Sox Machine: Chicago White Sox blog

Fear of commitment (updated)

Well, this is a great way to start the morning:


I sincerely hope that Kenny Williams (or Jerry Reinsdorf) is only negotiating and not calling off talks altogether.

Yes, he's going outside the three-year max for Mark Buehrle, and yes, $14 million per would make him the highest-paid player on the team.  The Sox front office also prides itself on not having any truly ridiculous, unflippable contracts, and while four years, $56 million sounds like a bargain for Buehrle now, it could easily look like an albatross down the road -- especially if the Sox find themselves having to invest in free-agent hitters because the farm system can't produce one.

In other words, the organization wanted to negotiate a deal with Buehrle and set as few precedents as possible.  The four-year part might be unavoidable these days, but a no-trade clause would open another world of hurt on Reinsdorf's m.o.

At the same time, if four years and $56 million is what Buehrle would accept, it would make it that much harder to watch him go, because:

• Barry Zito, a very comparable pitcher, signed a seven-year, $126 million deal.
• Gil Meche and A.J. Burnett, two injury-prone underachievers, needed five years and $55M for their services.
• Carl Pavano turned one good year into a 4/$40M deal.
• Jason Schmidt signed for 3/$47M at age 34, even with a reported drop in velocity.

And so on.

Of course, somebody opposed to caving in to Buehrle's demands will look at that list and say, "Meche aside, those are likely five guys who aren't earning their money," which is true.  And the Sox have a few pitchers who could possibly match 80 percent of Buehrle's production for 5 percent of the price, so it may not be the most effective use of funds.

But there are so many other things right with this deal -- Buehrle a homegrown product on the right side of 30 who has contributed not only to a World Series winner, but two division championship teams (which is almost as rare with the Sox).  He's in the top 10 percent of MLB pitchers, and he'd be signing for less than he's worth because he wanted to play for the Sox.  If you're going to eventually break old methods, this is the pitcher you break them for.

Then when you consider the Sox have three other pitchers to deal -- Jon Garland, Jose Contreras, Javier Vazquez -- it makes the no-trade clause look less scary.

It's not my money or job, so I know what I'd like to see happen.  All I know is that while Reinsdorf could develop ulcers at an exponential rate by signing this deal, he'd be immune from almost all criticism.  If it backfired, it'd be completely defendable, and at least it would harbor goodwill towards everybody who wanted to remain a member of the White Sox.

I'm just glad Buehrle isn't a position player, because I'd be punching myself in the face until I couldn't feel anything.

UPDATE:  Wait a minute...

As far as I can tell, Buehrle would become a 10-and-5 guy over the second half of that potential contract, meaning he'll have no-trade rights anyway.  So are the Sox really concerned about their ability to trade Buehrle before his deal's halfway done?

A little help? (Updated)

Ryan Sweeney had a tough night on defense, even though he didn't do anything wrong.  First, as pictured above, he received no help by Wiki Gonzalez on a play at the plate.  Later, the scorer might have taken another assist from him.

I may have been mistaken when I said Brian Anderson threw a runner out at second in the ninth inning.  What I saw was Anderson charging a ball to the right-center gap, but then Ernie Young and the first-base umpire blocked my near-field-level view.  Somebody picked it up, spun and fired in second to catch Kevin Barker.  When I looked back at the outfield, Anderson and Sweeney gave each other a symmetrical, double-barrelled high-five before heading back to their spots.

I thought it was Anderson from what I saw, and when I checked the box score at home, it verified my obstructed account.  But today I was informed that the radio play-by-play identified Sweeney as the one who gunned down Barker, and it wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

Trying to think of a tiebreaker, I shot an e-mail to Donna Ditota at the Syracuse Post-Standard, who covered the game, to see if she remembered.  She, too, thought she saw Sweeney make the play, but the scorer thought it was Anderson.

So as of now, it stands as a mystery assist.  That being the case, I wouldn't get too encouraged about Anderson's shoulder just yet, though he looked fine in the outfield otherwise.

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More stuff from Syracuse:  I put together a photo gallery for Thursday's game, and a YouTube gallery will be on the way shortly once all the videos are processed.

UPDATE: The YouTube gallery is up.

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Ozzie Guillen is having a little trouble getting a handle on the Sox's top two trading chits.

In today's game, he left Jose Contreras in at least two batters too long, turning what could've been a quality start, even if Contreras looked so-so through most of it, into an ugly line.

Meanwhile, Jermaine Dye still remains unusable, yet still doesn't want to go on the DL.  He's already been out of action for eight days, so a retroactive DL stint really wouldn't do much good.  As it stands, the Sox are down to 24 players; 23 if you don't count Alex Cintron.

The good news is that the San Diego Padres traded for Milton Bradley.  They had a possible landing spot for Dye, but don't really have anything that would relieve the Sox of their most pressing needs.  Hopefully that will intensify the other teams' drives to acquire an outfielder before the tradeline.

You know, if Dye ever returns.

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Minor league round-up:

• Syracuse 5, Charlotte 2
• Charlie Haeger put together a fine effort, but didn't receive much help from the defense.  He went the distance, striking out 10 while allowing seven hits and five walks, but the Knights commited five errors behind him, leading to four unearned runs.  Earl Snyder had three by himself.
• Danny Richar, playing shortstop, hit his first homer for Charlotte.
  
• Snyder added a solo homer as well to go along with a double.  Tomas Perez and Jerry Owens also had two hits.
• Jacksonville 6, Birmingham 0
• Adam Russell struggled through six innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and three walks.  He struck out four.
• The Barons only gave him three hits of support: singles by Adam Shabala and Sean Smith, and a double from Shawn Garrett.
• Winston-Salem 4, Salem 1
• Derek Rodriguez improved to 8-2 with six innings of one-run ball.  Over five starts in June, Rodriguez posted a 2.32 ERA.
• Johns Wesley and Lujan combined to throw three scoreless innings of relief, striking out five between them.
• The Warthogs had 10 hits, all of them singles; Robert Hudson, Micah Schnurstein and Cole Armstrong had two apiece.
• Kannapolis 5, Greensboro 4
• Sweet sassy molassy -- Faustino De Los Santos struck out 14 batters over eight innings, and he didn't walk a batter.  He only allowed three hits, but one of them was a two-run homer.
• John Shelby went 2-for-4 with a double and a solo homer; Chris Carter went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
  

A first look at Lance Broadway

Lance Broadway never pitched in any game I saw during Spring Training, so this was my chance to see him in action.  Here is my general scouting report:

Delivery:  Nothing to it.  Pretty much straight overhand, which is why it'd be a good idea for him to develop a two-seam fastball.

Repertoire:  His fastball ranged from 88-91.  I saw a couple at 92, and one at 87.  He struck out a couple guys with the 91-m.p.h. variety late in the game, and nobody truly made him pay for fastballs up in the zone.  The only stinger was snagged by a leaping Earl Snyder at third.

His curveball sat on 81 m.p.h., and it had a tight break that resembled a slider from the side.  He had some success getting some bad swings on ones that started away.

His changeup came and went.  It was in the 77-79 range,  and it looked pretty good coming out of his hand.  The Chiefs swung through it plenty the first time around, but they adjusted the second time on.

Command:  When Broadway missed, he missed down in the zone.  That's preferable in and of itself; the problem was that he missed quite a bit, walking four, including the No. 9-hitting Ray Olmedo.  In other words, Wiki Gonzalez's chest protector got quite the workout.  Broadway did throw one wild pitch.

He struck out eight, but chances are he's not going to experience that regularly with his stuff.  He also needed 117 pitches to get through seven.  It'd help if he only got more groundballs -- he only induced five all night, compared to seven flyouts.  The good thing is that Chiefs hitters didn't really crush anything -- I counted only two line drives all night, and the other one, hit directly to Brian Anderson, hovered a little.

Defense:  He handled two of five chances on the night.  On the ones he missed, a comebacker got through the box, another one deflected off his leg, and then he misfired after barehanding a bunt with two outs, which allowed two runs to score.

Video:

	A close-up of Broadway's delivery.
	Broadway strikes out John-Ford Griffin on four pitches.

Photos:  Here's Broadway's delivery, as best as I could put it together with separate frames.  I did the same thing for Gio Gonzalez in the spring, and I'll do the same thing with Gavin Floyd.

Let me know if there's anything I could improve upon for the next one.

First night with the Knights

Looks like I didn't jinx anything by ditching the Sox for the Knights in Syracuse tonight, as the Sox completed the ultra-rare four-game sweep.  Thanks to Vince for filling in for the State of the Sox recap.

I have no regrets, however, because it was a beautiful night to watch baseball in Syracuse.



For most of the game, the sky was the only thing worth looking at.  The only thing the Knights had to show through the first 4 2/3 innings was a slow, turf-aided 25-hopper up the middle by none other than Ernie Young -- and he was erased with a 1-6-3 double play the very next batter.

Yet somehow they managed to rally from a 3-0 deficit to win the game despite not having a single extra-base hit.  Ryan Sweeney singled, advanced to second on an infield single by Tomas Perez and scored on the third single of the inning by Wiki Gonzalez.

In the decisive ninth, it was more of the same.  Facing a submariner lefty, Sweeney beat out a bunt to lead off the inning, and the Knights loaded the bases with one out on two more singles.  Wiki Gonzalez made it a one-run game with his single, bringing up Brian Anderson with the bases loaded.  Anderson worked the count full, then beat the ball into the ground.

Ryan Roberts, the Chiefs' third baseman probably should've eaten the ball, but instead he tried getting Anderson out at first and the throw got past first baseman Kevin Barker.  Two more runs came across, and the Knights took the lead.

While Ehren Wassermann and Carlos Vazquez Vasquez pitched two scoreless innings, they can attribute most of their success to their defense.  Wiki Gonzalez was 2-for-2 gunning down potential basestealers, and you couldn't ask for better throws -- lasers right on the money.  The latter saved Wassermann, because after that, he gave up two straight singles.  In the ninth, Barker hit a single off Vasquez, but was thrown out at second by Brian Anderson trying to stretch it into a double.

Anderson is battling shoulder problems, but he responded to the only test he faced, chasing a line drive in the gap, spinning and putting a throw right on the bag before Barker got there.  Otherwise, he made a couple of routine catches.

Lance Broadway pitched OK, but I have some reservations.  However, that will wait until tomorrow, as I will put together a mega-huge scouting report with photos and video, whenever YouTube is done maintaining itself.

Other impressions:

• Vasquez is thicker around the middle than I thought.  When I saw Marc Bombard call to the bullpen, I thought Heath Phillips was coming in.  Vasquez still has trouble throwing strikes, and he shouldn't be in the bullpen discussion any time soon.
  
• Sweeney made a heck of a nice throw from right field, but poor positioning by Gonzalez at home plate cost him the assist.  I'll show you a photo tomorrow.
• Jason Bourgeois must not have much of a glove.  Hecklers were calling him "E4" before the game even began, and his inability to handle a soft grounder towards the middle led to three unearned runs.
• Danny Richar did not play.
  

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The rest of the round-up:

• Jacksonville 5, Birmingham 4
• Wes Whisler suffered his ninth loss of the year, giving up five runs (all earned) over seven innings.  A day after committing eight errors, Birmingham didn't have one today.
• Thomas Collaro went 2-for-4 and hit home run No. 17.
• Salem 10, Winston-Salem 6
  
• Ryan Rodriguez was tagged for eight runs over four innings, but Matt Zaleski kept the Warthogs in it with three scoreless innings of relief.
• Javier Castillo went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI; David Cook also had two hits on the day.
• Hickory 14, Kannapolis 4 (Game 1, cont'd)
  
• Justin Edwards, who started the game yesterday, took the loss, but re-starter Steven Spurgeon should take the blame.  He gave up nine runs over the first two innings in the restart.
• The Barons had twice as many walks (12) as hits (6).  Sergio Miranda, promoted from rookie ball, drew two in his first game at Kanny, and Chris Carter, John Anderson, Archie Gilbert and Matt Sharp walked twice as well.
• Kannapolis 11, Hickory 5 (Game 2, 8 innings)
• Carter hit his 18th homer of the year and drove in four runs; Miranda drove in three runs and scored twice himself after going 2-for-5 out of the leadoff spot.
• Kanekoa Texeira picked up a shaky Jacob Rasner for the win, throwing three scoreless innings of relief.
  

Charlotte Knights field trip requests

If all goes well, I will be catching the Charlotte Knights in action three out of the next four days.  The plan is to drive to Syracuse this evening, and then hit Saturday and Sunday's games in Pawtucket as well.

As I did in Rochester, I'll be taking plenty of photos and video.  If you have anybody you'd like to see in action, or would like photos or video to put to names, drop a comment here.  Feel free to demand whatever, and I'll try to accommodate everybody as much as I can, within reason.

Unfortunately, the double-doubleheaders against Rochester earlier this week have screwed up the rotation.  If I had to guess, it's either Lance Broadway or Charlie Haeger starting tomorrow.  If the five-man rotation holds, it'll be Heath Phillips on Saturday and Gavin Floyd on Sunday.

If you hear more rumors...

Anybody hear anything about somebody signing some sort of contract to stay with the Sox?  I didn't catch the name -- Alex Cintron, maybe?

Joe Cowley's report that Mark Buehrle and the White Sox were close to agreeing to a contract extension caught me by surprise, but as the story developed -- or developed, degenerated, and then rose again -- over the course of the day, I was more interested in whether Cowley's source would hold than the actual nuts and bolts of the deal.

The Sun-Times has stuck by it, marking it "EXCLUSIVE" in bright red text, which they still haven't removed as of this time.  The Trib's Steve Rosenbloom pooh-poohed the report because of the anonymous source, but the rest of the Tribune baseball writers have been following it gingerly with a brief mention on the Hardball blog.  The Southtown's Nate Whalen thinks it's going to happen.  Radio reports have been all over the place.  Sox information minister Scott Reifert has nothing to say one way or the other, and that being the case, Scott Merkin has nothing, either.

I'll be disappointed on a couple levels if the story isn't true, although my inclination is that there's way too much going on for there to be nothing at all.  While Cowley's opinions often rub me the wrong way, I generally feel he's an above-average reporter, and he scooped a lot of people when he was at the Southtown.  He's not right on his leads 100 percent of the time, but they're very rarely completely wrong -- and Ozzie Guillen's idiosyncratic nature is often the reason why they fail.

At any rate, I'm rooting for Cowley, and not only because I want Buehrle re-signed badly.  No matter how confident a reporter is in his/her source(s), the time between when a story breaks and when that story is confirmed can be brutal.  He's definitely got balls, that's for sure.

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Jose Contreras laid some more track for a possible Buehrle deal by announcing he would waive his no-trade clause if asked:


Contreras is the starter I'd prefer to move, if only because he looks like he's about to break at any minute, but I don't think he's done one thing to earn disrespect from Sox fans, even when he hit the ground stumbling after the Esteban Loaiza trade.  This is another classy move, and if there's any truth to the rumor that the Sox would receive Lastings Milledge from the Mets in exchange for Contreras, the Sox would take a hit in the gentleman department.

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Hot Sox:

• Paul Konerko: .292/.404/.536 in June
  
• Scott Podsednik:  5-for-15, four runs scored in first three games back.
• Juan Uribe:  7-for-15 over last four games.

Konerko raised his average to .250 yesterday and maintained it with a 1-for-4 performance in today's victory, with the hit being the go-ahead, two-run double.  For comparison's sake, during his disastrous 2003 season, Konerko didn't reach that mark until Sept. 6.  He's been looking like a middle-of-the-order hitter over the last month, and that's good to see.  If the Sox are considering giving Buehrle a megadeal, it wouldn't help for them to see their last five-year signee floundering.

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Minor league round-up:

• Syracuse 7, Charlotte 2
• Ryan Sweeney and Brian Anderson had the Knights' two lone hits; Sweeney's was a two-run homer, his fifth of the year, and he also drew two walks.
  
• Andrew Sisco was roughed up during his start, which lasted four innings.  He gave up six hits, including two homers, and four runs.  He only walked one, but on the other hand, he only struck out one.
• Jacksonville 15, Birmingham 7
• This is why Robert Valido's demotion hurts -- the Barons committed a whopping eight errors, including three by Valido's replacement at short, Kenny Perez.
• As a result, while Ryan Wing suffered in his start, Kris Honel actually lowered his ERA despite allowing seven runs in four innings -- because only one of them was earned.
• Shawn Garrett, who I'm guessing is an organization-filling first baseman because he's 29 and playing his first game with the Barons, went 1-for-4 with a solo homer and scored three runs.
• Donny Lucy also hit a solo shot, and Chris Kelly had three RBI.
• Winston-Salem 4, Salem 2
• Kyle McCulloch survived a wild outing -- he gave up five hits and five walks in seven innings, but only allowed one run.  He struck out only one as well.
• Micah Schnurstein and Daron Roberts each went 2-for-4; Robert Hudson, Javier Castillo and Adam Ricks each drove in a run.
• Valido went 0-for-4 in the leadoff spot.
• Kannapolis 1, Hickory 1 -- Suspended, third inning
  

Pizza! Pizza!

If Ozzie Guillen wasn't happy with his team's inability to make contact as of late...


...tonight's victory, which gave the Sox their first two-game winning streak in more than a month, will lose some of its luster.  Devil Rays fans gorged again after tonight's performance, in which James Shields struck out 11 in a losing effort.

Then again, Ozzie really can't say he's surprised.  After all, today's lineup featured:

• Scott Podsednik, returning from the DL and a 100-strikeout guy.
• Andy Gonzalez, who struck out 39 times over 124 at-bats in Charlotte.
• Jim Thome -- 'nuff said.
• Paul Konerko, a three-time 100-strikeout guy, who's whiffing at an increased rate.
• Tadahito Iguchi, who's regressing to the mean after only seven strikeouts in April.

And then there's Rob Mackowiak, Alex Cintron and Juan Uribe, and while they don't swing and miss a ton, their swings will often make you wonder just how they make contact to begin with.

It could've been worse -- Josh Fields, who has struck out 25 times over 64 at-bats this season -- got the day off.

This is going to be a running theme, probably throughout the rest of the season, and when they're not facing the Devil Rays' pitching and defense, I doubt we'll see decent offensive performances on consecutive days all that often.

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Speaking of Gonzalez, he's having a great series at the plate so far, with five hits and five RBI over the first two games.  Then again, it's Tampa pitching, so no possible meaning can be derived from it.

What I will say is that he's looked rather serviceable in the outfield.  His footwork can look a lot like Rob Mackowiak's -- he makes easy catches look a little harder from the constant shuffling -- but his routes have generally been pretty clean, and he even set up on a sacrifice fly attempt yesterday, keeping the runner at third because he didn't catch the ball flat-footed.

With an upcoming series against the Royals, and then four with Baltimore after that, there's still a ways to go before we can figure out just how much Gonzalez can do with the bat.  But if he's not screwing up in the outfield, that's an encouraging development in the interim.

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Minor league baseball:

• Charlotte 4, Syracuse 1
• Gavin Floyd continues to pound on the door:  7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K.  The run came on a solo homer.   I just hope Floyd sticks in Charlotte for the rest of the week, because I'm due to see him in Pawtucket this weekend.
  
• Danny Richar hit his third triple in 33 at-bats with the Knights; Jason Bourgeois and Jerry Owens both went 2-for-4, Bourgeois with two doubles.
• Ryan Sweeney went 0-for-3 with two walks, and Brian Anderson went 0-for-3 with a sacrifice fly.
• Birmingham 5, Jacksonville 1
• Gio Gonzalez lowered his ERA back under three with a quality outing, scattering seven hits over six innings, walking one and striking out five.
• Four of the Barons' seven hits were doubles; Thomas Collaro and Mike Myers each had two hits, while Kenny Perez had two RBI.  And why is Kenny Perez playing short?
  
• Wilmington 3, Winston-Salem 2
• Because Robert Valido is back in High-A ball, that's why.  Wonderful.  He went 2-for-5 with a solo homer.  Color me unimpressed.
• Javier Castillo and Robert Hudson also had two hits apiece, and Cole Armstrong went 1-for-2 with the other RBI and drew two walks.
• Clayton Richard allowed only two runs over seven innings, but John Wesley took the loss when he gave up a two-out RBI triple in the top of the ninth.
• Hickory 7, Kannapolis 4
• John Anderson, John Shelby and Maurice Gartrell had two hits apiece; Archie Gilbert hit a two-run homer.
• Chris Carter went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts.

There's no crying in baseball, but whimpering's OK

I'm not sure what's more frustrating -- watching the White Sox struggle, or listen to why the White Sox think they're struggling.  Nothing backs up the grinder, win-or-die-trying attitude like hearing the players complain that they're losing because they have no intensity, confidence or spark, whether it's Greg Walker or, for something a little different, Scott Podsednik:


Sure, you can't expect ballplayers to admit they're all but washed up, but at the same time, I wonder if they realize how... weak they sound.  It's almost as if they're daring Kenny Williams to split them up.

At least if they're in flimsy-excuse mode, health would be a good point to address.  Ideally, they'd say, "Our third baseman has a creaky back, our right fielder creaky legs, our left fielder a creaky groin, our center fielder a creaky ankle, and our No. 3 and 4 hitters are just downright creaky all over."  But I suppose I'd accept "poor health hasn't helped" as well.

It's nice to see the Don Cooper isn't happy with the wussification of those under his tutelage:


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Just so you know, this week is going to be a little hectic here.  I had already planned on making trips to Syracuse and Pawtucket this week as the Charlotte Knights tour the Northeast for the only time all year, but on top of that, I just bought a truck, a process which has taken a good chunk out of the last two days.

That said, I've enjoyed the increase of comments and the discussion as of late, even if it's about a sorry, sorry product.  It's a pleasure to see back-and-forth commentary without knee-jerking, so feel free to keep it up.

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Minor league round-up:

• Charlotte 6, Rochester 2
• Heath Phillips had a solid outing, giving up two runs over seven innings, scattering nine hits.
• Brian Anderson went 2-for-4 with a triple, a homer and two RBI; Casey Rogowski went 3-for-4 with a homer and raised his average above the Mendoza Line.
• Danny Richar and Ryan Sweeney both went 1-for-4.
• Jacksonville 6, Birmingham 1
• Jack Egbert was tagged with the loss, giving up two runs (one earned) over five innings.  He gave up five hits, walked two and struck out five.
• Corwin Malone gave up the other four runs, but two were unearned.  The Barons committed four errors on the day.
• Donny Lucy went 3-for-3 with the lone RBI, a walk and a stolen base; Thomas Collaro and Victor Mercedes had two hits apiece.
• Winston Salem 2, Wilmington 0 (5 innings, rain)
• Micah Schnurstein went 2-for-3 with a homer and drove in both runs.
• Brian Omogrosso earned the abbreviated shutout in his first start -- he gave up only two hits and a walk, while striking out four.
• Kannapolis 2, Hickory 1 (5 innings rain)
• Matt Long earned a complete game as well for his five-inning outing.  He gave up four hits, one walk and struck out four.
• Chris Carter and Lee Cruz each went 1-for-2 with a double; Cruz and Archie Gilbert had the RBI.

Let's hope the parts are greater than the sum

On the heels of the Cubs' crosstown sweep of the White Sox, which my dad likened to beating up a guy in a wheelchair, Kenny Williams ditched the optimistic rhetoric and made it clear he's ready to scrap this team and auction off some key parts.

Joe Cowley suggests Boston is the most obvious destination for Mark Buehrle, and Ken Rosenthal adds the Brewers to the list of 10 teams that could be vying for the lefty's services.  Both teams are stacked with prospects, the Braves and the Mets aren't shabby either, and with the National League open for the taking and the Red Sox and Mets trying to bolster their rotations for a World Series run, Williams has a chance to jack up the price.

I'm still going to be saddened by this turn of events -- especially since Buehrle in Boston will mean I'll have to root for the Red Sox at least once every five days.  All I can hope is that Williams does his due diligence before making any moves.

Here's my wish list:

No. 1:  Try to deal all other non-Buehrle starters first.

In order, Jose Contereras (only two runs in seven innings today, hint, hint!), Javier Vazquez and then Jon Garland.  I know the gaudiness of the return isn't likely to match Buehrle's star, but just give it the ol' college try, Kenny.  For me.  Please?

No. 2:  Put Jermaine Dye on the DL and give him a chance to properly heal.

Every time Jermaine talks about his right quadriceps, I become more discouraged about his trade value.  First he said he's going to "play until it blows," and now he says, "It's hurt real bad."  I can imagine every NL West reading up on his status and saying, "Oh yeah, cut me a slice of that action."

Considering the Sox's drive for 30 wins has stalled for six days (and five losses), there's nothing Dye can do to reverse the fortunes of this team this year, so let's give him a chance to help the team next year and a few down the road as well -- even though he won't be wearing the black and white pinstripes.

No. 3:  Get as many position players as possible.

Fun facts about the White Sox's minor league affiliates:

• Charlotte:  11th out of 14 in OPS.
• Birmingham:  10th out of 10 in OPS.
• Winston-Salem:  4th out of 8 in OPS -- but now without its best hitter (Aaron Cunningham)

At least Danny Richar is off to a good start with the Knights, with 10 hits in his first 24 at-bats in Charlotte.  Still, we're going to need plenty more like him, except with higher ceilings at different positions.

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If you haven't checked out the Trib's Hardball blog yet, it's off to a good start.  If nothing else, it provides a place where reader reactions will actually see the light of day.  For instance, reading Phil Rogers' post about his power rankings, you'll see this bit of revisionist history:


For years, the storyline was that the team was more talented than any other in the division, and it was poor strategy, execution and motivation that did them in every September.  Am I remembering this wrongly?

Instead of just complaining here, I can comment directly to the blog.  Ah, progress.

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Minor league round-up:

• Charlotte 5, Rochester 2
• Danny Richar continues to hit -- 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBI.  Jerry Owens, Brian Anderson and Gustavo Molina also had two hits.
• Vladimir Nunez improved to 2-9 on the season with one earned run over six innings.
• Birmingham 3, Jacksonville 2
• Adam Russell survived shaky control, only allowing two runs over six innings despite five walks, thanks in part to seven strikeouts.
• Carlos Torres and Oneli Perez pitched three scoreless innings of relief.
• Thomas Collaro went 2-for-4 with a solo homer, his 16th, and Jeremy Frost also hit a solo shot.
• Wilmington 4, Winston-Salem 3
• Derek Rodriguez continues to enjoy success in June -- he allowed two runs on four hits over seven innings.
• Daron Roberts went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple, and I forgot to mention that two days ago he drew his first walk on the season -- he now has one walk in 159 at-bats.
• Dave Cook also went 2-for-4, and Tyler Reves and C.J. Lang had the other RBI.
• Kannapolis 6, West Virginia 4
• Faustino De Los Santos gave up four runs on four hits over six innings.  The good news?  He picked up the win, and struck out eight to only two walks.
• Chris Carter went 2-for-4 with his 17th homer; Lee Cruz went 3-for-4, and Archie Gilbert went 1-for-3 with two RBI.
  

Blast from the past

As I was leaving a pub this afternoon, I noticed an old Pontiac in the parking lot.  It would've been harder not to notice, actually, because it was a baby blue boat of a car with big-assed fins.

Funny thing about it was that while my friends were checking out the interior and exterior of the car -- both in mint condition -- I paid more attention to the dealer stickers on the rear side windows.

I knew who Tony Piet was -- an infielder for the Sox from 1935 to 1937 -- but I didn't know he set up a successful car empire after he retired.  Evidently he did, and on South Western Avenue in Gage Park, where my family's Chicago roots originate.  I can't figure out when exactly Tony Piet's Pontiac World closed, but I'm seeing legal notices as late as 1998, so I'm surprised that this never popped up on my radar before today.  And I certainly wouldn't expect it to happen in an upstate New York town not named Cooperstown.

I'm sure this is thrilling for you, but there's not much to say about the current version of the Sox.

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Speaking of the current Sox, here's a briefing:

• The Sox lost again.
  
• Darin Erstad is back on the DL (har!) and Jermaine Dye may be joining him (d'oh!).  At least he's not playing 'til it pops.
• Mark Buehrle denies any new contract negotiations, which was hinted in a Phil Arvia column in the Daily Southtown.

And I enjoyed the results of Nick Masset's assessment of his problems this seasons:


"...you know, aside from the control issues, and the fact that I've never enjoyed significant success at any level in professional baseball.  It's a mystery."

************************

Minor league round-up:

• Rochester 1, Charlotte 0 (Game 1, 8 innings)
• Charlie Haeger got the big-league experience in Charlotte today, throwing his best outing of the year and still losing.  He gave up a solo homer with one out in the eighth to decide the game, spoiling an outing in which he gave up three hits and two walks over seven innings, striking out seven.
• Danny Richar went 3-for-4 with a double.
• Rochester 5, Charlotte 2 (Game 2, 7 innings)
• Andrew Sisco started his first game with no real change of results: 3 2/3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K.  Edwardo Sierra took the loss by allowing three runs in his inning of work.
• Richar went 2-for-4 with a stolen base and two runs scored; Ryan Sweeney and Kenny Perez also had two-hit games.
• Chattanooga 8, Birmingham 1
• Thomas Collaro provided the only run with a solo homer, his 15th of the year.  The Barons only had three hits on the day.
• Wes Whisler ran into a wall in the fifth, and allowed seven runs on nine hits over five innings.
• Potomac 12, Winston-Salem 2
  
• Ryan Rodriguez was pounded for 13 hits and 10 runs (six earned), and couldn't escape the fourth inning.
• David Cook went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk.
• West Virginia 9, Kannapolis 8 (13 innings)
• Jacob Rasner pitched seven strong innings and left the game with a 5-3 lead, but Kanekoa Texeira blew the save and pushed it into extras.
• John Anderson and Archie Gilbert both had three hits and two RBI; Mike Grace hit a solo homer.

Grinding into the ground

According to the MLB.tv broadcast of today's loss to the Cubs, it took Darin Erstad roughly three minutes and 16 seconds of baseball action to hurt himself again.  He aggravated his ankle injury on a diving catch to rob Mike Fontenot of at least a single.

Hawk Harrelson, to the surprise of few, had selected Erstad as his Pick to Click.  However, since Erstad couldn't even come to the plate to lead off for the Sox in the first inning, Hawk was allowed to amend his selection to Erstad/Luis Terrero.  Terrero went 0-for-3, so the whole thing was a moot point, but Hawk shouldn't have been allowed to move his pick, because getting hurt is a major part of Erstad's game. 

(Much like Nick Masset and his Jedi mind trick abilities over the White Sox front office and coaching staff, despite his continuing to not have one single thing going for him.  Over at South Side Sox, The Cheat provides the update on this storyline.  You may not like that Masset is just a boring version of Sean Tracey, but you have to accept it.)

The funny thing is that Erstad, who hurt himself on a regular swing 22 days ago and didn't live to see the bottom of the first in this one, Scott Merkin still can't resist calling Erstad "hard-nosed."  Maybe because that's the one part of the body Erstad hasn't injured.

Now we just have to wait for Scott Podsednik to be recalled to see if he can out-do his brother in the fragile fraternity.

**********************

In Friday's Daily Herald, Eric Krol asked for my opinion of the Sox-Cubs series, and I gave it to him.  I don't think I'll be expecting any calls from the Sox PR department in the near future.

**********************

Duane Shaffer is out as amateur scouting director for the Sox, a move that should surprise no one.  The writing had been on the wall since the trades for Andrew Sisco, Masset (when he was advertised to throw 98, not 92), and other high-ceiling, high-risk arms, and considering the Sox will find themselves with a top five pick if they keep on keeping on, Kenny Williams is probably getting all his ducks in a row.

**********************

Minor league round-up:

• Rochester 5, Charlotte 2 (Game 1, 7 innings)
  
• The Knights and Red Wings are making up the weekend series in April where the only game they got in was the one I saw; Lance Broadway pitched a "complete game," though he wasn't as sharp as he's been in previous outings -- 6 IP, 10 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
• Danny Richar went 2-for-4 with a stolen base; Scott Podsednik went 1-for-2; Ryan Sweeney went 1-for-3 and had two outfield assists.
• Rochester 6, Charlotte 0 (Game 2, 7 innings)
• Jerry Owens went 1-for-3, scoring his first hit since returning to Charlotte.  The Knights had only five hits.
• Carlos Vazquez gave up four hits and two runs in his inning of work.
• Chattanooga 8, Birmingham 7 (14 innings)
• The Barons' pitching was a mess, starting with Kris Honel walking five over 3 2/3 innings.  Corwin Malone, of all people, was the only one to throw a scoreless outing, although Fernando Hernandez Jr. allowed only one run over three innings.
• Jeremy Frost and Donny Lucy went deep; Chris Kelly went 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles, and Thomas Collaro had three hits.
• Winston-Salem 1, Potomac 0
• Kyle McCulloch pitched his best outing of the year -- eight shutout innings, with only two hits and no walks allowed while striking out nine.  He's struck out 27 over 27 2/3 innings in June, while only walking two.
  
• Brandon Johnson went 2-for-3, and C.J. Lang drove in the only run.
• Kannapolis 6, West Virginia 3
• Chris Carter went 2-for-4 with his 16th homer and two RBI; Maurice Gartrell drove in three runs on a pair of doubles.
• Justin Edwards pitched six solid innings for the win, allowing three runs on three hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
• Ricky Brooks and Kanekoa Texeira combined for three shutout innings in relief.

He's a right fielder, not a doctor

From Jayson Stark:


Interesting.  Jermaine, any comments?


Somebody stop him, please.

**********************

The Oakland Athletics DFA'd Milton Bradley, and while the Sox shouldn't have any interest in acquring him, they should take in an interest in his final landing spot.  Presumably, that would take one possible Dye suitor out of the picture, unless Bradley hurts himself upon arrival.  That's always a distinct possibility.

Here's hoping the San Diego Padres figure out a way to get it done, because they're rumored to be looking at Dye, but I can't figure out what they'd have to offer in terms of major-league ready (or near-ready) position players.

Meanwhile, Colorado has suddenly popped up as a possible destination for Mark Buehrle, and position players -- Dexter Fowler and Ian Stewart among them -- they have.  Perhaps our resident Rockies fan would like to offer his opinion.

**********************

Minor league round-up:

• Charlotte 5, Norfolk 1
• Gavin Floyd keeps up the string of great starts -- one run on 8 2/3 innings, giving up six hits and two walks while striking out eight.  He gave up the run in his final inning of work.
• Scott Podsednik went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer, and scored two runs.
• Ryan Sweeney went 0-for-2 with two walks and his third stolen base; Brian Anderson went 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
• Birmingham 8, Chattanooga 3
• The Barons extended their scoreless streak to 29 innings before breaking through for four runs in the third.  Victor Mercedes went 3-for-5 out of the leadoff spot.
  
• Gio Gonzalez struggled with his control, walking five in five innings, but he survived, only allowing three runs due in large part to seven strikeouts.
• Potomac 9, Winston-Salem 4
• Dave Cook went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and also drew a walk.  Paulo Orlando also hit a solo homer.
• Everybody who pitched -- Clayton Richard, Matt Zaleski, Brian Omogrosso and Jason Rice -- each gave up at least one run.
• West Virginia 9, Kannapolis 0
• The Intimidators had more errors (4) than hits (3).  Chris Carter went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
• Ryan Rote gave up five runs over two innings -- but none of them were earned.

Dadgummit!

Somebody better check on Hawk Harrelson.  I think you could hear his veins giving way over the Comcast broadcast of today's game.  I mean, I'm not really a fan of his, but I'm genuinely starting to worry.

If you missed today's game, he sounded close to jumping out of the booth.  The first clip is after Juan Uribe failed to catch Jon Garland's slightly difficult throw to second, and you can hear him stewing.  When Brett Carroll made a diving catch of Uribe's liner with the bases loaded to end the eighth, he may have had a small aneurysm.

Either way, I hope he's wearing a LifeAlert bracelet.  (C. Everett Koop is a handsome man, by the way.  That picture can sell anything.)

************************

Ranking the White Sox All-Star candidates, from most likely to least likely:

1) Bobby Jenks.  Today's blown save notwithstanding, Jenks is 18-for-20 in that category with a sub-3.00 ERA.  Worse closers have made All-Star teams.
2) Mark Buehrle.  His WHIP (1.09) and ERA (3.45) are All-Star caliber, and he has the no-hitter as well.  The record is going to kill him.
3) Jon Garland.  See Buehrle, minus the no-hitter.
4) Jim Thome.  Among league leaders in OBP, but doesn't qualify for the batting title, so nope.
5) Darin Erstad.  Leads league in grit, hustle and redness of ass.
6) Luis Terrero.  Is there anybody else?

And Scott Merkin has to write about it.  I really hope he earned a degree in PR, because this has to kill a reporter.

************************

After today's game, Jerry Owens was demoted to Charlotte.  While the corresponding roster move has yet to be determined, I'm guessing it's a guy who plays the role of "food" in The AL Central Trail.

************************

Minor league round-up:

• Norfolk 6, Charlotte 1
  
• Heath Phillips turned in a performance for the ages: 8 IP, 14 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 K on 120 pitches.
• The Knights only managed three hits, but one of them was a triple by Danny Richar, playing his first game for Charlotte.  Another was an RBI double by the slumping Brian Anderson.
• Chattanooga 1, Birmingham 0
  
• You think the White Sox's offense is bad?  The Barons haven't scored in 27 innings, and only put up five hits today.  Ricardo Nanita had two of them.
• The offense spoiled a tremendous outing by Jack Egbert -- one run on two hits over seven innings.  He walked one and struck out 10.  The only problem was that he walked both batters and hit one in the same inning, forcing in a run.
• Winston-Salem, Birmingham OFF
  

You can't spell ''Tricky Sale'' without R-I-C-K A-S-T-L-E-Y

Everywhere I go, I hear Rick Astley.  And not by choice.

Over the past two weeks, I've repeatedly heard the same three songs in grocery stores, gas stations, department stores and late-night Dunkin' Donuts runs -- and it's not even the same Dunkin' Donuts.

(There are five within reasonable distance from my place, including two on the same street.  I generally know the strengths and weaknesses of each franchise depending on the time of day.  This is the No. 1 reason to live in the Northeast.)

As luck would have it, I collided with his blaring baritone brand of dance-pop while getting some coffee following tonight's defeat.  So I figured if I can't get out of my head the rich pipes of an ostensibly white British guy whose voice doesn't match his skin, then why should I spare you the pain?

Never Gonna Give You Up:  Fresh out of his meeting with Ozzie Guillen and Paul Konerko, Kenny Williams continues to drive the sunshine bus across newspapers and into the realm of cable TV.  He appeared on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" today to spread the word that he's not ready to put his players on the clearance racks.

I believe the Sox are done, and have resigned myself to taking pleasure in the little things, like Josh Fields' three-run homer and Nick Masset's beating my expectations in tonight's loss, because I don't like getting depressed by baseball.  Williams seems transparent himself, but the conclusion to Nate Whalen's blog entry surprised me:


I think I have a pretty good grasp of Williams' use of words, and this seems like a somewhat desperate attempt to maintain leverage as the ship sinks, but Whalen's words give me a little bit of pause.  I'd prefer to think I'm right.

**********************

Cry for Help:  At this point, we're even seeing a different Ozzie Guillen.  A few weeks ago, Ozzie was doing his normal "I might not be around" shtick, his standard ploy to distract the media away from his players when they find themselves in a collective rut.

Now, the criticism is regularly finding its way towards the Sox, and Tadahito Iguchi is the latest guy to be thrown under the bus.  Guillen was not happy with Iguchi's two blown bunt attempts that, if successful, would've put runners on second and third with one out in the eighth inning.

If nothing else, it will be interesting to see how Guillen handles his first real season of adversity.  He's already a guy who has shown plenty of sides, but true adversity -- actually, hopelessness is more accurate -- is something he's never encountered as a White Sox manager.  For a guy who routinely tosses around the idea of quitting or asking to be fired, we should get a very good idea if he's the guy for the long haul.  I hope he is.

(On a happier Iguchi note, this is a nice story.)

**********************

Together Forever:  One reason I have hope for Guillen as an enabler of a youth movement is his handling of John Danks.  The rookie lefty has tested Ozzie's patience, but Ozzie hasn't caved into frustration.  He continues to yank Danks at the right time, offer carefully worded criticism to the press and hope for the best the next time around.

It's clear, however, that Danks needs some retooling at the minor-league level.  Counting tonight's four-inning fight, Danks is averaging well under five innings over his last five starts, and has hit a wall command-wise.  With Gavin Floyd putting together three consecutive nice starts in Charlotte, this might be the right time for Williams to make the switch.

In many ways, Floyd could be just as crucial to the team's long-term future as Danks.  Floyd has more service time under his belt, but considering he's been hit hard in the majors, the arbitration years shouldn't hit the Sox that hard if he survives long enough to see the day.   If he can even serve as a league-average starter, it gives the Sox an option to move Javier Vazquez or Jose Contreras.  Jon Garland's an option too, but I'm a Garland-backer, so I hate suggesting the idea.

**********************
Minor league round-up:

• Norfolk 10, Charlotte 2
• Vladmir Nunez gave up nine of the 10 runs.  Andy Sisco pitched a scoreless inning -- if you don't count allowing three inherited runners to score by allowing a hit and walking two.  Ehren Wassermann threw a perfect inning of relief, at least.
• Scott Podsednik went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, and a run scored.  He was picked off.
• Brian Anderson went 0-for-3, and is now 2-for-28 over his last eight games.  He did draw a walk.
  
• Chattanooga 6, Birmingham 0
• Adam Russell had a mediocre start -- 5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K.
• Thomas Collaro and Ricardo Nanita both went 2-for-4, and amounted for two-thirds of the Barons' hits as they were shut out for the second straight night.
• California All-Stars 10, Carolina All-Stars 5
• Micah Schnurstein and Cole Armstrong both went 0-for-2.
• Aaron Cunningham rubbed it in by going 3-for-3 with a walk.
  
• North All-Stars 3, South All-Stars 1
• Chris Carter went 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Faustino De Los Santos pitched a scoreless inning, allowing a hit.
  

Trade winds blow

The leg injury Jermaine Dye suffered in tonight's victory, albeit minor, will probably relegate him to second banana status as trade talks heat up, with Mark Buehrle dominating the foreground.  And that makes me one sad panda.

Sure, it makes plenty of sense to deal Buehrle for a quality prospect, because the Sox have plenty of holes to fill, and starting pitching is their one area of depth -- especially if Gavin Floyd's recent string of quality starts in Charlotte can translate at all to the big-league level.  It'd be an incredible deal if the Sox could somehow sign Buehrle in the offseason after dealing him, a la Baltimore retrieving Sidney Ponson after trading him to San Francisco for Kurt Ainsworth, Damian Moss and Ryan Hannaman at the deadline.

But the chances of a successful reunion in this case are slimmer than a high school couple's after the boy and girl go off to different colleges.  So in all likelihood, if/when Buehrle is shipped from the South Side, he'll come across the worldly exchange students with the hot accents (the Mets) or the drunken sorority pledges with a newfound sense of freedom (the Cardinals), and he'll never look back.

That's a shame, because Buehrle is a fan's dream.  He's got personality, he's great with crowds and he doesn't waste their time.  Contrast Buehrle with Jose Contreras -- a lot of the Count's good starts are as nerve-wracking as Buehrle's bad outings.  At least when Buehrle's off his game, the pain is still short-lived. 

Similarly, we'll have to deal with plenty of media backlash because he's a fantastic source of quotes and is second only to pre-game rainouts in helping writers make deadline.  Not only will there be a void, but there will be loud voices bitching about it, so we have twice as much to look forward to.

I have a bunch of other reasons why I won't push for a trade, but I'll save them for the eulogy.  All I'll say is that after watching Jon Garland, Joe Crede, Brian Anderson, Ryan Sweeney, Jerry Owens, Josh Fields, Joe Borchard and all the participants of Fifth Starter Hell over the years, I don't think it's possible to overappreciate a prospect who hit the ground running, by and large.

So, in summary, I'm probably going to be a stubborn, sentimental fool about the future of the Sox in relation to Mark Buehrle.  To those who come here for attempts at solid Sox analysis, I'll probably be failing you on this front, and for that, I apologize.

*********************

Speaking of failed prospects, Mike Downey has an update on the whereabouts of Mike Caruso.  I've actually thought about Caruso a lot over the last couple of years, mostly because he provided the name of my fantasy baseball team for the only pay league I'm in, where everybody picks the name of their favorite flash-in-the-pan.  Fittingly, I finished in last place.

At any rate, I hope Downey was only kidding about his closing line:  "Maybe they could turn back the clock, invite him back."  Then again, it'd give Sox fans another reason to watch the team, if only out of morbid curiosity.

*******************

I had some thoughts about the pow-wow between Kenny Williams, Ozzie Guillen and Paul Konerko, but then I took a peek at South Side Sox and realized The Cheat had pretty much voiced them already.

There is one thing I'd like to add, and it's an open-ended thought: Namely, I wonder how big of a mistake Ozzie Guillen made in naming Konerko Sox captain-for-life.

Considering the Sox clubhouse comprises grown men with roughly equivalent levels of skill (even Jerry Owens is in the top 0.1 percent of baseball players), I doubt it makes that great of an impact.  At the same time, Konerko is a deferrer by nature, and didn't want to be captain in the first place.  And when the team has needed a swift kick in the ass for a solid calendar year, and the leader will only be hard on himself, well...there's some dissonance there.

At the very least, we might be able to state with some confidence that Konerko's title hasn't exactly helped.

*******************
Minor league round-up:

• Norfolk 3, Charlotte 0
• Charlie Haeger threw a quality start, allowing three runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out seven.
• After walking three of the four batters he faced in his last appearance, Carlos Vazquez pitched a fine 1 2/3 innings of relief, allowing only one hit and recording one strikeout.
• The Knights only had four hits; Ryan Sweeney went 0-for-3, snapping his 10-game hitting streak.  Scott Podsednik went 0-for-2, but walked twice and stole his second base.
• Chattanooga 9, Birmingham 0
• Wes Whisler struggled with his control, walking five and allowing nine hits and seven runs over 5 1/3 innings.
• The Barons also only had four hits, and Victor Mercedes had the lone extra-base job, a double.
• Winston-Salem, Kannapolis OFF

Mac is back, but still out of whack

If you couldn't tell from his line -- 1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 0-for-2 stranding inherited runners -- Mike MacDougal is back.  It's a different MacDougal, but the results were the same in today's loss to the Pirates.

In contrast to his disastrous May in which he allowed 10 walks and 18 hits in eight innings spread out over 14 appearances, MacDougal actually threw strikes today.  Thirteen of his 18 pitches found the zone, and he started all six batters he faced off with a strike.

That's good.  The problem was that all but two of his pitches were middle-away or outside to right-handed hitters.  Xavier Nady's two-run single came on the third consecutive attempt at low-and-away, and his body language indicated he was expecting to have to cover the plate.  Jose Bautista provided what would prove to be a key insurance run by slapping an opposite-field RBI double on an outer-half pitch.  Toby Hall had set up inside.

On the one pitch he threw on the inside corner for a strike, he sawed off Rajai Davis for a weak comebacker.  I suppose this constitutes an improvement, because at least he's giving his teammates a chance to help him out, but he still has a lot to work on.

*************************

Out-of-context blurb time!  Josh Fields, via the AP recap:


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Minor league round-up:

• Charlotte 8, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 7
• Outside of two solo homers, Lance Broadway pitched a great game.  He struck out eight over seven innings, allowing only five hits, two runs and one walk on only 93 pitches.
• The bullpen made it interesting -- Carlos Vazquez walked three of the four batters he faced, and Jason Childers and Ehren Wassermann didn't fare much better.  Wassermann closed out the game with the tying run on first.
  
• Ryan Sweeney raised his average to .303 with a 2-for-4 game, including a double.  He's batting .463 (19-for-41) over his last 10 games.
• Kenny Kelly hit a three-run homer, and Tomas Perez hit a two-run shot.  Scott Podsednik went 0-for-4 and was caught stealing.
• Huntsville 3, Birmingham 2
• Kris Honel allowed one run (a solo homer) over five innings.  He only gave up two hits, but walked four.  Corwin Malone exceeded Honel's control issues, walking six over 3 1/3.
• Ricardo Nanita and Mike Myers had two hits apiece, amounting to two-thirds of the Barons' hit total.
• Winston-Salem 5, Wilmington 2
• Derek Rodriguez improved to 7-1 with six solid innings, allowing two runs on only one hit.  He walked three and struck out five.
• Daron Roberts had a pair of RBI, and David Cook scored two runs, going 0-for-2 with three walks.
• Kannapolis 7, Greensboro 5
• Chris Carter continues to hit -- 2-for-3 with two walks.  Anderson Gomes went 3-for-5 with two runs scored out of the leadoff spot, and Brandon Allen hit a three-run homer.
• Kanekoa Texeira had an excellent outing in relief -- 2 1/3 perfect innings with four strikeouts for the win.
  

Fields picking on pitchers his own size

After going 2-for-4 in tonight's victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, Josh Fields has eight hits on the year.  Here are the victims:

1. Jason Jennings
   
2. Jennings
3. Adam Eaton (entered game with 5.99 ERA)
   
4. Kyle Kendrick (making first career start)
   
5. Paul Maholm (entered game with 5.32 ERA)
   
6. Maholm
7. John Van Benschoten (making his first start since 2004, fifth overall)
   
8. John Grabow (reliever, entered game with a 5.82 ERA)

Jennings is a proven and quality big-league pitcher, but the rest have been Triple-A fodder on weak staffs.  I'm not raining on any parades here -- Sox hitters have had difficulty with just about everybody throwing against them, whether they're Johan Santana or Chad Durbin, so it's great to see Fields racking up hits against anybody.  At the same time, when a guy like Dan Kolb strikes out Fields on three pitches like he did tonight (his 13th in 34 at-bats), it illustrates it's still going to be a slow and trying process watching Fields develop.

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In case that previous point was too negative for a generally happy night, here's something to offset it:  We won't have to hear "try to salvage the final game" or "look to avoid the sweep" in the pre-game show for the first time in three series.

*********************

More musical bullpen chairs:  Dewon Day hits the DL -- he looked like something was wrong when two of his final three pitches went astray Friday night, and it turns out he strained his back.  So David Aardsma will follow Mike MacDougal's jet trail to Pittsburgh as the next reliever trying to right his season.

Hey, at least Andrew Sisco, who entered this season with the reputation of a slacker, can now say he's the first to show up to the ballpark and the last to leave.  More on his evening in a bit.

One more transaction note -- the Sox agreed to terms with first-round pick Aaron Poreda.

*********************
Minor league round-up (Aaron Cunningham Memorial Edition):

• Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 3, Charlotte 2
• Gavin Floyd had his third straight strong outing -- two runs on three hits and two walks over seven innings, striking out seven.  The two runs came on one swing.  His line over his last three outings: 22 IP, 15 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 21 K
• Sisco took the loss by walking in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning.  He issued four free passes over the final two innings (one intentional).
• Ryan Sweeney went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI; Scott Podsednik went 1-for-3 and was successful on his first steal attempt of his rehab assignment.
• Huntsville 3, Birmingham 2 (16 innings)
  
• Gio Gonzalez pitched six solid innings -- four hits (one homer), two runs, two walks, six strikeouts.
• Thomas Collaro hit his 14th homer of the year; on the flipside, Jeremy Frost went 0-for-7 with four strikeouts.
  
• Oneli Perez, Edwardo Sierra and Carlos Perez threw seven scoreless innings in relief of Gonzalez.  Tim Bittner gave up the winning run in his third inning of work.
  
• Wilmington 6, Winston-Salem 1
• The Warthogs, missing a key offensive piece, were shut down by Rowdy Hardy, who needs to make it to the big leagues so we can say his name more.  Tyler Reves had two of Winston-Salem's six hits.
• Matt Zaleski pitched five so-so innings, but Gary Bakker followed by allowing three runs in less than an inning's work.  Clayton Richard appeared in relief for the first time this season.
• Kannapolis 19, Greensboro 4
• Chris Carter had a monstrous game -- 4-for-5 with two homers, four RBI and five runs scored.  He also drew a walk.
• Carter wasn't alone, as Brandon Allen went 5-for-6 with four runs, a double, two RBI and a stolen base.  Maurice Gartrell and Anderson Gomes each went 3-for-4 with four RBI, and Gartrell went deep for the second straight game.
• Jacob Rasner benefited from the run support, picking up the win even with allowing three runs and eight hits over five innings.  Ricky Brooks pitched three innings of relief, allowing one run.
  

Richar-Cunningham? Sounds like a Ron Howard production

On the heels of his best game in about a month, Aaron Cunningham is no longer in the White Sox system.  Today, Kenny Williams shipped him over to Arizona in exchange for infielder Danny Richar.

Here's what the Baseball America Scouting Handbook says about Richar, the 24th-best prospect in the Diamondbacks system:


I'm a little bit nervous about trading another outfield prospect to Arizona -- even though Chris Young has made it a little bit easier by getting off to a slow start.  At the same time, Cunningham is no Young.  In fact, with the state of the current White Sox farm system, it's hard to tell how good Cunningham is.  Baseball America ranked him No. 7 in the Sox system, but that could easily translate to a dozen spots lower in a system as stacked as Arizona's.

The Sox have a shortage of hitters overall, but unfortunately, Cunningham has shown himself to be a good-average, fair-power outfielder in a system that already has Ryan Sweeney and Brian Anderson in the queue.  Sweeney didn't hit as well at Winston-Salem as Cunningham hit this year, but Sweeney was three years younger and fast-tracked.  Meanwhile, Anderson walloped the ball at High-A ball and also succeeded at Charlotte before hitting the wall last year in the majors.

It's also reported that Cunningham doesn't have the defensive chops of the other two.  One advantage Cunningham holds is speed -- he's 22-for-30 in the stolen base department.  Then again, Anderson was 10-for-11 in 69 games himself back in 2004, so who the heck knows.  It's somewhat a shock to see Cunningham moved, but it's hard to shed any tears knowing what has happened to every other homegrown hitter over the last several years.

Richar feels like an underwhelming return, because he's essentially filler in a system full of it.  The hair of upside is what separates him from Andy Gonzalez, and to a lesser extent guys like Tomas Perez.  There doesn't seem to be one thing he does particularly well.  He does have an .827 OPS at Triple-A this year, but he's played half of his games in the hitter-friendly Tucson Electric Park.

Howeve