Laley23;898000 wrote:My dad just got back from his annual golf trip with his college friends (Bob DiBiasio). He asked Boz about the Ubaldo trade, and the stuff is interesting.
Said they viewed Alex White as a Bullpen pitcher and MAYBE a back-end 5th starter. Said the other huge thing is over the last 15 years 33 guys have had the finger surgery that White had (Adam Miller included) and only 1 of them lasted more than 3 years in the bigs after the rehab.
He said they really think Pomeranz can develop into a great pitcher, but it would take 2 years (Im think it will be sooner) so they pulled the trigger trying to get the proven guy for 2 years rather than wait 2 years for a possibility.
Now, if Ubaldo can be great it is all moot, as its a good trade for us. If White falters (he sure has sucked thus far) than that looks good as well. The wild-card is how quickly Pomeranz becomes a stud.
Thing I couldnt believe is how many guys just never recover from that damn finger injury.
It was well documented on how much I liked Alex White on here. I followed the guy since he played @ UNC.
However, I was perfectly fine with the trade and the finger issue was exactly the reason. He's sucked since his return as well, and his velocity has supposedly dipped too.
Ubaldo seems to be getting his velocity back. His 85th pitch the other night was a 98 MPH fastball that made Konerko look silly. People forget that Ubaldo was dealing with a hand injury all year as well, though no where near as serious as Alex White's.
I also see the point on Pomeranz taking 2 years to full develop, though I agree with you, it'll probably be sooner that we find out who he truly is. However, I'm hoping that this points to the Tribe FO actually spending money and developing this 2 to 3 year window to make a serious run at it.
