But Who’s Going to Bring the Awesome?

Nick Swisher has left the building, Sox fans.

A stop-and-go offensive performance that led to a hook from the everyday lineup created a rift between ‘Swish’ and Ozzie Guillen that neither side appeared willing to patch up. Coupled with the fact that the two positions Swisher plays - first base and centerfield - are occupied by either a high-priced veteran or being competed for by younger, faster players, and he’s on his way to the New York Yankees as the proverbial odd-man-out.

Swisher didn’t endear himself to his manager as he moped in the clubhouse during a second-half freefall that saw him hit just .191 after the All-Star break. Whether that created a bad atmosphere in the Sox clubhouse is impossible to say, so let’s just assume that all things being equal, the trade was made because the Sox figured they could do better. But why sell so low? In exchange for a guy who they valued at two high-ceiling prospects (Ryan Sweeney & Gio Gonzalez) they acquired the sequel to Juan Uribe, Wilson Betemit, and a pair of low-rent minor league pitchers.

As a fan it’s hard to know what I should think of this trade because I’ve always been trying to take Kenny’s opening moves of the offseason as a read on what to expect from him as we move towards the winter meetings. Last year’s November acquistion of Orlando Cabrera signaled his desire for stronger top-of-the-lineup hitting and defense on the left side, perfectly inline with his 72-90 team’s deficiency. But right now, between dealing Swisher essentially for spare parts one year after getting him in exchange for vital engine materials and once again signing a hot Cuban prospect at third base, I’m not sure if even Kenny knows what kind of team he needs to put together in the wake of a 89-win championship season.