Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Sox Interest In Jaret Wright?
Saw a rumor on Soxtalk.com that Peter Gammons was reporting that the White Sox were interested in Jaret Wright and the Sox were relatively close to signing him. Well, I hadn't considered Jaret Wright before - my initial thoughts that he had a flukey good year - so I looked up his performance and checked him out.
My analysis suggests that Wright would be a very good signing, provided that he can stay healthy. His 2004 was no fluke. He gave up only 11 homers pitching in Turner Field, which had a 1.128 home run factor in 2004. Granted, US Cellular had an astounding 1.402 home run factor, but even adjusting Wright's 11 homers to the Cell, you would get about 14 home runs allowed - a great performance by Cell standards. And he did not get lucky with the play behind him - his BABIP was .292, which is consistent with league averages. His strikeout rate was up to 7.68 per 9 innings, which would compare favorably to any starter the White Sox have. His BB/9 rate was 3.38, which is a little higher than you'd hope, but not terrible. More importantly, he had a 1.28 ground ball/fly ball ratio, which is important keeping the ball out of the seats at the Cell.
All in all, if there's a deal to be had with Wright, I'd be satisfied that he's a worthy addition to the team. A starting rotation of Garcia-Buehrle-Wright-Contreras-Garland would be, by far, the best rotation in the division and would compete with any rotation in the American League.
