Kenny Williams today racked up the first casualty on my
25-man roster preview, shipping Jeff Bajenaru to the Arizona Diamondbacks
for Alex Cintron. It's one disappointing player for another, although I'd prefer to have the one who can switch-hit and play a few positions over the one who throws a straight, low-90s fastball.
This creates one situation in the bullpen, in which a lefty gets the final spot in the bullpen. It was pretty much a foregone conclusion, but that makes it official. And that lefty appears to be Javier Lopez, and Arnie Munoz was
optioned to Triple-A for no discernable reason. Lopez got out of a two-on, one-out jam that Tim Redding created with no further damage, so he's looking solid. And when it's the last man in the bullpen you're talking about, that'll do.
In regards to the bench, it creates a logjam. With Ozzie picking only one reliever out of the Bajenaru-LOOGY Fiesta mix, Ross Gload and Joe Borchard were assured spots on the team for the most part. But now with Cintron in the mix, somebody's going to have to be forced out. With Chris Widger and Rob Mackowiak staying put, one of three players has got to go:
1) Ross Gload. Gload has a couple of drawbacks, one being that he plays a position that the two best offensive players on the team play -- first base. He's also left-handed, which isn't a need so much now that the Sox have Mackowiak and Cintron, who's a switch-hitter. On the positive side, he's probably the best bat on the Sox bench, and he has the reputation that would place him as the best defensive first baseman on the team. He is out of options, which means the Sox have to keep him on the 25-man roster, trade him, or put him on waivers.
2) Joe Borchard. Borchard can only hit mistake pitches, which is a major drawback in a league where you see very few of them. On the other hand, he can play all three outfield positions, which would create some additional depth behind Brian Anderson in center, where Mackowiak can play albeit not very well. He is also out of options.
3) Pablo Ozuna. He's the best pinch-runner the Sox fan, and hits for a decent average with no power. His main strength is his speed and his versatility -- two strengths which Cintron also brings. Ozuna can play the outfield, though he'd be the worst outfielder on the team, and he has looked shaky on the left side of the infield. He has one option year left, so the Sox could send him down to Triple-A.
I'd go with Option 3, because while Ozuna's faster, pinch-running is a skill that's not very important early in the season -- and that'd be the only quality that would set him apart. Let him start the season at Triple-A, where he wouldn't be blocking anybody, and if Borchard or Gload doesn't pan out, Kenny can cut one of them loose and let Ozuna fill the spot.
Sox management seems somewhat enamored with Ozuna -- even with his below-average on-base percentage, you'd hear a quote every so often with Ozzie saying that he feels like something good is going to happen with the Secret Weapon in the game. I hope they realize that part of his versatility is the option to send him to Charlotte.