If there’s one thing that sports blogs have done very well over the past 5 years or so, it’s that they’ve shed some light on the deeds and misdeeds of athletes, coaches, and front office types. Beat writers and columnists have a harder time sweeping things under the rug to protect their chummy relationships and access, now that fans have a way to express their outrage and hold people accountable when they say or do dishonest things.

But perhaps not enough attention is given to the people who do keep their words and act in good faith. Being a man of your word doesn’t often make for compelling reading or righteous indignation. That’s why people freaked the heck out out when the White Sox traded lovable lout Jim Thome to the Dodgers. But they were wrong.

Fans and media alike saw the trade as an admission the White Sox were giving up on the season, that GM Ken Williams was waving the white flag. Williams refused comment for several days after the trade and people latched on that as a sign Williams was running scared from criticism. According to the CHICAGO TRIBUNE, though, there was a good reason behind the trade and subsequent silence:

Basically, how it came down was when I first traded for him from Philadelphia, I promised him that as long as he was in a White Sox uniform, I would aggressively try to go after a championship.

“Unfortunately, even with the additions that we’ve made this year — and I do think that we’re a better club than when we started the season — we have not played very well, as indicative of the [3-7] road trip from hell. So, at that time, I made the decision to at least explore [waiver trade] opportunities.

The man has always expressed to me that personal accolades are not as important as ultimately getting a [championship] ring, so … he made a decision [to waive his no-trade clause], and I told him … I would support him in anything he wanted to do and I let him go.

Despite the sputtering outrage from the South Side, Williams was correct. Even if the White Sox sneak into the playoffs, they’re not a serious championship contender and everyone knows it. Jim Thome is one of the nicest guys to ever play the game of baseball, and it’s a damn shame he hasn’t been able to win a World Series ring. Why not give him a chance to get one by sending him to the best team in the National League?

The White Sox have a good young core of players that will keep them competitive for years to come. In fact, one could even argue that those young players deserve a chance to try their hand at DH instead of Thome, to put the team in better position in future seasons. We’ve all seen what happens when a team ignores the need to rebuild until it’s too late (see: 2009 Boston Red Sox).  White Sox fans should be praising Williams for keeping the best interests of both Thome and the organization in mind - and also for keeping the promise he made to Thome years ago.