The Chicago White Sox have many options at the DH spot this season
And although none of them are Red or Blue,
Dr. Seuss would agree Ozzie Guillen has many options,
including Andruw.
From Vizquel to Kotsay
Guillen has his to pick,
but who shall see the most at-bats,
perhaps DHing A.J. when he's acting like a di...jerk.
Okay, enough rhyming. Although, for the record, I could have gone the entire article in a rhyme scheme.
The White Sox options at the designated hitter position bring up some good points and some bad. Whereas, they have many options in case of injury or bad performance, they lose speed on the bench and frankly, have an outfield featuring two DHs, which kills the defense.
Let's look at the options.
Right now the White Sox are looking at DHing Mark Kotsay and Andruw Jones while Juan Pierre plays left field.
In other situations Paul Konerko could DH while Kotsay fills in at first. Alternatively, Pierre or Carlos Quentin could DH while Kotsay or Jones play the outfield. Mark Teahen or Alexei Ramirez could DH while Omar Vizuel plays third or shortstop or Vizquel, himself, could DH. Pierzynski could even DH while Ramon Castro catches.
The White Sox could also call up Dayan Viciedo or Tyler Flowers to come up and DH.
The good part of all this is the White Sox have an open DH spot for any normal starter with bumps and bruises along with someone off the bench to replace them in the field.
The bad part about this is the White Sox are giving Guillen way too many toys to play with and each move hurts an already shaky defense. The White Sox also have limited speed in the form of the 43-year-old Vizquel to come off the bench late in the games when Konerko or Pierzynski get on base with Jones, Kotsay, and Castro taking up bench spots as opposed to Jayson Nix or Brent Lillibridge.
Also, how will any player get into any kind of hitting groove if they are not playing every day?
Let's face it, Kotsay, Jones and Vizquel are not everyday players anymore, so anything they contribute will most likely be based on streaks, unless one of them somehow has an unlikely, steady season.
The White Sox are already hurting in the outfield with Pierre and Quentin slated to be starters. Any day the White Sox sub Jones or Kotsay into the outfield, the already bad defense somehow becomes worse.
Besides the entire offense relying on turnaround seasons from Alex Rios and Quentin, the White Sox will have to handle this DH situation with care instead of spur of the moment changes each day.
This may be a daunting task for the trigger-happy manager, but Guillen may have to be patient with his DH, although I'm not sure he knows what that adjective means.
Side note: I picked that picture because it is hilarious.
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