Ozzie Guillen Likes Them Young
If there is one overriding theme of the White Sox’s offseason so far — besides “we couldn’t wait to get Nick Swisher out of here fast enough” — it’s that they’re going young. Well, not so much that they’re completely retooling the roster to cut costs and start anew. It’s more they are going to instill more trust in the likes of some of their guys that have only seen sporadic playing time the last few years. (Or haven’t been on the team at all yet.) I’ll let Ozzie explain:
What about starting Josh Fields at third, Chris Getz or Jayson Nix at second and Jerry Owens or Brian Anderson in center?
I love it. For two reasons: I think we have the [veteran] people [and] we can still compete; and we have to say to the minor-league coaches, instructors and scouts [that] those kids deserve it. They have enough credentials to play here. … They have to play good enough in spring training to convince me they can play in the big leagues. We’re not going to do this just to go young, go cheaper. We want to give those kids a shot. If they don’t take [advantage], they’re not going to get in.
I like the thought process here. A healthy Fields should provide another guy with pop in the lineup, and I’ve always thought Anderson deserves more of a shot than Guillen has ever given him. (He was 500 times the center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. was last year, and Griffey’s bat wasn’t so much better than Anderson’s that it justifed starting him out there so often at the end of the season.)
If the Sox can shore up a decent free-agent acquisition or two and find a way to blend the youth with the veterans, this team should be OK on paper heading into next year.
And now I’ve just jinxed them into an 0-162 season. Whoops.
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