Greatness or tease? Only time will tell

This was the pitcher White Sox general manager Kenny Williams traded for.

Of course, it remains uncertain whether that means Gavin Floyd is great or a tease.

Maybe he's both. Athletes who carry the potential tag -- and carry it for a few years -- often are.

In baseball they make geniuses of general managers and field managers. Or they get them fired.

Williams and Sox manager Ozzie Guillen were the smartest men in baseball Saturday afternoon when Floyd was undeniably great.

"You have to give the kid credit," Tigers second baseman Placido Polanco said following the Sox' 7-0 victory. "He pitched a very good game."

Here's Floyd's better than very good pitching line: 1 Tigers hit over 7½ shutout innings. Edgar Renteria's single didn't come until one out in the eighth inning.

"Even if this lineup is cold, it's still a great lineup," Detroit's Brandon Inge said. "Give him credit."

The Tigers thought Floyd was two different pitchers during the game. Early, Tigers manager Jim Leyland said, Floyd was "effectively wild" and later, he "pounded the corners."

Williams and Guillen probably would settle for either of those from Floyd on a consistent basis. Pitchers can retire hitters by being either effectively wild or by pounding the corners.

Floyd can do either at times. He just hasn't been able to do it over long stretches with either the Phillies or the White Sox. If he had in Philadelphia, the Sox likely never would have been able to acquire him in the Freddy Garcia trade on Dec. 6, 2006.

Polanco was a teammate of Floyd's with the Phillies but "only for about a week." Then the Phils sent Floyd to the minor leagues for more seasoning, as has happened multiple times during his career, including last year by the Sox.

The Phillies saw Floyd's potential and tried to develop it. Now the Sox see it and are trying to develop it.

Like countless others with ability that is almost unanimously considered special, Floyd flashes spasms of brilliance like Saturday's. The trick is figuring out how to keep him from reverting to mediocrity or worse.

Floyd, 25, didn't seem to have much rhythm early against the Tigers, walking four over the first four innings. It took terrific defensive plays by Carlos Quentin, Joe Crede and the double-play combination of Orlando Cabrera and Juan Uribe to preserve a no-hitter.

Then, suddenly, Floyd had more rhythm than a mariachi band and retired 12 straight batters before Renteria's single.

The Sox would love to maintain that Floyd and watch him translate potential into performance and stuff into victories.

Floyd would answer myriad questions about the Sox' unproven young starters, along with John Danks, and the bottom of their pitching rotation.

Ah, but that's the teaser part. When Floyd pitches like he did against the Tigers -- actually his second quality start in two tries against them this season -- visions of greatness dance in the heads of general managers, managers, scouts and opponents.

As Guillen said, "When you have stuff like he has, and you face a club like Detroit …"

In other words when you put one and one together, and Floyd puts his stuff together, the tempting conclusion is this is more greatness than tease.

It'll take a few more appearances, if not a season's worth, to tell for sure.

mimrem@dailyherald.com