Introducing Your September White Sox Call-Ups

This post was written by larry, but apparently he broke the site. I'm leaving his post below so the tech guys can figure out what went wrong, and reposting it again so you can comment and such.

Or, in most cases, re-introducing.

Tyler Flowers: The White Sox' top prospect receives a deserving call-up to serve as the 3rd catcher.  One suspects, however, that he will see a bit more playing time than his predecessor ceremonial 3rd catchers have in the past.  Jim Thome's departure may mean he will also see significant time at DH, although the team still has a logjam of hitters vying for plate appearances.  Flowers is a hitter in the three true outcomes vein. His blended line between Birmingham and Charlotte was .297/.423/.516. I expect him to struggle initially with major league pitching but his addition certainly adds a bit of excitement to what will undoubtedly be a rather mundane run-in for the club.  This stint should allow him to get familiar with many of the pitchers he'll be handling regularly, presumably beginning sometime next season.

Chris Getz: Chris has shown himself this season to be a fragile little egg.  His absences have permitted Jayson Nix to solidify himself and you can probably expect a lefty-righty platoon next season at 2B.  That certainly works to hide Nix' major shortcoming - an utter inability to hit right-handed pitching - and also may help to keep Getz healthy. Getz' .267/.325/.367 has been about as advertised although his glove has disappointed me so far.

Dewayne Wise: He stinks at most aspects of major league baseball.  He does play good defense and he has some utility as a baserunner. However, he should not face live pitching. This year, he's batting .200/.240/.348.  In other words, essentially his career line. Here's hoping this will be the last we see of him.

Carlos Torres: He relies on hitters being undisciplined at the plate.  Unfortunately, most major leaguers are better than that.  His future is probably in the bullpen and that's where I'd expect him next season.  This month, however, he will pick up starts, particularly if Peavy does not return or return quickly.

Josh Fields: Well, unlike his boy BA, Fields didn't get the trade he requested. That's what happens when you are essentially an AAAA slugger without a defensive position.  While he's not arbitration eligible next season, he will be without options.  He also was not on the original list of September 1 call-ups but the Thome trade made another bat necessary. All of that adds up to us probably watching the end of Fields as a member of the organization.

Further call-ups will probably be arriving over the next week as the minor league season winds-down and I'll cover those as they happen. Considering the White Sox are in a cost-saving mode, however, not paying the approximately $66,000 major league salary each call-up will make over the rest of the season may serve to limit the total number of call-ups compared to prior years - not to mention the generally uninspiring nature of the remaining candidates. And, since I know this will come up, as I've said before, it doesn't make a great deal of sense to add Daniel Hudson to the 40 man roster and, therefore, compel the club to use an option on him in 2010 when there's no urgency to do so.  Of course, the White Sox rarely take my unsolicited advice.  At any rate, he'll certainly be making two final starts in AAA before any decision is made. [Oops]