Don’t ever say we don’t listen to our readers’ input.  Due to the bitching and whining of NQTC’s Sox fans, I went out and found someone to write about the South Siders.  So here is General Zod, who will be writing once a week about whatever Sox story suits his fancy.  StevieY and I will be redirecting our Sox insults from the readers to him.  Enjoy!

Next to governor, there is only one form of employment with less job security in Illinois, playing center field for the Chicago White Sox. Since the departure of Aaron Rowand, the list of characters consumed by this black hole includes the likes of Brian Anderson, Nick Swisher, and Darin Erstad.  Let us also not forget the pride of Oak Lawn, Rob “mamma had a baby and its head popped off” Mackowiak.  Despite having an OPS 40 points lower than Pablo Ozuna in the 2006 season, Guillen and Williams thought enough of his Edward Scissorhands approach to center fielding they gave him 51 starts in a 2006 season that saw the White Sox finish last in a very close three team race.

So now here it is 2009 and as White Sox fans, we are back to where we started from.  As Moe, Larry and Curly battle it out for least-worst option in spring training, even Ozzie Guillen can’t stifle a yawn.  In Joe Cowley’s Sun Times column Tuesday, Guillen said:

“It’s been real disappointing so far.  Because I think we have the talent in center field. We are all sitting in the meetings, asking the same questions: When is someone going to step it up and make it easy for us? Make iteasy for the organization, make it easy for Kenny, make it easy forthe ballclub.”

The truth is Ozzie has answered his own question.  The White Sox center fielder IS on this team, and it is NOT Dewayne Wise, Brian Anderson, or Jerry Owens.  It’s Alexei Ramirez, the opening day center fielder from a division winning 2008 brand of White Sox baseball. Ramirez is an athlete, more than capable of playing the position AND hitting the heck out of the baseball from any position in the line-up. This would untie Kenny Williams hands in a centerfield trade market that is limited to underperforming has-been superstars and bloated contracts from the likes of Juan Pierre and Gary Matthews Jr. and allow him to seek relief in the form of the shortstop position via trade.

This year’s crop of middle infielders was so bountiful even the two Orlando’s (Hudson and Cabrera) found themselves signing for about $4 million a piece with just one year guaranteed, and there are still other deals out there.  For a GM with a history of rewards from taking risk on injured or underperforming players such as Thome, Thornton and Loiza, Williams should take a chance of former AL Rookie of the Year Bobby Crosby who has been supplanted by the aforementioned Orlando Cabrera.  He has been hampered by injuries that have limited him to a .239 career batting average in just under 600 at-bats, but as he enters his contract season needing to reestablish his value and having recovered form last years broken hand, he can still play above average defense at the shortstop position and can likely be had at a major discount from the cash-strapped Oakland A’s.

If you don’t like Crosby because he hasn’t done anything impressive besides breaking bones for the last three years, then revisit the whole “Michael Young to the White Sox” scenario that has been discussed for years.  If salary or Young’s increasingly porous defense becomes an obstacle in completing the deal, the White Sox could look to repeat last season’s trade with the Angels who still have some capable shortstops they could look to deal in the Aybar/Izturis combination by trading from a source of strength (much like last years trade of John Garland).

What’s the point of all this?  If I never hear the names Dewayne Wise, Brian Anderson or Jerry Owens again it will be too soon.  They’ve all been given plenty of opportunities to be regular contributors at the big league level and have failed each time.  The White Sox seem obsessed with solving this nightmare with in-house solutions, and Alexei Ramirez is the only organic life form that they can possibly sell to their fan base as a legitimate full-time solution to a starting center fielder.

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• Just Not Their Year…South Side Version (2)
• Qualified Links (1)
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• Things are looking up on the South Side (7)
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Tags: Alexei Ramirez, Crappy Center Fielders, White Sox