Swisher Worth Bag Of Balls?

In a typical fawn job over Kenny Williams, Jon Heyman mentions the Nick Swisher trade, and makes it seem like WIlliams won the deal:

The Swisher trade saved them $4 million for 2009, which was exactly the signing bonus they gave hotshot 20-year-old Cuban import Dayan Viciedo, who’s already ready to hit in the bigs.
Swisher hit .219 last year, but the stat people say he was especially unlucky. The Sox don’t seem so sure, as one other Sox person said, “We would have traded Swisher for a bag of balls.”
Williams would only say Swisher didn’t fit into the plans. In any case, neither of those players would now bring the haul that Williams got. He loves powerful Tyler Flowers, who came in a four-prospect package for Vazquez, and young pitchers Marquez and Jhonny Nunez, who came for Swisher.

Hmm. I thought that Swisher was unlucky last season, but a Sox “person” (who exactly is a person? Is it different than an official?) would have traded him for a bag of balls, so I guess he stinks. Seriously, it is a bit worrisome that his last team was so eager to be rid of him. However, I can see how the White Sox playing around with his role would make the sitation between Nick and the combustible Ozzie Guillen a bit tense. Ultimately, Swisher will fit in here if he plays well, as performance trumps everything.

(Just as an aside, the idea that Swisher could not bring in an equivalent deal at this point is silly, considering that the Yankees gave up one prospect outside of their top 15, another outside of their top 30, and the awful Wilson Betemit. Even referring to that pile of trash as a haul is ridiculous, but typical or Heyman and perfectly in line with the tone and purpose of the article.)

What do you think about Swisher’s exit from Chicago? Does it bother you at all that many in the Windy City were glad to see him go?

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