More first-basemen? Well sign me up!

I'm so excited. Really.

I love how the White Sox are slowly phasing out their dependency on slow, slugging first basemen. Then, they go and fill their minor leagues with them. Now, they acquire more of them. Today's addition to the pile is Seth Loman, an ex-Angels (minor league) first baseman.

Interestingly, Loman seems to have a bit of a "gap" in his production. Most notably, 2006, where he hit .206 before magically rebounding in 2007 to hit .323. In 2008, he hit .350, slugging .709. Oh, and did I mention that his homerun totals went from 4 (2006) to 9 (2007) and then to 19 (2008)? Seems somewhat odd for a rapidly growing individual...

Well, 'roids or not, he was selected as a Top Independant League Prospect by Baseball America after being released by the Angels, and we like getting ex-Angels players (thanks for Bobby Jenks!) as of late. Here's hoping he pans out and got good all by himself instead of having some "artificial help."

Don't even think about it

Don't even think about it.

Today's new (well, not really new, but "restated with renewed vigor") rumor is that the Sox are actively pursuing Willy Tavarez. Aside from the fact that the guy's name is "Willy," I can think of at least two problems here:

#1. He's another high-speed low OBP guy from Colorado. If you wanted to see Podsednik return to the White Sox, this is the closest you're going to get. Tavarez is 26 (older than Brian Anderson) and coming off of a year where he stole a career-high 68 bases...and batted .251. When you're a speedster, having an on-base-percentage of .308 does not strike fear into the hearts of men. You can't steal if you can't get on base - it's as simple as that. Throw in the fact that he plays for Colorado (a homefield hitters paradise), and you should drop his batting stats about .30 to even it out.

#2. Why pay a new guy to hit .230. OK, this is a little mean, but adjusting Tavarez's non-Colorado stats gives him an approximate batting average of .230. You know what other center fielder can hit .230? Brian Anderson. Anderson plays much better defense, has a better arm, and is a very good baserunner. I don't see a reason to shell out more money for a similar player who is not leaps and bounds better - especially when we have Jerry Owens.

That said, Tavarez would likely bat 9th (not leadoff) if he came to town, and would block Owens, Anderson, and newly-signed DeWayne Wise from playing. He's not injury-prone (yet), and he would come relatively cheap, but being a one-dimensional speedster makes you no better than Jerry Owens.

Let's make another run at trading Konerko, shall we?