Chisoxfn Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 TCSN: Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock By Mario Scalise Chisport.com Today is a very important day for the White Sox. Ozzie Guillen demanded/guaranteed changes and Kenny Williams didn’t care much for it. The two will now supposedly meet prior to tonight’s game against the Royals. Here are some possibilities, which are either realistic, thoughtful, or so unlikely that they should have never been thought of, let alone written down. Greg Walker gets the boot. Shocking it is not. Fair it may not be. But if you carry the title of hitting coach, then you better take some of the blame when things go bad. The guys who are struggling are more of the experienced ilk, I get it, and maybe they aren’t listening to him. They are the dumbasses and the ones who should be dealt with, but that doesn’t happen in baseball/sports. And when it comes to hitting coaches, what’s being taught is roughly the same, but it’s how you say it. It’s what you do it for it to sink into a ballplayer’s head. Walker’s obviously been having trouble doing that. Ozzie gets the boot. Wouldn’t that be fun? Not that Ozzie would deserve it for the job he’s doing. It’s not really his fault he doesn’t have an offense that fits him well, but he did throw it all on Williams Sunday and suggested him or Walker going. Walker might the guy Ozzie wants gone but is too afraid to give the news himself, hence why he’s putting things on Williams, but don’t piss off your boss and then remind him that he has the power to fire you. Brian’s Second Chance. There can be a lineup change, which could be either really eye-opening or very dull. Guillen can publically name Brian Anderson the starting centerfielder, relegating Nick Swisher to the bench. And, or… DL for PK. Konerko is apparently hurt and has been hurt for a few weeks. It’s why he took a few days off last month. But he’s come back and is still bad, so why not DL him, whether the injury is a cause for his awful play or not. It’s a good excuse to not have him the lineup. It could then allow the Sox to call up… Brad Eldred. The Chicago Tribune actually put the 27-year-old triple-A first baseman on the front of their sports section, along with this piece by Phil Rogers. He may be the lone in-house option the Sox have to jumpstart this offense. He probably wouldn’t do any worse than what Konerko, Swisher and Thome are doing right now, but Eldred’s just a different name, same style. He’s big and hits home runs. Eh. How about… A third catcher. Put together a list right now of the top four Sox hitters this season: 1. Carlos Quentin, 2. AJ Pierzynski, 3. Jermaine Dye, 4. Toby Hall. Two of them are catchers, so why not bring up a third, giving you the option to get both Pierzynksi and Hall in the lineup against lefties. Pierzynski doesn’t really hit lefties, but .250 is one massive improvement for this offense. Call-ups don’t have to stop there though… Sox fans’ favorite player, Jerry Owens. Many don’t like him and feel he will never be anything more than a fourth outfielder, and those guys should pat themselves on the back because Quentin … enough said, but Owens did produce towards the end of the last season, adds speed to a slow team, and is right now a far better option than having a seventh reliever. He doesn’t have to start, but he could, how about in left with Quentin moving to right and Dye to DH. The Sox just need options on the offensive side of the ball. There isn’t one set lineup that you could confidently write down right now for the rest of the season, so Ozzie needs to have the options availalbe to him to do a Lou Piniella. BEFORE I FORGET - I give Guillen a lot of credit for giving Carlos Quentin Sunday off and keeping him on the bench despite situations that would suggest he pinch hit. I’m not being sarcastic. While our pitching staff has shared the pressure of carrying the team through games, Quentin (with a little help from Pierzynski, Dye and even Cabrera) has had the pressure of carrying an entire offense. Giving him two days off was the right way to go and sends a straight message to the others: this kid can’t cover for you guys every game. - Paul Konerko’s response to the team’s bad offense is that they are trying hard. Great, but it has nothing to do with effort and everything to do with production. Swinging the bat really really hard is effort, but how about putting that effort towards adjusting to pitchers during the course of an at bat/game/week/month/season? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elrockinMT Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 Nothing that a winning series or two won't cure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felix Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 It would be a huge waste of a roster spot to have 3 catchers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chitownsportsfan Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 LOL, a 3rd catcher? BA the everday CF? Dye to DH so Owens is the everday RF? hahahaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhahah And no mention of the obvious move (bring up Fields and dump Ozuna) that should be made. How does this guy have a job writing about baseball? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felix Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jun 4, 2008 -> 10:31 AM) How does this guy have a job writing about baseball? He doesn't have a job, it's the blog for this site and its sister sites that people volunteer to write for I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted June 4, 2008 Author Share Posted June 4, 2008 And if you could read (this is me defending the person) he was throwing out possible moves (since Ozzie had said he was going to shake things up). He wasn't stating what he would be doing. In terms of Josh Fields, take a look at his MILB numbers this season. He's been downright terrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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