Depending on the perspective, it's been either a good week or a bad week for White Sox mid-minors mainstays.
First, the White Sox traded Greg Paiml to the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations last weekend. The change gives him a shot at sticking in Triple-A, but then again, playing for the Barons the last two seasons allowed him to live at home.
On Wednesday, two more familiar names were ushered out. First, we discovered that the Sox released Dexter Carter, and shortly after, it was announced that the Sox traded Christian Marrero to the Braves for cash considerations.
But these guys aren't the only ones facing fresh starts. Perhaps the greatest consequence of Wednesday's maneuverings will be felt right here.
The Christian Marrero Reading Room had been a fixture first on Sox Machine, then on South Side Sox, since Oct. 15, 2009. It's been a nice quiet place to catch up on your White Sox and related readings, and it's served us well. But given that he's somebody else's organizational player, and that the Sox are once again devoid of players named "Christian" or "Cristian" in the present or past, it doesn't make much sense to continue dropping links under the Reading Room heading.
So we're moving on, too. After kicking around some names -- The Dal Canton Roundtable, Billy Koch's Scratching Post, Sloppy Thurston's Hyperlink Jamboree -- Teahenny Penny came up with the winner...
TERREROBYTES!
As long as we have "R-R-E-R-O" somewhere in the name, we're going to be OK.
Since we're talking about former White Sox, let's start with one of recent and ancient vintage. Omar Vizquel will open the season on the Toronto Blue Jays' roster, giving him a genuine shot at becoming the first player to man shortstop at the age of 45.
Vizquel's only hope of avoiding "baseball's oldest player" status rests on the 49-year-old left arm of Jamie Moyer. The White Sox faced him in one of the split-squad games on Wednesday, and it could have been better, could have been worse. Did Moyer hurt his case in the race for the Rockies' fifth starter job? Jim Tracy doesn't think so. Did Tracy ask himself questions while answering questions? He always does.
Alex Rios swears he won't have the lava-lamp hands this year. The stance he's using now is the one he's going to stick with the entire year. It seems to be working better over the last week -- he's been able to get around on inside-half pitches, pulling line drives and flyballs without yanking them well foul.
If you're not following Carl's new cartoon/graphic novel, you might wanna start, because the art's getting more involved.
I'm not sold on Nate Jones as an option for right now. He runs hot and cold, and his cold is frigid. Given that the primary job of a low-leverage reliever is to avoid making bad situations worse, I don't think he'd serve much of a purpose in this bullpen. Still, he's shown why the Sox have kept him on the 40-man roster, and he's never pitched in Charlotte, so I think he'd have to consider this spring a success even if he's demoted.
Paul Konerko also tries to figure out why the Sox seem sharper than they have in previous springs, ugly split-squad/half-power results notwithstanding.
Always good to see a vitally important Negro Leagues figure get his due, and Chris Lamberti tells you why you need to know about Rube Foster, founder of the Chicago American Giants and the first Negro National League.
- Rube Foster Negro League Statistics & History - Baseball-Reference.com
- Negro League Stats: 1903-1948 " Sports Reference - Blog Archive
- Negro League Statistics: Long Overdue, Imperfect, And Still Amazing - Baseball Nation
The post about Foster gives me my first reason to link to an individual Negro Leagues player page on Baseball-Reference.com, which is so very, very, very, very, very great.
And as a special grand opening treat, what the hell...
TERREROBITES!
New ballpark food offered at White Sox home games includes Cevapcici, Buffalo Wings & Vienna Beef Hot Dogs w/ Pastrami Bacon
— TribFood (@ChiTribFood) March 28, 2012
Also new at Sox Park: "Irish Nacho Helmet" - French fries with cheese, sour cream, bacon, chives served in a kelly green souvenir helmet
— TribFood (@ChiTribFood) March 28, 2012
Didn't catch this the 1st go-around: US Cellular Field will be serving Minnesota favorite "Juicy Lucy" Burgers - cheese/bacon-stuffed patty
— TribFood (@ChiTribFood) March 28, 2012