posted on Tuesday, July 08, 2008 4:12 PM
by
Jim
Konerko back, Ozuna DFA'd
The press release:
CHICAGO -- The Chicago White Sox have returned Paul Konerko from his
injury rehabilitation assignment to Class AAA Charlotte and have
reinstated the first baseman from the 15-day disabled list. To make on
the 25-man roster for Konerko, the White Sox designated infielder Pablo
Ozuna for assignment.
And
Joe Cowley is shocked:
It was no surprise that the club reinstated Paul Konerko from the
15-day disabled list prior to the start of the series with Kansas City,
but the decision to make Ozuna the odd-man out seemed, well, a bit odd.
Ozuna brings more consistency to the plate than Uribe, is a better
pinch-hitter and pinch-runner, plus can play all three infield spots,
as well as act as an emergency outfielder if need be. He was hitting
.391 against left-handers this season, as well as .353 in the month of
June.
Uribe was hitting .206 this season with an oh-so-lovely .258 on-base percentage.
Maybe by reporting it early, he thought it wouldn't happen.
At any rate, Ozuna is the team's third-best pinch runner, as he's 0-for-2 stealing bases this year and was thrown out by a laughably large margin the last time. He's also 0-for-3 as a pinch hitter and 0-for-6 over the last two and a half seasons. Uribe has as many pinch hits this season (three) as Ozuna does since 2005.
Uribe can also play all three(?) infield positions far better than Ozuna. It's true he can't play the outfield, but with Nick Swisher, Brian Anderson, Dewayne Wise and Alexei Ramirez, I'm not sure how many more backup left fielders the team needs.