White Sox 2010 - I'm gonna question Ozzie...

And probably pay for it later. He holds a grudge. And if he catches wind that I, a simply fan and 'never played baseball past high school' expert (fan), I'm sure he'll make a comment about me and leave it at that.

But as a fan, it is my right, nay, my duty, as a ticket holding and paying customer to question my manager. To that extent... I have to admit, that before spring training came, I was very happy with the state of the Sox, though I did question (and Kenny Williams will now hate me as well) the trade for Mark Teahen (I currently live in KC. My friends make fun of me for this trade). But picking up Juan Pierre, Andrew Jones, Jake Peavey, even Omar Vizquel, were great additions. But one thing has bothered me for two years now: Alexi Ramirez.

And yet every year, I draft him in my fantasy league. When he came up playing second base, I thought it was a good fit for him. I didn't like that Chris Getz was getting bumped, but Ramirez had raw talent. But I questioned his move to shortstop (and still do). Huge defensive liability. He has a good arm, I'll compliment that, but he plays out of position, and his arm, while strong, is wild. Two years ago I said they should use him as trade bait, which made even more sense when they decided to bring Gordan Beckham up as a third baseman. They raved on how good Beckham was, and he will be a much greater talent than Ramirez. So why move Beckham out of his natural position (short) and move Ramirez into a position that he rates barely average?

Alongside that, Ramirez has turned into an offensive liability. He's streaky, has never started a season well, and statistically is not getting better. There is still trade value, which could shore up some holes in the bullpen, or maybe a fifth starter. And finally, Beckham can go back to short. Great arm, Rookie of the Year candidate, 3rd base of the future... we'll see how you play at second, and we'll keep this streaky mediocre guy at short.

Case in point... Last night Sox play Toronto, lose 4-2. Ramirez was responsible for 3 of those 4 runs. Of course, he did not get an error, so they were all charged to Floyd, but here's what happens: Hit to the outfield, runner scores from second. On the relay throw, Ramirez, from deep in short/shallow left, was thirty feet off on the throw home which would have been close, but probably an out. That's one run. A couple innings later, no one out, runner on first. On the double play, Ramirez lobs a throw to first and does not complete the play. So with one out, runner on first there is a hit to Konerko, who throws to Ramirez at second, who again lobs a throw to Floyd and cannot complete the double play. That's two lobs to first that cannot complete and end the inning. Now with two outs, batter hits a triple and later scores. That's 3 runs that Ramirez directly caused, and in effect, lost the game for the Sox.

That's not to mention the .138 average (4-29) with zero home runs and zero runs batted in. He's played EVERY game this season. He's notorious for starting slow (everyone keeps saying, just wait until the end of May when the weather warms up). Seasons are not won and lost in April... but they are. Getting 5 games back early can be trouble. But what most irks me, was at the end of spring training, Ozzie complained to the media that Mark Teahen needed to start producing. He was struggling, trying too hard, but Ozzie went to the media to make a threat. There has been no such threat made to Alexi. He is struggling offensively (though I will go on the record as saying this is not just struggling, but will be a problem all season), he's not very good at shortstop, and he has cost you at least one game.

Am I saying I could do better? Probably not. I can't hit off-speed pitches (neither can Alexi), and have trouble holding back on the high fastball (so does Alexi). I however cannot field a grounder. I could throw just as hard as he did last night on the double play. If we were both outfielders, I could say that we are probably equal in defensive skills. But what I am saying, is that there are better options for this team. Alexi Ramirez is not the answer at shortstop and this one position and player could be the difference between making the post season.

- Tom.