Crazy Idea

Warriors! Come out and plaaaaaaay!

As is my understanding, there's a bit of a clusterfuck in the White Sox outfield right now. Unlike the Cubs, who have too many people to play (Soriano, Fukudome, Bradley, Johnson...etc), the Sox have too many people who CAN'T play. Right now, the breakdown looks like this:

LF: Quentin (Locked Up)
RF: Dye (Locked Up)
CF: Wise, Owens, Anderson...etc

Unlike previous years where everyone on that list had "potential" and additional minor league options, this year presents a serious "Oh Shit We Need To Do Something." As far as I know, Anderson and Owens are out of options. The only person who looks even close to useful of the three is Wise, and we all know he's not really a CF option.

So here's my crazy solution: Move Alexei Ramirez to CF.

In terms of both offense and defense, CF gets a big upgrade. As much as I like Anderson, he's only half of the puzzle (fielding, but no offense). Likewise, Wise has speed and the brains, but he's the new Pablo Ozuna - not an every day option. With Ramirez in CF, both Wise and Anderson make the team (bye bye Owens) with Anderson being the defensive sub and Wise being a day-off replacement and pinch runner (think Timo Perez circa 2005).

As for the infield (which now has a gaping hole), you have a couple of options. Seeing as the Sox have a LOT of youth and infield depth (Viciedo, Beckham, Lillebridge, Nix, Getz...etc), let them duke it out for two positions instead of one. I fully expect Viciedo to go to the minors, and Beckham to get called up after May 1 (so we can save a year on the contract). Until then, Getz and Nix can handle SS and 2B (Getz was projected to take 2B anyways).

When all is said and done, you wind up with:

SS: Nix
C: Pierzynski
LF: Quentin
DH: Thome
1B: Konerko
CF: Ramirez
RF: Dye
3B: Fields
2B: Getz

I penciled in Nix for leadoff because he seems to be meeting all the criteria in ST - whether that carries over into the regular season remains to be seen. Even so - Getz "gets" time to develop at the bottom of the order, Nix holds the spot for Beckham (Nix goes to a utility role when Bex shows up), and the rest of the pieces are the same as last year.

Thoughts?