"White Sox fans are really gonna take to this guy."

That was Kenny Williams (roughly, from memory) during the spring of '04 sitting in with Hawk and DJ in the TV booth of a spring training game. The player to whom he was referring was Juan Uribe.

"As long as he stays back," Williams referring to Uribe's swing-at-everything approach, "he's gonna open some eyes." Just as KW finished that thought, Uribe sent a tape measure shot over the left-center field wall in Tucson Electric Park.

That's how White Sox fans were introduced to Juan Uribe. Expected by most only to be a platoon/utility guy, Uribe got off to a hot start and quickly cemented himself into a regular rotation in the Sox middle infield. By season's end with Uribe posting a .830 OPS and demonstrating plus defense at 3 defensive positions, it was clear that Uribe was the Sox shortstop of the future.

"Every time we play this kid at any position, he goes out there and looks better than what we thought."

That was Ozzie Guillen during spring of '08, impressed by Alexei Ramirez' ability to adapt quickly to each new situation he was handed.

Ramirez was the story of the '08 spring training. Can he play second? What about CF and SS? Can we get him enough at-bats? But unlike Uribe, he did not get off to a hot start. After starting the first two games of the season, a seemingly over-matched Ramirez was benched in favor of soon-to-be MVP candidate Carlos Quentin. But when opportunity knocked in the form of a Juan Uribe injury, Ramirez was ready, posting a .304/.331/.502 line over the rest of the season as he Wally Pipped Uribe.

It's now Ramirez who appears to be the White Sox' shortstop of the (immediate) future.

I make this comparison because it illustrates how quickly we can go from having our "shortstop of the future" to looking for the next one (I was going to post some pitch-type data from Uribe and Ramirez' first seasons on the south side here, but Ramirez' data disappeared from baseball-reference) and lends me to the question...

What becomes of Juan Uribe?

Uribe is a free agent this off-season, but has stated his desire to stay with the White Sox if all possible. He would seem to represent the Sox fall-back option, a safety net for Chris Getz and Josh Fields, if they're unable to upgrade their starters at 2nd or 3rd base.

Today's signing of Jayson Nix, who's far from someone who should be counted on even in a backup role, gives the Sox a bit more flexibility with their middle infield situation. Though I doubt anyone would be comfortable heading into the season with and infield comprised of Ramirez, Getz and Fields with only Nix around to provide backup. The Nix signing, along with all the praise that Chris Getz has received since September, should give some insight into the Sox intentions at second base. I doubt they'll be looking to add much there either through free agency or the trade market.

Uribe's return to the Sox would seem to be at least partially contingent on their plan at third base, and more importantly, on his willingness to accept a pay cut for the second straight season.

* * * * *

The Mariners fired scouting director Bob Fontaine, who previously held the title of Director of Player Personnel with the White Sox from '01 to '03. Given the recent turnover in the Sox' scouting department (thanks Dave!), his previous relationship with the Sox and Kenny Williams, and his respect throughout the industry, he would be a nice pickup for the Sox front office.

It's easy for Sox fans to point to the Lance Broadway pick and mark the '05 draft as a failure, but a closer inspection reveals a number of players who could be classified as Top Prospects despite their lower-profile draft position. Unfortunately for the Sox, the '05 draft's Top Prospects now reside in other farm systems; Daniel Cortes (7th round) is the Royals top pitching prospect, with Chris Carter (15th) and Aaron Cunningham (6th) give the A's a couple extra Top 50 prospects via Arizona. But even with Broadway tucked away in the Suspects section of our classification system, we've still got a few names you'll recognize from the '05 draft here among the Plain Ol' Prospects.

Continue our look at the Sox prospects after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

The front office has taken notice. They've seen your 900 I Want A Pony posts, dreaming of big name free agents, your 3-for-1 swaps for that healthy All-Star pitcher. They'd like you to take a step back, somewhere closer to reality.

"Payroll-wise, I stopped worrying about that," Williams said before Game 1 of the AL Division Series. "[Chairman] Jerry Reinsdorf will give me a payroll number and that will have virtually no bearing on what type of team I think we should have.

"It will give me a ceiling number, but we're not going to spend unnecessarily. We'll spend what's needed to try to put a winner on the field."

So slow down with your visions of Orlando Hudson, Rafael Furcal, or even Mark Ellis. We've got Chris Getz. He's like a piranha crossed with a ray crossed with a shark. You're gonna like him.

"Chris Getz can play," Williams said last week. "He's a guy who is more in the Minnesota Twins-type mold. You know how I like grinders, and he's a grinder-type guy.

He might not have the gaudy numbers, but he's going to help win games."

I'll have to update our payroll chart, which I think I neglected to finish last off-season, so you can accurately put together your wish lists. But that's for another day.

Yes, I realize there is nothing new here. The quote is from last Thursday. But judging by yesterday's threads, if I didn't have this here in the morning, Colin would wake up to 800 comments in the Orlando thread.

The top of the site tells me that I have approximately 2 hours to write a recap, and, as has become SSS custom, get what might be the worst thread in the history of SSS off the front page. So, in the interest of burying the ugliness, here's your recap, to which I will be adding (in between masturbatory sessions) until the site goes dark for the night.

Limited time constraints and a general lack of focus results in a bullet point recap for you.

• The first game played Monday, which was actually April, BTW, had to be one of the most frustrating losses of the year; 12 walks leads to only 3 runs thanks to 18 men left on base, Cubs castoffs Rocky Cherry and Luis Montanez proving the winning formula in the late innings, the decision to start Horacio Ramirez over Thornton or Carrasco, a number of well-struck line drives which never seemed to find the grass between the white lines. It was just one of the most frustrating games of the year to watch. And it took nearly 3 months to complete.

• Clayton Richard turned in his second consecutive quality start, with all of the damage coming in one inning. And the damage might not have been as severe if he had a competent defense behind him. General Soreness was unable to get to bloop hit and Alexei Ramirez dropped a glove-to-hand transfer (ruled a hit) to give the O's two extra outs in the inning. I still don't know how he's getting it done, but I'm not gonna argue with the results. Keep sending him out there against the also-rans of the AL, I say.

• Joe Crede returned to the Sox lineup, and actually looked pretty good at the plate in the first game. As somebody commented that's probably because the first game was played in April. Crede lifted a deep fly to center his first at-bat, and laid out a rope to right field in his second, but both found the gloves of Orioles fielders.

  Defensively, it didn't appear that Crede had any ill effects from his lingering back issues. He made a number of nice plays over the two games, though he did start hitting the ball weakly to the right side in the nightcap.

• Chris Getz was optioned to AAA in between games to make way for the curiously effective Lance Brodway. Getz will be back in 10 days, the minimum time required (barring injury) for a minor league assignment, with rosters set to expand on September 1st.

Note: Previously, there has been a loosely enforced--is anything strictly enforced around here?--policy against political posting. But, observing the generally cordial conversations which occurred during primary season, I let everything slide. I think the last thread shows why that policy should be more rigorously enforced. But enforcing rules is hard work, so I've come up with something different.

Over the next two weeks, spanning the conventions--I like to think of them as the political equivalent of SoxFest--if you should still feel the need to shout obscenities at your TV or your fellow Sox fans, you're welcome to do so in the soon-to-be-difficult-to-find previous thread. (no link) Please be so kind as to keep them out of the rest of the threads. kthnxbi.

Javier Vazquez turned in his best effort of the season, blanking the Royals in breezy fashion over 8 innings. If not for the Sox offense beating up on an inexperience pitcher in the 8th, he might have come back out to finish things off himself.

The Sox will need Vazquez to return to the pitcher he was from August '06 through last season if they hope to make a serious run at the post-season. Thankfully, Vazquez has shown signs of life since his infuriating first three innings to start his last outing.

As usual, homers were the story for the Sox offense. They've gone 60-29 this season when they hit a HR and just 6-24 when they fail to put one over the fence. Jermaine Dye got the Sox going with 2-run bomb in the first, and Nick Swisher and AJ Pierzynski added solo blasts to mark the only scoring for the first 7 innings. Three homers is a pretty good recipe for success, and the Sox bullpen had no problem holding up while trying to close out a tight 9-run lead.

• The Sox may be on their way to righting their woeful pitching of the last 6 weeks. They've made one successful trip through the rotation, though the loss of Contreras obviously hurts. You've got to start somewhere.
• Kansas City's outfield defense cleverly tried to make Ken Griffey Jr. look like a good fielder. Nice try guys. We're still not fooled.
• Chris Getz got his first major league hit. I won't mention that it came off a pitcher with less than 12 innings of major league experience. Oops.

• Freddy Garcia and Paul Byrd found new homes with the Tigers and Red Sox, respectively, prompting Ozzie to say

  "I need a pitcher this week. I don't need pitchers next year. It's my opinion. I don't think Freddy ... it'll be hard for him to be ready for the playoffs.

  "To be ready that quick. He's going to start in the minor leagues, you only have one week to go, two weeks to go. I need a pitcher to win now. Next year ... I don't care about next year. I don't. I need a pitcher right now. We didn't have a conversation about Freddy.

  MGL added that Boston's acquisition of Byrd was "not a dumb thing to do. It is a REALLY dumb thing to do."

Jose Contreras was in top form for an inning and two-thirds Saturday night. His fastball was in the mid-90's. His forkball was dancing. He even ditched the sidearm delivery that so often gets him in trouble.

Then he had to run to cover first base.

With 2 outs in the second, Jacoby Ellsbury hit a groundball to Nick Swisher at first. Contreras took a bit of circuitous route to cover and take the flip. He stumbled as he got close to the base line, missed the flip from Swisher, and crumbled to the ground as he crossed the bag. He stayed down for a couple of minutes, and needed help to get off the field, the victim of a ruptured achilles tendon.

We have probably seen Contreras throw his last pitch in a White Sox uniform, possibly ever. With Contreras' age and the long recovery time for an injury of this type, I'd be surprised if we ever see him throw another pitch as meaningful as his last one. Contreras' career as a major leaguer might have ended in a heap just a few feet beyond first base.

For the White Sox, the obvious question is who replaces Contreras? Unfortunately, there are no easy answers, and the complicated answers are probably less than satisfactory as well. The Sox have three routes they can take to replace Contreras in the rotation:

1. Give the job to Carrasco -- DJ Carrasco has made two excellent extended relief outings this season, including the 4.1 innings of 1-run ball Saturday night. Unfortunately, with Scott Linebrink on the shelf, Carrasco has taken on more high-leverage work in the bullpen. Moving him to the rotation would mean extra high-leverage work for Dotel, Russell, and whomever is called upon to replace Carrasco.

2. Dip into the minor league well -- The Sox have already gone this route once before with dubious results. Clayton Richard showed what it looks like when you bring up an unheralded pitcher who started the season in A-ball, a lot like '06 Boone Logan, who I'll get to later. Aside from Richard, who I assume has been removed as an option following his last two lackluster performances, the only realistic options in the Sox minor leagues are Jack Egbert, who I jinxed with a mention last week, and 2007 first rounder, Aaron Poreda, whose last three starts in AA have been spectacular.

3. Scour the waiver wire -- Jarrod Washburn has already cleared waivers, and if Paul Byrd hasn't already, he'll easily slip through in the near future. But there's an obvious reason those two will be available; they're not very good. They'll give you consistently poor outings with a few good ones sprinkled in there just to keep you intrigued. And if the Sox have to give up actual talent, or take on actual salary, they're hardly of any interest to me.

While the Sox obviously have to replace Contreras, there's another member of the pitching staff who's overdue being replaced, Boone Logan. In his last 12 outings, he's allowed 20 runs in just, including 4 Saturday, and he's only pitched 8 innings. He's allowed 20 runs in his last 24 outs. There's little reason to keep a guy going through a stretch like that on even the worst team, let alone one trying to win a division crown.

So, assuming the Sox chose option 1 or 2, and I suggest they should, they'll need to be looking at both Egbert and Poreda either way. Whether it's Poreda getting a baptism by fire in the rotation or as a left-handed reliever, they'll need to drop to the minors to pick up two pitchers either way.

[Note by The Cheat, 08/09/08 10:04 PM CDT ]: As I wrote this entry, Buehrleman commented that 670 the Score has reported the Sox have already chosen option 3. They've traded Paulo Orlando, who sucks, and was probably one of the prospects Wilder used to skim money from the Sox, for Kansas City's Horacio Ramirez, who also sucks, but has found success by throwing junk in the strike zone out of the Kansas City pen. Also on the move, though yet to be confirmed, Boone Logan and Josh Fields appear headed to Charlotte. No word on who will be replacing them on the roster, though an infielder would figure to replace Fields; Chris Getz, anyone?

[Uptade by The Cheat, 08/09/08 11:15 PM CDT]: Dave Van Dyck confirms everything we wrote in the previous paragraph.

One thing I hate when browsing my feed reader is seeing nothing but apologies for lack of posting, so you won't find that here. I'll offer no apology for being too busy enjoying a wedding or a gorgeous holiday weekend. But the Sox, and the rest of the AL Central, haven't sat still in my absence, so rather than a game recap, I thought I'd just give a brief roundup on the last couple of weeks.

Jenks' Back Issues

Bobby Jenks hasn't pitched since June 28th, went for an MRI on his upper back, and although he was given a thumbs up, he might not be available for the first-half closing road trip. He wasn't exactly in top form over the last month, with just one 1-2-3 inning in his last 12 outings. And while the bullpen has hasn't been spectacular in Jenks' absence, with Scott Linebrink struggling, in particular, I'm not in any hurry for him to come back.

The first and most obvious reason is that I want a 100% healthy Jenks, not 85% or 95%, but 100%. And if that means a trip to the DL, so be it. (Remember we suffered through a 2006 season when seemingly everyone in the rotation could have used a break, and we know how that turned out.) Another reason is Matt Thornton, who has allowed just 12 hits while striking out 24 in his last 21 appearances.

Thornton would be my choice to close out games right now. I don't but much into the theory that there are guys who can pitch in high leverage 8th innings situations but can't hack it in the 9th, but it remove two guys who haven't exactly had success in their brief stints as closers. Linebrink has actually expressed a desire to stay out of that role. I've probably put too much time writing about this already, so I'll just stop now.

The Konerko Kwandry

In addition the Jenks/bullpen mess, Paul Konerko could be coming off the DL any day now. While conventional wisdom seems to be that his return will hasten the trade of Juan Uribe, I'd bet that the Sox would just as soon put Bobby on the DL and avoid rushed decision if Jenks is out much longer. Jenks will be eligible to be back after the All-Star break, giving the Sox extra time to make there roster decisions.

If Jenks returns to bullpen duty as usual, the roster crunch could get more complicated, which is another reason I don't think they should rush him back. Either Pablo Ozuna or Dewayne Wise could be DFAd, because nobody will bother to claim them, or Brian Anderson could be optioned, or Uribe could be gone to the Dodgers or Orioles.

As poorly as Uribe has played over the last two plus seasons, I have a hard time believing the Sox are a better team without him on the bench. Uribe, a quality glove man, is Sox best backup at 3 positions, even though he's only used at two of them, and offers some unusual pop for a bench middle-infield bat. And removing him from the roster would leave Ozuna as the primary backup at 2B, 3B, and I assume SS. Chris Getz, who has seen time at short in Charlotte this season, is only a phone call away, but that seems like a really thin infield, pun intended, if Uribe's no longer around.

All-Star Selections

Individually, I can understand why each player on the Sox Major League best pitching staff was left off the roster, but it's hard to figure out how that happens. The staff has combined for the lowest ERA in baseball while playing in a high run-scoring environment. How does everyone get left at home?

There's still the opportunity for the Sox to add one more with Jermaine Dye on the 32nd man ballot, but I think his road will be tougher than Scott Podsednik and AJ Pierzynski in front of him. In those elections, the Sox were able to Get Out The Vote thanks in large part to home series during the balloting. This meant a constant reminder in the form of a backstop graphic, and a stream of interviews in the booth and shots of teammates voting in the dugout. Those efforts will be considerably harder while on the road. So even though JD's only real competition is Jason Giambi, I don't expect him to make it.

Those Pesky Twins

I'm not a scoreboard watcher. I'm of the mind that if you take care of the opponents on your schedule, you won't have to worry about the rest of the division. Still, it's hard to ignore a 16-2 run.

The Twins started by beating up on the NL Central, and have continued to do the same this week sagainst the AL Central also-rans. I think it goes without saying that the Twins aren't going to continue to lose only 2 games every 3 weeks, but they're not be taken lightly. It's going to take more than 90 wins to take the division now. The good news is that 91 wins is 20 games over, and the Sox sit at 14 over right now.

The Sox have a soft schedule until they travel to Detroit and Minnesota in late July, which gives them another opportunity to gain some breathing room, and possibly creep towards that 20-over number. Maybe I'll start worrying about the nightly division standings then, but I doubt it.