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And what about De Aza?

There's another Charlotte Knight who represents a solution to a problem or two.
There's another Charlotte Knight who represents a solution to a problem or two.

After Ozzie Guillen exploded about his offense, no changes were made. Who'd've thunk it? Pretty much everybody.

The big problem, of course, is a lack of legal creativity. I like the way James put it in title of a recent WSO post -- "White Sox fixing problems they don't have, because those are easier."

And then you have this Mark Gonzales article, which claims "no easy fixes" to the lineup, there isn't a blindingly obvious opening for Dayan Viciedo. Why? Because Juan Pierre is the only "true leadoff candidate," and trading Brent Lillibridge still wouldn't guarantee that every outfielder would get to start every day, which I figured was the point of making a change.

This whole article is reflective of the tunnel vision plaguing the Sox. At one point, Viciedo was the most sensible replacement because of Pierre's massive problems in left field. But now that Pierre is offering more than Alex Rios, a shift in attention is required, and so far, the loudest voices have been slow to react to the notion that, hey, Alejandro De Aza could work, too.

De Aza's name doesn't show up in this article. In fact, doing archive and Google searches, I can't find any mention of his name in any article by the Sox beat writers since March, although Brett Ballantini dropped the #freedeaza hashtag on Twitter. This is hard to fathom for four big reasons.

 

*De Aza isn't a stranger. He played for the White Sox last September and made a lot of a little playing time, hitting .300/.323/.400 in 32 plate appearances.

*De Aza is smoking the ball. He leads the Charlotte Knights in batting average (.326) and OBP (.384), and is two ticks behind Dayan Viciedo in slugging (.505). He's also tied atop the International League leaderboard in hitting, too.

*De Aza does what Viciedo doesn't. He's lefty. He plays all three outfield positions, and he has stolen 22 bases. And sure, he's needed 33 attempts to swipe 22, but either way, it's leadoffy!

*De Aza isn't a scrub. He's only 27 years old, and poorly timed injuries have held him back more than anything. His legacy in Florida is one of terrible luck. In 2007, he had 10 hits in his first 33 at-bats before a hairline fracture sidelined him until August. One year later, he added a high ankle sprain to his collection in a collision during the final exhibition game of 2008, which cost him a chance at being the Marlins' everyday center fielder once again.

Every time De Aza has been 100 percent, he's performed well enough for a center fielder at both the major- and minor-league level. Right now, the Sox have two right-handed center fielders with flaccid bats, while a close-to-ideal complement is left to thrash for attention because his name isn't an anagram for "AVOID CYANIDE." Is it impossible to consider two players at once?