Alexei....... Yes!

Lets face it, Alexei Ramirez has not been the most solid player for the White Sox this year, its tough to argue, he was 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting, he has a spectacular season. . 290 Average, 19 homeruns, 90 rbis. Thats a solid multimillion dollar contract season right there. But why has he been struggling oh so much? Well its debateable, he did switch from 2nd base to shortstop this year, and its not easy to adjust, especially for a baseball player. But were in August, he should, by now, have his defense set. But its also a new year, weird things happen and baseball its tough to be consistent, especially when you've been in the league for a year, and most of the pitchers know how to pitch to you. Even if Alexei's not having the superstar year he had last year, he's still having a decent year, an average in the mid .270s is considered solid, and hes on pace for 80 rbis, and 19 homers. A let down from last year, but still good. But the reason of him not living up to last years potential could be Ozzie's fault, Ozzie has been keeping a close eye on Alexei, with Guillen being the starting Shortstop for the White Sox for nearly a decade, he knows how the position is played, and has been on his back all year, could pressure be getting to Alexei? I think so.


But this is baseball, weird things happen, especially when you least expect it. Just like tonight, with Detroit and Minnesota already facing losses tonight, the Sox were down 1-0 in the 9th, and Danks started with a strong full 8 innings of pitching. The top of the 9th had Konerko up against former Sox bullpen pitcher, David Aardsma. Pauly cranked a high fastball to deep center field, at the wall, but was caught for out number one. This led AJ Pierzynski to single, and have Carlos Quentin walk. With two on base, Alexei knew what Aardsma had coming to him, at 2-2 a high fastball was imminent, Alexei knew... Alexei Ramirez cranked a high fastball to deep left field. As Hawk Harrelson kept repeating "Stretch, Stretch, get on back there!" All White Sox fans in the stadium and at home stood up watching there TVs closely. Ramirez just hit a 3 run homerun to give the Sox a 3-1 lead into the 9th, setting up Bobby Jenks to get the 9th inning save. The White Sox, who were 0-49 after losing in the 8th inning, just came back for the first time all year. And with the Tigers, and the Twins already losing, the division lead is narrowed to 2 games. This could be the big momentum changer for the Sox, and it will be exciting to see if they can keep it going for the rest of the road trip.

White Sox Acquire Alex Rios.... Whos the Odd Man out?

With the White Sox getting Alex Rios off Waivers for nothing, except his salary, the White Sox have many decisions to make. Now they have an extra multi-million dollar outfielder to work with, preferably center field, thats something the White Sox have been looking for ever since they traded Aaron Rowand for Jim Thome Thanksgiving day of 2005. They picked up Scott Podsednik in April for a minor league deal, and wouldnt you know it, hes batting over .300 and has been the most consistent hitter on the White Sox. And with the return of Carlos Quentin after the All Star Break, the White Sox looked destined to take the Central Division. But thats not what it looks like, the White Sox can not win on the road, losing 7 of there last 8 on the road, the White Sox really need to make up ground before Detriot really pulls away. Alex Rios could be the key to them winning in it all, as well as Jake Peavy. But then that leaves one question, who has to leave the team? They already traded Brian Anderson for Mark Kotsay, which was a really good move. Josh Fields wants to be traded, but its too late for that, and hes down in AAA. The only logical move would be to either DFA Dewayne Wise, a man who single handedly save Mark Beuhrle's perfect game and has been accountable for having a few clutch hits last year. But he has not performed up to task this year. The other option is to either move him down to AAA and DFA a person on that Charlotte. Dewayne Wise makes up already a lot of memories in White Sox fans hearts, is it too soon to let him go? I think so.

But also with Alex Rios on the team, that also means payroll has become a significant problem for next year, we owe Rios 11 million, and Peavy 9 million. They only have 10 million in their pockets right now, so that means that someones leaving next year, lets go through this. Thome is a free agent next year, we owe him 13 million after this year. Dye will be a free agent, we owe him 12 million. Contreras will be a free agent, hes owed 10 million. Missing in Action Colon is owed 1 million. Dotel is owed 5 million. And it goes on, but those are noteable names that we know we may not see next year in a Sox uniform. So in order to fill payroll next year, I say we resign Dye, let him finish his career here. Let Thome and Contreras go. Let Dotel, and Colon get out of here. Keep our team we have excluding those players, and sign a cheap decent 5th starter, preferably Jon Garland. If we do that we will still have a ton of money to work with, which we will have to save to pay for Rios and Peavys contracts in the upcoming years.