Over at BTF, Chris Dial has posted  his awards for worst defensive infielders. Unshockingly, Josh Fields gets mentioned. Somewhat more surprisingly, Richar does as well. He was 2nd worst in the AL behind Wiggington at 2B.

I have to admit, Richar did look sort of rangeless to me last season. Given that he is an ex-shortstop, I sort of assumed my impression wasn't reflective of reality. Of course, all the caveats about defensive metrics apply. Richar may actually be average at 2B and there just isn't enough data to show that yet.....

Cameron's take here. And Torii Hunter is number one on the list. Cameron and mgl debate the Hunter choice on BTF.

If Cameron is right about the contract (+$100M, 6 years) I think he's obviously right overall. I also think that means Hunter won't be on the Sox.

I will say that Hunter has smacked LHP pretty well lately, and that would be a useful skill to add to the Sox lineup. If the Sox do end up signing him, I wonder if it wouldn't be better to front-load the contract...

In Mark Gonzales' Trib story about Jerry Owens:

Podsednik batted seventh in the first game, and Guillen said he likes the idea of having speed at the bottom of the order...

Darin Erstad is expected to return soon from a minor-league rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A Charlotte. Erstad, however, is another left-handed hitting outfielder. Guillen said the logjam could be alleviated somewhat if Erstad occasionally plays first base to give Paul Konerko a rest.

"If [Owens] continues to play the way he is now, it's going to be a tough situation because I'll let him play more," Guillen said.

That's right, Ozzie wants Owens, Pods, and Erstad in the same lineup. He likes Pods hitting 7th to get some speed there. He's gonna sit Konerko so that Owens, Pods, and Erstad can play. As a bonus, maybe he'll stop playing Mack and his rising trade value to get the No-Power Trio on the field.

I'm not sure this was worth a diary, but I found it amusing and that's what I'm looking for as a fan at this point.

Lichtman and Tango think that Buehrle's contract overpays him

Someone already mentioned the THT column which concludes Buehrle is overpaid.

On a more positive note, Chris Dial at BTF thinks the signing was a good one

I have to admit that I'm surprised that so many stats people have panned the deal. It makes me wonder if WAR for pitchers is really calibrated correctly. Perhaps it would be better to look at WAWSR (Wins Above White Sox Replacement) which clearly shows that replacement level players from the Sox system aren't nearly as good as replacement level players from other systems.

Anyway, for a team willing to carry a $100M payroll and one that wants to be good again rapidly, I have a hard time seeing it as bad.

I'd be interested in knowing what the people who post here think about the various analyses of the deal. And I'd also like to know why I didn't see a bunch of articles saying the Matsuzaka signing was a bad deal...

There's an interesting story in the NY Daily News about former Sox hitting coach Charley Lau
and his approach to hitting. Decent number of references to the Sox, who may retire his number.

The current Sox hitting coach is quoted in the article. If Walker is teaching Lau's swing this Sox season is not doing much to support Lau's theories. My favorite quote is from anti-Lau hitting coach Reggie Smith: "Even though Frank Thomas is successful he's not as efficient as he should be."

THT has an interesting article about the current "luck leaders" among pitchers. Contreras made 1 unlucky list (LOB%) and 1 lucky list (HR/FB). Garland made the latter list as well; interesting that 2 guys with home games in the Cell are on there. Other notes: Danks lucky with high LOB%, Buehrle & Garland lucky with low BABIP, Buehrle lucky with low line drive rate and Garland unlucky with high line drive rate.

So, Buehrle would be the luckiest Sox pitcher this season, although no Sox pitcher really stands out as very lucky or unlucky. Vazquez wasn't on any of the lists, which is interesting as well.