On November 2nd, 2010, it was announced that the White Sox signed Omar Vizquel to a new one-year contract. At the time I thought this was a good move for next season, giving us a reliable third baseman. However, with two guys, Morel and Teahen, fighting for the third base position and a need for another outfielder on the 25-man roster, now I'm starting to think this is the deal that is blocking progress with our team.
The 25-man roster looks like this: 1)Buehrle 2)Danks 3)Floyd 4)Peavy 5)Jackson 6)Sale 7)Crain 8)Ohman 9)Peña 10)Thornton 11)Santos 12)Pierzynski 13)Dunn 14)Konerko 15)Beckham 16)Ramirez 17)Morel 18)Teahen 19)Pierre 20)Rios 21)Quentin 22)Castro 23)Vizquel 24)???? 25)????
After looking at this, you realize that you have two spots to plug in extra players. The Sox will most likely choose to use one of the spots to carry an extra pitcher. That would be really smart. The 25th spot, then, is really the only spot we have to use between several players. There's Lastings Milledge, Brent Lillibridge, Dayan Viciedo, Alejandro De Aza, Jordan Danks and Stefan Gartrell all trying to be that 25th man. It's obvious that our 25th man should be an outfielder to give us more depth there.
Lastings Milledge has the most MLB experience, and the Sox got him just to take a chance. Currently through the first five games of Spring Training, he is hitting .200 with 2 RBI. Alejandro De Aza has a legitimate chance to claim that spot. He has been around for a little while now and has gotten some buzz this year. He has only hit .235 so far though. We can pretty much eliminate Stefan Gartrell because he plays infield.
It was reported that Ozzie Guillen told Brent Lillibridge he could be an even better outfielder than infielder. I heard from someone that he was out of options, but I could not find information on that anywhere. Brent Lillibridge has really struggled playing for the big league club, and I don't see any way that he really contributes to the team in a positive way in 2011. I hope they don't go with Lillibridge, who doesn't have any experience at OF in MLB, and who hasn't ever brought it at the plate.
It was reported that Ozzie Guillen told Brent Lillibridge he could be an even better outfielder than infielder. I heard from someone that he was out of options, but I could not find information on that anywhere. Brent Lillibridge has really struggled playing for the big league club, and I don't see any way that he really contributes to the team in a positive way in 2011. I hope they don't go with Lillibridge, who doesn't have any experience at OF in MLB, and who hasn't ever brought it at the plate.
Jordan Danks has come on strong in Spring, trying to put his name on the roster. Although many fans believe he is just not ready yet, he is hitting .389 in 8 games played. He is a good centerfielder as well. Another player having an excellent Spring is Dayan Viciedo. He's hitting .476. He is showing that he can play right field, which would allow him to play and give Carlos Quentin days off since he is like a glass statue now. He seems to always get hurt. Viciedo would be an excellent option, he was a top Cuban player and in Cuba he had already played outfield in the past.
What this all comes down to is, if we had not signed Vizquel for this season, the Sox would be staring at two empty spots after adding an extra pitcher. This would allow the Sox to pick two of these good players to have on roster. Vizquel doesn't really help us out since the Sox already have two guys fighting for the third base position, and Vizquel is really a bit old to be playing shortstop.
Vizquel could play second base for a game or two but his best help for the team is at third, where there are two other guys on roster. I just feel like if we didn't sign Vizquel, we could have put together a team with a better bench, having better backups. A full, balanced roster is a great asset to bring about the most important thing, wins.
Brent Morel is the option everyone wants to see at third. He's young, he has flashy defense, and his bat can improve. Nobody wants to see Mark Teahen except his dog ESPY. He makes errors, he can't hit and he brings nothing to the team. His contract value was a bit too high for what he has given us; it was basically a ridiculous contract. But since that contract value exists, he will play. You don't pay guys a lot to sit. Omar is the expendable one on value. I'd much rather have Morel as the starter, Vizquel as the backup and Teahen out.
This probably will not happen though, so Vizquel becomes a third wheel. No slight to Vizquel, I think he's great and like having him but he's really blocking us from having a more useful bench. I would much rather have Viciedo AND another one of the guys off the list than a 44 year old backup, backup third baseman.
Brent Morel is the option everyone wants to see at third. He's young, he has flashy defense, and his bat can improve. Nobody wants to see Mark Teahen except his dog ESPY. He makes errors, he can't hit and he brings nothing to the team. His contract value was a bit too high for what he has given us; it was basically a ridiculous contract. But since that contract value exists, he will play. You don't pay guys a lot to sit. Omar is the expendable one on value. I'd much rather have Morel as the starter, Vizquel as the backup and Teahen out.
This probably will not happen though, so Vizquel becomes a third wheel. No slight to Vizquel, I think he's great and like having him but he's really blocking us from having a more useful bench. I would much rather have Viciedo AND another one of the guys off the list than a 44 year old backup, backup third baseman.
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