clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Guillen: AJ's kid needs to eat

By The Cheat

The White Sox haven't been mathematically eliminated from the AL Central or Wild Card. Likewise, I haven't been officially eliminated from the race for Illinois Governor.

After Thursday's brutal display against the Mariners, an effort that even Ozzie Guillen called embarrassing, Ozzie stated that he would continue to play his regulars for the remainder of the campaign. Why? Because players have money on the line.

"I want to win the most games we can," Guillen said Thursday. "People have to play for money. People have to play for pride. People have to play because they are getting paid.

"I might give a couple of the new kids a chance here and there, but we are trying to finish as strong as we can. One thing about it is we can win 90-plus games and [still] lose. I'm not going to give up just like that. If we get eliminated, I plan to play the guys who should be playing."

The article indicated that Podsednik had another 30 plate appearances to reach a bonus. Crunching the numbers; 9 games remaining, 4.5 plate appearances per game, Pods needs about 7 more starts to reach his extra $87.5K. With Pablo getting the starts in LF against lefties, Pods might not have enough games to reach that goal. In other words, don't expect Sweeney to see any time in LF, instead he'll be splitting time with Mackowiak, Anderson, and even Owens (probably in that order) in center field. Josh Fields (2 ninth inning plate appearances since his callup) should probably start all of the remaining games at third, and maybe DH against lefties, but probably won't see much action, even though Ozzie says he might rest Crede (0-for-his-last-25 with 5 GIDP).

Ignoring all the incentive issues, playing the 'guys who should be playing' is a big reason why the Sox have gone 1-6 in their last 7 games, 7-14 in their last 21, and have won just one series in September. The starting pitching has been among the best in baseball in September. The offense, meanwhile, has scored 3 or fewer runs in 12 of the last 21 games. There's zero reason to show any loyalty to an offense like that.

No word on who Guillen, a recently naturalized citizen, plans to vote for in the gubernatorial race. Cheat in '06!

More From South Side Sox