Although it seems like they've been on the staff for years by now, Juan Nieves and Jeff Cox
were officially named the new pitching coach and third base coach, respectively. That seems to mark the end of all coaching changes.
(Here are some of my previous thoughts on
Nieves and
Cox, in case you missed them.)
Reading the three different accounts by the
Daily Herald,
Chicago Sun-Times and
whitesox.com, there are two common threads:
- Nieves will be deployed as a second pitching coach.
- Cox is expected to be a small-ball tutor.
The second point doesn't bother me as much as it could, because "Ozzieball" was more of a marketing tool than anything else, anyway. Fans grew tired of solo homers and finishing second behind the Twins, so Williams started using the word "grinder," Scott Podsednik did a nice job scoring the first run of the ballgame in the first half of 2005, and while the Sox hit as many solo homers as before, they weren't as noticeable.
Nobody's ever opposed to "executing" and "taking the extra base," so I don't mind them talking the talk. Besides, it's my belief that a team that plays small ball is only as good as the bullpen, so at least there's an accompanying change. We'll see if it works out.
Because it had the story early, the
Chicago Tribune's version could afford to spin it forward. Thus, Mark Gonzalez offered some speculation on the fate of Juan Uribe:
"We need a backup playing shortstop," Guillen said, which could mean that Alex Cintron could be dealt or not tendered a contract by Dec. 12.
"Right now the decision between [Juan] Uribe and someone else we don't know yet. We want Uribe to lose some weight and show up in shape."
Sound familiar?
It should:
"Right now, Uribe is my shortstop, but in the meanwhile, this is a big year for us, like every year. But I want him to be in shape. You get paid to be in shape. You get paid to do what you're supposed to, and I don't think he's in great shape or I don't think he's doing what he's supposed to do ... I don't ask you to have a career year. I ask you to be in shape."
That's from Feb. 17, 2007. Uribe heeded Ozzie's words, as
a svelter Juan showed up in Tucson, and it didn't make much of a difference. While extra weight might mean losing a half a step in the field, conditioning is not the issue at the plate. Uribe could show up looking like Nicole Richie or Tony Gwynn, and it won't change the fact that
Greg Walker openly admits having little idea of how to get through to him.
At this point, the decision comes down to other options, because the $5 million price tag isn't prohibitive. A longer-term investment for a similar talent would put a crimp in future plans, however, and that's why I hope to high heaven that Kenny Williams stays far away from David Eckstein.