They say good hitting is contagious. Well, for the White Sox, bad hitting is a plague, an epidemic.

The Sox closed out a road trip that saw them score just 9 runs in 6 games, with Sox hitters going 4-37 with runners in scoring position.

I've been sitting up waiting for more definitive news on the state of the Sox roster, because all I know right now is that changes appear imminent. Adam Russell is gone without appearing in a game, and it looks like Alexei Ramirez is your new starting 2B. Why? I have no idea.

Juan Uribe's presence in the lineup is tough to defend, but he still seems to give the Sox a better chance to win than any of the other options at second base.

Perhaps the turkey leg that fully blocked the fat man's artery came in the third inning when Uribe found himself in an unfamiliar place, third base, with nobody out. Orlando Cabrera grounded to the rag-armed David Eckstein, who was playing what Hawk would call "half way" at short, but Uribe didn't come home. The next batter, Carlos Quentin, lifted a shallow fly ball to right field where the strong arm of Alex Rios made a running a dubious decision. Uribe held again.

Uribe's mistake was amplified by the Sox 14 inning scoring drought and Javier Vazquez' magnificent performance. Vazquez. who was throwing in the mid-90's in his last inning of work, would have finished out the 8th if not for a poor play by Pablo Ozuna. He narrowly missed becoming the third White Sox starter to grab a complete game loss while north of the border.

For his part, Ozuna had an opportunity to take Vazquez off the hook for the loss when he came to the plate in the 9th with the bases loaded and nobody out. -- I don't need to go on about Ozuna. If there's anyone who deserves to be gone (aside from Ramirez) it's Ozuna. -- With the Sox needing just a deep fly ball, and Joe Crede unavailable because of a migraine, Ozuna grounded into the game ending 1-2-3 double play.

I wish I knew the direction the Sox were thinking about taking so that I could make a preemptive post about it tonight while I have the opportunity. All I know for sure is there are no quick fixes available, and all of the conceivable solutions are hardly solutions at all.

I'm a heavy sleeper -- I've been known to sleep through nearly anything. Dogs barking, lightning crashing, my alarm ringing, I can sleep through them all -- So too is the White Sox offense.

Bonser and Blackburn barked; the Sox offense caught some Zzzz's. Marcum rang, Litsch crashed; the Sox bats slumbered.

It would have been surprising if they were roused from their hibernation by a perennial Cy Young contender coming off 4 consecutive complete games. And in that respect, the Sox did not disappoint. Roy Halladay breezed through the Sox lineup the first time through the order, perfect through 3.

In the 4th inning, however, the offense showed some signs of life. The Sox sent 8 men to the plate, and pushed 3 runs across. They managed only one baserunner after the 4th inning. The offense was not awake, it was merely rolling over, adjusting before nodding back off. The outburst might have just been gas.

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It says a lot about the makeup of the team that when Ozzie needs to shake up the lineup, he turns to Pablo Ozuna, who was always a fringy talent but now has become an outright liability. Ozuna can't play defense, or at least he's below average at all of the positions he supposedly can play. He doesn't have the speed he once did, and he's hit just .239/.271/.313 with 4 stolen bases in the last 22 months.

With numbers like that, it's little wonder that I stoop so low as to bring up the name Jerry Owens. Some have felt vindicated by that mention. But Owens is not a savior. He's not even a good baseball player. He's a 4th outfielder at best. My mention of Owens was an indictment of how bad Jermaine Dye looked at the plate, not praise for the unique skill set of one Jerry Owens.

Still, Owens is on the tip of beat writers' tongues. Joe Cowley has already proclaimed it "Jerry Owens Time," while Mark Gonzales is leading off his recaps with thinly veiled pleas to add Owens to the mix. It's little wonder that Ozzie Guillen has grown tired of all the lineup suggestions.

I can understand all the calls for Owens. I don't agree with them, but I understand them. It's the same reason I was willing to drive Greg Walker out of town at this time last year. When something's not working, you make some changes. Last season, I thought the best move was to can Walker. And while I still think a fresh voice would do a world of good, I've become resigned to the fact that Walker has perpetually renewable contract at least until 2012.

For the sake of my own mental health, I've decided to drop the calls for Walker's head. He's part of the problem, but only a small part of it. This is where I agree with Ozzie.

"[Nick] Swisher, [Orlando] Cabrera, Konerko, [Jim] Thome, [Jermaine] Dye, A.J. [Pierzynski] and [Joe] Crede, they don't need coaches. They need to get their heads out of their asses and start hitting."

Walker or no Walker, Owens or no Owens, that core has to hit. If they don't, the Sox will continue their slide down the AL Central standings. Simple as that.

When you pick up your morning paper later today, you'll probably be greeted with stories crafted around the idea that the White Sox needed to bounce back from the brutal loss Thursday at the hands of the Orioles. I'm wasn't exactly concerned about how they bounced back.

This team is playing very well right now. Since last Saturday, they've lost two games, each by a run. The first came at the hands of a lefty making his second career start, and the second being the aforementioned bullpen meltdown in Baltimore. During that stretch they've also shutout Detroit, twice, and allowed more than 2 runs just once.

There's a feeling about this club that they can -- nay, should -- win every time they take the field. And when you've got a team going like that, you don't worry about how you'll respond to a tough loss; you can't wait to get back on the field and get back in the W column.

I was not at all surprised to see Javier Vazquez and the offense right back at it, doing exactly what they've been doing all season. Vazquez was able to pitch over a terrible HBP call and a poor defensive decision by Pablo Ozuna in the second and was quickly rewarded. The offense put together two big innings on the strength of back-to-back Jim Thome and Paul Konerko homers in the 3rd inning and took advantage of an Evan Longoria throwing error to get things started in the 4th. It was a laugher before the game even reached the half-way mark, giving Ozzie the opportunity to play the back-end of the bench.

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Jerry Owens officially came off the DL and was promptly optioned to Charlotte, where he was on rehab assignment. This is a clear sign that the Sox are happy with their current 25-man roster. Who can blame them when they're leading the AL Central with a 10-6 record, and playing this well? But I'd actually like to see Owens on the roster.

Owens is never going to be anything more than a 4th or 5th outfielder on a good team, while Alexei Ramirez might be able to hold down a starting role on a good team in the near future. I could see keeping Alexei around if he was getting some starts on the infield, but Juan Uribe has started all but one game at second, and Ozuna appears to be the primary backup on the infield. With the emergence of Carlos Quentin, who has been the left field starter every game since game 2, there just aren't enough at-bats to go around. I'd rather those at-bats not be given to Owens than Ramirez, who could clearly use some more development time.

It appears that the White Sox have placed Juan Uribe on some form of waivers (Updated language to satisfy Larry), though we shouldn't expect any confirmation of such until he has been claimed or passed through them completely, as they are supposed to be confidential. By rule, the White Sox are not allowed to comment on the situation. So, we can't be sure what Uribe's status is, leaving us to do what we do best; speculate.

First, lets answer what being placed on waivers means for the Uribe situation. Mark Gonzalez and Joe Cowley both cite a 72-hour period during which teams can place a claim on Uribe, allowing them to pick up Uribe and his entire salary. Other resources list a 48 hour window, but note that Saturday and Sunday don't count. So, combining those two, Uribe could be in limbo until Monday.

In the probable event that no team places a claim on Uribe, he becomes a free agent and the White Sox are still on the hook for his $4.5MM salary. The only way the Sox avoid having to pay him is if an angel of a team -- I'm looking your direction Baltimore -- comes along and places a claim, picking up the full $4.5MM in the process.

How did we get here?

When the Sox signed Uribe to his current 1-year deal in lieu of picking up his $5MM option, I called it "the best of a myraid of poor solutions" available on the free-agent market. I had no idea at the time that David Eckstein would only require a 1-year deal, or that Adam Everett could be had for $2.5MM. I went on to call the deal "far from an optimal situation, [which] gives the Sox freedom to continue to look for trades and doesn't lock them into a poor long-term situation."

Ten days later, the Sox completed the Garland for Cabrera trade, effectively making Uribe an overpriced backup. And a month after that they signed the lightly-pursued Cuban defector Alexei Ramirez, whose hot spring might have given Uribe the final push out the door.

Ramirez was in the lineup in center field for the second time this spring, and had an impressive day at the plate. He walked twice, upping his spring total to 3, and hit a leafoff homerun off Ubaldo Jimenez after an extended at bat. It was a little bit rougher outing for Ramirez in the field, as he missed the cutoff man twice and nearly missed on another occasion. He was 50/50 on difficult to field balls in the gap, once taking a nice route to make a routine play look exactly that, but later faltering on a long run to a ball at the wall ultimately having the ball glance off his backhand attempt.

Just yesterday, Joe Cowley wrote of two contentious morning meetings. One can only assume there was a third this morning before Uribe was placed on waivers. It's just another case, like the Hunter-to-Rowand-to-Swisher situation before it, in which it looks like the White Sox front office has no concrete plan on how to build a team.

We applaud Kenny Williams for his ability to admit he made a mistake in signing Uribe by placing him on waivers before the season even begins. But we'd be a lot happier if he would just make the right decision in his first attempt next time.

Who's on second?

So now that Uribe, the previous leader in the competition for second base, is on the outs, who plays second? These are the options as I see them.

• Alexei Ramirez -- The aforementioned Cuban has impressed with his bat this spring, but second is supposedly his "rawest" of positions.
• Danny Richar -- He arrived late to camp with visa issues, and when he did show up complained of a injured back. He was a late scratch from Wednesday's game, and had a MRI to inspect the back injury.
• Pablo Ozuna -- The Secret Weapon has exceeded my dubiously low expectations for him this spring. I expected him to be complete waste of space following his return from a broken leg last season, but he's appeared healthy from the very start of spring. I did note that he was unable to beat out a ball in the hole in Monday's game, which could signal that the loss of speed I had feared has arrived.
• Trade -- There have been some unsubstantiated rumors of Brian Roberts (purely because the Cubs want him) and Mark Ellis (because Oakland is selling off anyone over age 26), but I can't see the Sox making a major trade between now and Opening Day that doesn't include Joe Crede.

I'd give Ramirez the inside track to be the opening day starter, with Richar probably headed to Charlotte or the DL. Ozuna has served as a passable backup for the last 3 seasons, but shouldn't be considered for a starting role.