlos Lee and Chris Singleton surrounding Frank Thomas, they have the makings of a tremendous offensive team. Ordonez, in fact, has emerged as the team's top star and Konerko is the team's personality, all of which is fine with Thomas, who'd prefer to be a backseat guy.

No question, that core (sans Durham and Singleton) was a tremendous offensive team. Of course, we now know that the offensive was also tremendously inconsistent and tremendously dependent on the solo home run.

On the Triple-A horizon, the White Sox have a monster third baseman named Joe Crede and catcher Josh Paul, whose makeup is tremendous. They have one of the best bullpens in the league, led by Keith Foulke, who is a young Trevor Hoffman. They also have two veteran starters, James Baldwin and Cal Eldred, to stabilize their young pitching.

Well, Joe Crede is not, in fact a monster. He's not even Joe Randa at this point. Josh Paul may have tremendous makeup, but he's applying whatever mascara he's got in his kit in Anaheim. The Sox received nothing for him or his Avon business. We know Keith Foulke turned into Keith Choulke in the 2000 playoffs (and in the 2003 playoffs for the A's), who then was spun off for Billy Botch. Eldred had a decent 2000, but the thing that needed stabilizing was his elbow. James Baldwin was the ultimate flash in the pan and was mercifully dumped in 2002.

But with young righty Kip Wells maturing and a number of top-side pitching prospects -- Jon Garland (7-1 at Triple-A), Matt Ginter, Jason Stumm and reliever Lorenzo Barcelo -- coming, this is a team that barring a rash of pitching injuries should be one of the American League's premier teams for the next five years or so.

Kip Wells - whoops, he's in Pittsburgh.
Jon Garland - whoops, he's getting worse.
Matt Ginter - hey, we at least got Timo Perez for him.
Jason Stumm - whoops, sorry about that arm, Jason.
Lorenzo Barcelo - "Hi, can I take your order?"

With the exception of Jon Garland, none of these folks pitched for the 2004 White Sox. And Jon Garland wasn't exactly part of the solution. So, I guess they didn't help the Sox become one of the premier teams for the next five years.

Reinsdorf hopes to soon complete a naming rights deal that should get Comiskey
spruced up and modernized right around the time the All-Star Game comes to
the South Side in 2003. By that time, Ordonez may be a five-time All-Star and the king of the city, while Garland, Wells and the rest of the young pitchers are dominating the American League. And, hey, maybe A-Rod, or someone like him, will be there by then.

Well, the naming rights got done, Comiskey (now US Cellular) got spruced up pretty well, and Ordonez really was a 5-time all-star (even if he wasn't named to the team every year)...so one could lay the blame on Jon Garland and Kip Wells.

And that probably is the story of the 2000-2004 White Sox, as we close the book on that era. A very good offensive core built around Ordonez/Thomas/Lee/Konerko that was going to be dependent on the development of young pitching. The development of the young pitching never happened, and the Sox finished in 3rd, 2nd, 2nd and 2nd places.

It's amazing how well Gammons' article reads in 2004, and amazing how easy it is to see where the Sox went wrong.

Child Abuse

Thought provoking and funny enough to share. I, of course, am the least funny of the three:

From: Jule
09/22/2004 11:34 AM
To: Brad, Chris
Subject: Passing the Torch

Yesterday morning at breakfast, I told Thomas that the Eagles won Monday
night. His response? "Yeah, but the Phillies lost." Of course, they
didn't even play, and he would have no way of knowing if they did, but
he has fully begun his journey into Phillies fandom. What have I done?

From: Chris
09/22/2004 11:35 AM
To: Jule
cc: Brad
Subject:Re: Passing the Torch

I think raising a child to be a White Sox or Phillies fan is child abuse.

From: Brad
09/22/2004 11:49 AM
To: Chris
cc: Jule
Subject:Re: Passing the Torch

Child abuse: Cubs, Red Sox, White Sox, Phillies, Astros.
Making sure your child sets no goals for himself whatsoever: Brewers, Pirates, Devil Rays, Royals
Making sure your child has a reach sense of history but feels like a loser: Tigers, Reds, Indians
Making sure your child vastly overpays for things and has no sense of value: Mets, Orioles, Dodgers, Rangers
Turning your child into a spoiled brat: Yankees, Braves
Making your child an outcast with no support network: Expos, Blue Jays
Making your child frugal, but subject to a glass ceiling: Twins, A's
Making your child depend on one person his whole life: Giants
Teaching your child to throw out his best toys: Mariners, Diamondbacks, Marlins
Giving your child a sense of personal space: Rockies
Leaving a child with only the Cardinals, Padres and Angels to choose from. And who wants that??

From: Jule
09/22/2004 12:36 PM
To: Brad, Chris
Subject:Re: Passing the Torch

LOL. For the Cardinals: Making your child into a rational, moderate,
non-cynical person who respects tradition but is so boring he thinks two
Budweisers is a radical good time.

Another Year Lost To History

One of the things that fascinates me about baseball is that there are many years where you can look at a team's final record and wonder a number of things. How did they get there? Was it a close race all season? Were they blown out early? Did they ever have a shot?

One example of this is the 1964 White Sox. They finished 98-64, just 1 game behind the Yankees. That win total was actually the 3rd highest in frachise history, behind the 100 games won by the 1917 club and the 99 games won by the 1983 club. (It's scary to think that the Sox have only one 100-win season to their credit in 104 years of AL play). But was it a close race where they were edged out at the end of the year? No. They actually won their last 9 games of the year while the Yankees lost five of their last nine. The Sox were actually in third place, 4 games back, on September 25 (it was a good race, don't get me wrong, the Sox, Orioles and Yankees were mostly tight in August and September).

This year, some kid who wasn't born in 2004 will look back and see that the White Sox finished 10+ games out to the Twins. Chalk it up to another mediocre second-place performance in the AL Central. But, at the same time, another kid not born until after 2004 might look back to find the Sox in 1st place at the All-Star Break and wonder what happened?

It really was a tale of two seasons for the White Sox - the "fun is winning, winning is fun" Ozzieball of the first half, where it seemed that no opposition lead was safe, and the no-Magglio, no-Frank, bring out your dead second half. Some future White Sox fan will wonder, why on earth did Timo Perez get 300+ plate appearances in 2004? How did a team with a .346 OBP before the All-Star Break wind up with a .316 OBP after the All Star Break? (Note also - the team stole 25 bases in 46 attempts after the All-Star Break after going 47 of 70 in the first half).

The wheels have come off the wagon before, dear readers, but this is something more. This is the transmission falling out, the roof blowing off, the air conditioning going out, the battery leaking acid, and the steering wheel popping out.

The depressing part of it is that the 2005 White Sox are going to look a lot like the 2nd-half 2004 White Sox, absent a willingness to sign free agents or trade the players with value the Sox have. Do not expect help from the minor leagues in 2005. You're seeing the immediate future of the White Sox on the field today. And it isn't pretty.

10 Days Since Black Betsy Post

And can you name one good thing that has happened to the White Sox? Has any of the Sox's young talent stepped forward with a good close to the season? No. Jose Contreras has had two horrible starts. Jon Garland looks listless. Joe Borchard not only hasn't gotten it together, but Ozzie really isn't playing him that much.

Sure, Rowand marches on with his stellar season and Konerko is looking to hit 40 home runs. But this is as discouraged as I've felt about a White Sox team in some time. This is a team with its best days behind them, rather than in front of them. This is a team that is not built to compete in the A.L. Central. Read that again. This is a team that is not built to compete in the A.L. Central. It doesn't have enough starting pitching, doesn't have a reliable bullpen, and can't get on base to score runs. Shocking, but true, and it'll be another long offseason until spring comes around again.

The most depressing part is that the White Sox minor league teams are finished playing (with the exception of the Arizon Fall League SkySox), meaning that we won't be able to follow the exploits of Mike Spidale or Casey Rogowski or any of the other minor leaguers that actually walk and get on base (wait, there aren't any, with the possible exception of Chris Young).

Doom and gloom. Gloom and doom. Sounds like September on the South Side.

Konerko Sums Up The 2001-04 Sox

I'm not sure Paul Konerko thought he was writing the epitaph for the 2001-2004 White Sox when he was talking after yesterday's game, but he sure did when he said:

'The way I look at it is we're not out of it, and we're not in it,' first baseman Paul Konerko said. 'By the time we play the Twins, we have to be four, five back, and then play well against them, which isn't easy. This team seems to be playing better with the attitude that we're not finishing first. People seem looser.'

Yep - playing better when you know you're not going to finish first. Playing better when it doesn't really matter. Playing better when only your statistics and contracts will look better going into next year. Playing better when the pressure is off.

One year, maybe the Sox can try getting players who play better when the team thinks that they have a chance to finish first. One year, maybe the Sox will have players who play better when the pressure is on.

But that's just a silly dream I have from time to time.

Carlos. Lee. Best. Season. Ever.

Very subtly, Carlos Lee is having his best season in the majors this year. Compare his career stats here. Note that he: (1) has his highest career batting average; (2) has his highest career on-base percentage; (3) has his highest career slugging percentage; (4) is on pace to tie his career-high 31 home runs; and (5) has already tied his career-high in doubles, 35, and is on pace to hit 42 doubles this year.

If you sprinkled in about 10 more walks over the course of the season for Carlos Lee his stats would look a lot like Magglio Ordonez circa 2000/2001.

If Ifs And Buts Were Candy And Nuts...

What a very merry offseason we would have. Out of pure animus to all things Twinkie, I thought that Black Betsy should go through the season to look for games the Sox should have won and games the Twins should have lost to create an alternative universe in which the White Sox are leading the division. Come join Black Betsy in this romp through the 2004 season.

White Sox current record: 68-67

Twins current record: 77-59

Game 1: April 5 - White Sox 7, Kansas City 3. The White Sox start the season right and Buehrle gets the win pitching 6 2/3 innings. Noooo - Cliff Politte does not walk the first two hitters in the ninth. Noooo - Billy Koch does not give up a double to Benito Santiago. Noooo - Damaso Marte does not give up a three-run homer to Mendy Lopez. Nope. Never happened.

Revised Sox record: 69-66.

Game 2: April 5 - Cleveland 4, Minnesota 0. What a fine opening day game for Cleveland! Minnesota does NOT score 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to tie the game. Nope, they go meekly. No 2 rbi pinch hits for Mike Cuddyer! Nope. Bad start for the Twins.

Revised Twins record: 76-60.

Game 3: April 6 - Cleveland 6, Minnesota 4. Two in a row for the Cleveland squad to open the season! No, Jacque Jones does not hit a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning. Instead, the Twins grounds crew erroneously leaves the fans blowing in and Jody Gerut catches the ball just short of the fence. Whew! That was a close one.

Revised Twins record: 75-61.

Game 4: April 11 - White Sox 4, New York Yankees 2. Who's Bubba Crosby? How about that Danny Wright picking up his first win of the season and the Sox taking 3 of 4 from the Yankees at the Stadium. Huzzah!

Revised Sox record: 70-65.

Game 5: April 23 - Kansas City 5, Minnesota 4. Don't the Sox wish they had re-signed Scott Sullivan? He pitched a perfect 8th inning to preserve a 5-1 lead. No, he didn't give up 3 runs in 1/3 of an inning. Nosiree. Kansas City survives the 3-run scare the Twins put up in the 9th.

Revised Twins record: 74-62.

Game 6: April 27 - White Sox 7, Indians 5. The Sox hold off the Indians after taking a 4-0 lead after the first. The Indians even went up 5-4 in the top of the 4th! But the Sox score 3 more times and Cliff Politte does NOT give up 2 runs in the top of the 8th inning. High-fives all around.

Revised Sox record: 71-64.

Game 7: April 27 - Toronto 4, Minnesota 3. What a great night for the White Sox! They win, Twins lose. The Twins do put up 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th, but fail to score in the 9th. No, Jacque Jones does not hit a walk off homer in the 9th - he grounds into a game ending double play.

Revised Twins record: 73-63 (Sox only 1 1/2 games back, and we're not even out of April!)

Game 8: May 14 - White Sox 2, Twins 1. In the first matchup of the season between the two teams, the Sox get great pitching from Schoeneweis, and then from Politte and Marte who actually hold the lead in the 8th inning. Nope, they do not give up two runs. That's a White Sox Winner!

Revised Sox record: 72-63

Revised Twins record: 72-64

Game 9: May 19 - Toronto 5, Minnesota 2. Fat piece of crap Matthew Lecroy does not hit a one-out grand slam in the top of the 9th. He grounds into a double play, like he should.

Revised Twins record: 71-65 (and fading fast)

Game 10: June 2 - White Sox 2, A's 1. A terrific game by Buehrle is closed out by Koch in the bottom of the 9th. No sir, Billy really pitched a good one against his old team. He did not blow the save.

Revised Sox record: 73-62 (now 2 1/2 games up)

Game 11: June 6 - White Sox 4, Seattle 2. Billy Koch closes out another one, giving the Sox a 3-2 trip in Seattle and Oakland, quite a cause for celebration. Gosh, I'm glad that Billy Koch didn't give up 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th to blow this one for the White Sox!

Revised Sox record: 74-61 (start printing the playoff tickets, we're on a roll).

Game 12: June 16 - Montreal 5, Minnesota 4. Boy, this one almost slipped away from the Expos. In the top of the 11th, Luis Rivas hit a ball that went just foul. The third base umpire called it foul, and replays show that it was clearly foul. In fact, the laws of physics clearly demonstrate it to be foul. Nope, the men in blue get this one right! The Expos win it in the bottom of the 12th off of a clearly fatigued Juan Rincon.

Revised Twins record: 70-66 (now 4 1/2 back)

Game 13: July 28 - White Sox 5, Twins 4. On a hunch, Ozzie Guillen leaves Willie Harris in to hit against Terry Mulholland. After all, Harris makes contact quite often and isn't likely to hit into a double play to end the 9th with men on 1st and 3rd and 1 out. Ozzie was tempted to pinch hit Borchard for Harris, but decided that keeping out of the double play was key. Harris bounces one to second baseman Michael Cuddyer who, being a third baseman by trade, isn't quick enough to turn the double play as Joe Crede races home with the winning run. Gosh, I'm glad that Borchard didn't hit into a double play to end the game! I'm even happier that Jose Valentin didn't drop any foul popups from Jacque Jones in the top of the 10th with two outs to give him a chance to drive in the winning run for the Twinkies! The Sox salvage the last of this three game series from the Twins.

Revised Sox record: 75-60

Revised Twins record: 69-67 (6 1/2 games back).

Game 14: August 7 - White Sox 5, Cleveland 3. Shingo Takatsu has been amazing. He's converted every save opportunity he has had this year, getting Matt Lawton to hit into a double play to end the Indian threat in the 9th. Nope, no home runs for Lawton!

Revised Sox record: 76-59

and, just for fun--

Game 15: July 26 - White Sox 7, Twins 6. Torii Hunter didn't know that when he went out of his way to knock White Sox catcher Jamie Burke over in the 8th inning that he would ignite not only a bench clearing brawl, but a White Sox comeback victory. After the 8th inning collision, the Sox called on flamethrowing lefty reliever Damaso Marte to pitch to Hunter when he came to the plate in the 9th, and Marte wasted no time in drilling Hunter right in his chest with a 95 mph fast ball. That ignited a bench clearing brawl in which Don Zimmer made an odd appearance.

In an ironic twist, it was the Twins' rookie catcher Joe Mauer who fared the worst in the brawl - he tripped over the foul line charging the mound, breaking his uninjured knee, dislocating his throwing shoulder, and, due to the bacteria laid in the foul line between the 8th and 9th innings by ace groundskeeper Roger Bossard, caught a terrible case of the bubonic plague. Mauer's injury was made worse when, in collapsing in a heap, he tripped up Justin Morneau, who promptly broke his ankle in three places. Clearly, the Baseball Gods took swift revenge on the Twins.

The injuries to the Twins were just the beginning, however, as the Sox rallied in the 9th inning off ace reliever Joe Nathan. After a leadoff single by Carlos Lee, Carl Everett drilled a Nathan offering into the centerfield batter's eye to cut the Twins lead to 6-4. Paul Konerko then followed with a solid single up the middle and took second when Torii Hunter's replacement in centerfield, Lew Ford, slipped on grass soaked with the blood of the Twins relievers who dared rush in from the bullpen to participate in the 8th inning melee. After a Timo Perez single, Aaron Rowand crushed a 0-2 fastball from Nathan out of U.S. Cellular Field, a shot recognized as the longest in park history. The blast also added insult into injury, as Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire, who had been ejected in the 8th inning brawl, was struck on the head by Rowand's blast as he left was leaving the stadium. Oddly, his managerial efforts improved after being hit by Rowand, reversing some brain damage suffered when he was dropped on his head as a child.

Revised Sox record: 77-58

Revised Twins record: 68-68 (9 1/2 back)

Back to reality....

Umps Hand Twins Another Game

If you haven't seen the replay on Sportscenter, the Twins won
their game against the Rangers tonight when First Base Umpire Doug Eddings called Tim Tiffee's foul ball fair, which then went for a double, scoring two runs. As Black Betsy is blessed enough to have access to a High-Def TiVo, a frame-by-frame view demonstrates that at no time during its existence did Tiffee's ball ever cross into fair territory.

For those of you who are scoring at home, this is the second time that a foul ball has directly led to a Twinkies victory this year.

I'm just waiting for Fortuna's Wheel to turn the Twinkies' way.

Warming Up In The Bullpen. . .

At long last,
Ozzie Guillen's seen enough of Felix Diaz. What gave it away, Ozzie? The 92-mph straight-ball, the lack of movement on the pitches, the lack of a third pitch, or the tape measure shots? Guillen says it's Diaz's lack of a third pitch:

"To me, he's not going to be in the big leagues as a starter unless he comes with something [other than a fastball and change-up]," Guillen said.

Me personally, I would have taken something from the 11 home runs he gave up in 32.2 innings. But that's just me as a stat-hound. I mean, that's only a 66-home-run pace over 200 innings. Not anything record breaking....ooops, I guess it would be.
But I come here to bury Felix Diaz, not to praise him. Diaz did give the Sox one of their two wins against the Cubs this year, so it's hard to say that his term with the Sox was an utter failure. It's doubtful that he will start for the White Sox in the future (barring injuries). Next year's rotation looks set already with Garcia, Buehrle, Contreras and Garland, with the 5th starter (or Number 1, 2 or 3 starter) to be acquired through free-agency. I'd also look for Brandon McCarthy to be in the Sox's plans for 2006 as a replacement for Garland as he heads to free agency.