Bartolo Colon Isn't The Big Splash Is He?

Hopefully Kenny Williams has other moves up his sleeve

Aside from the odd rumor here and there, not much news has been coming out of the White Sox camp over the last few months.  While the offseason started with the trades of Nick Swisher and Javier Vazquez, and was followed by the signing of Cuban import Dayan Viciedo, the White Sox really haven't done anything this winter.   Considering that Kenny Williams and Ozzie Guillen were both pretty clear in their intentions to add more speed to the lineup, and to try and find a lead-off hitter and a centerfielder, you would think they'd have made some kind of splash in the free agent pool.

Instead all they've done is sign a guy who would makes an incredibly large splash in an actual pool anytime he enters one.   The White Sox officially signed free agent pitcher Bartolo Colon to a one-year $1 million deal on Thursday with hopes that he can help fill out the starting rotation as a fourth or fifth starter.   Now whether or not you're happy with the signing, it's not a bad move by the team by any means.

The contract isn't guaranteed, and if Colon can't stay healthy or is ineffective in the spring, the team can drop him for only a fraction of the deal.   So it's the epitome of the low-risk/high-reward signing that Kenny has made a living off of his entire time with the White Sox.  Where fans have a grip though, is when wondering if this is the only move that the White Sox are going to make.

There's no doubt that Kenny has been trying to make trades all winter -- the more Kenny denies trade rumors the more we should believe them to be true -- and that he's found most of the them to be of no benefit to the team.  This is fine, Kenny shouldn't be making trades just for the sake of doing something, but are we supposed to believe that there aren't any free agents out there who could help this team?

Derek Lowe -- who just signed with the Atlanta Braves earlier this week -- could have been a very nice addition to the White Sox pitching staff, as his best pitch is a power-sinker that would play very well at U.S. Cellular Field.  Though Lowe is just one example of a few players the Sox have sat back and watched sign elsewhere, instead choosing to bring back Colon and even entertain signing Freddy Garcia.  Who's next?  Jon Garland?

The fact is that while maybe Kenny just doesn't see anyone out there worth spending the money on -- or maybe he's under orders from Jerry Reinsdorf to not spend money at all -- the Sox haven't improved their team at all this winter.   Yes, they brought in some young arms from the Yankees, and a nice catching prospect in Tyler Flowers from Atlanta, but none of them should be counted on to help out in 2009, which is exactly what the Pale Hose seem to be doing.  If the goal every year is to win a World Series, this isn't the way to go about doing so.

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