Jerry Owens went 2-for-4 with a walk and three runs scored as the Venezuelan Winter League opened play yesterday.

Owens, 24, hit .331/.393/.406 with 38 steals in 58 attempts for Double-A Birmingham this season. He's nearly certain to begin next year in Triple-A, but he'll probably spend some time in the majors as a backup before the season is over. He currently projects as a very good reserve. Oct. 15 - 2:10 pm et

Yesterday, Jerry had another nice game. He was 3-5, with 1 run, a double and a SB. He is batting .556 through 2 games. Even though it's early, glad to see him picking up right where he left off.

Awesome start, keep it up Jerry!

future lead off hitter of the WS

future lead off hitter of the WS

 

 

dats what ive been trying to say all year long, but no one listened to me. everybody kept saying that Pods was gonna be with the Sox for many years 2 come. dont get me wrong that would be awesome, but someone like Jerry Owens shouldn't be in the Minors he would be great to have in the clubhouse next year. Sox should get rid of Carl Everett, Geof Blum, Willie Harris. Jerry Owens should take one of those spots, Dont forget bout Brian Anderson. :-D

dats what ive been trying to say all year long, but no one listened to me. everybody kept saying that Pods was gonna be with the Sox for many years 2 come. dont get me wrong that would be awesome, but someone like Jerry Owens shouldn't be in the Minors he would be great to have in the clubhouse next year. Sox should get rid of Carl Everett, Geof Blum, Willie Harris. Jerry Owens should take one of those spots, Dont forget bout Brian Anderson. :-D        

 

 

What are you talking about.... I think almost everyone thinks that after his contract is up I think after next season Pods will be gone.....So Pods should be there next year but after that Id think he would be gone and thats probably what most people think too.

Totally unrelated note, but Brandon Wood (SS for Angels) hit 4 HR's in his debut in the AFL (at least thats what I heard someone say).

What are you talking about.... I think almost everyone thinks that after his contract is up I think after next season Pods will be gone.....So Pods should be there next year but after that Id think he would be gone and thats probably what most people think too.

 

Pods only has 3 years of service time heading into 2006... he will not be a FA until after the 2008 season, IIRC.

dats what ive been trying to say all year long, but no one listened to me. everybody kept saying that Pods was gonna be with the Sox for many years 2 come. dont get me wrong that would be awesome, but someone like Jerry Owens shouldn't be in the Minors he would be great to have in the clubhouse next year. Sox should get rid of Carl Everett, Geof Blum, Willie Harris. Jerry Owens should take one of those spots, Dont forget bout Brian Anderson. :-D        

 

If Brian Anderson and Jerry Owens are starting in the OF for the Chicago White Sox next year, they're in deep, deep s***.

 

Or ARod better be at SS.

Pods only has 3 years of service time heading into 2006...  he will not be a FA until after the 2008 season, IIRC.

Do you realistically see him coming back after next year? I dont.

Yeah I really think next season is Pods last with the Sox.... And starting next season we are going to start bringing up the OF prospects.... Anderson in my opinion should be with the club starting in 2006, in 2007 Chris Young should and if he repeats the type of season he just had Owens has a chance 2.

At some point, it is worth thinking about Podsednik's trade value...it almost has to have increased this season...going from being a .240 hitter to a .290 hitter int he leadoff hole, being an all star, being traded for Carlos Lee and having his name repeated ad nauseum with regards to that trade...

 

At some point...we can get a lot of value out of Pods if we have talent coming up the pipe to replace him.

At some point...we can get a lot of value out of Pods if we have talent coming up the pipe to replace him.

 

At some point, sure. When will that be? Who knows? You need to have a leadoff man somewhere, and unless they sign one or Owens is ready, until that point, they can't afford to trade him...

At some point, it is worth thinking about Podsednik's trade value...it almost has to have increased this season...going from being a .240 hitter to a .290 hitter int he leadoff hole, being an all star, being traded for Carlos Lee and having his name repeated ad nauseum with regards to that trade...

 

At some point...we can get a lot of value out of Pods if we have talent coming up the pipe to replace him.

I agree, plus Podsednik is not the type of player that ages well, I think. His trade value is peaking right now.

 

That said, there would be STRONG pressure (either perceived or actual) from the fans to keep him around at least next year and perhaps for a few more years. Think about the pressure the Sox will have to re-sign Konerko. Podsednik has been huge for the Sox this postseason (really, he's been the most consistent hitter and gotten on base a ton). Unless Chris Young is 100% ready and comes out of the minors tearing it up, it would be really hard to let Podsednik go.

At some point, sure.  When will that be?  Who knows?  You need to have a leadoff man somewhere, and unless they sign one or Owens is ready, until that point, they can't afford to trade him...

this is why I think next year is his last year with us. Then Owens should be ready, and we can get decent value for PODS.

this is why I think next year is his last year with us.  Then Owens should be ready, and we can get decent value for PODS.

 

Owens has got to show either more power or better plate discipline (though his 52 BBs in 520+ ABs certainly isn't awful) for him to be our up-and-coming leadoff hitter.

 

I think John Sickels wrote it best......

 

Overall, Owens did well this year but still has flaws in his game and has more work to do. I think he will need a full year in Triple-A. If he doesn't develop additional power, he MUST improve his basestealing. Adding more walks to his resume would help as well, making his OBP less reliant on his batting average. For me, he projects best as a fourth outfielder.

 

OTOH, I'm still quite happy that we have another average-to-above-average prospect, for just Alex Escobar.

Owens has got to show either more power or better plate discipline (though his 52 BBs in 520+ ABs certainly isn't awful) for him to be our up-and-coming leadoff hitter.

 

I think John Sickels wrote it best......

OTOH, I'm still quite happy that we have another average-to-above-average prospect, for just Alex Escobar.

well, people say PODS has to improve his power as well. Im cool with OBP myself.

dats what ive been trying to say all year long, but no one listened to me. everybody kept saying that Pods was gonna be with the Sox for many years 2 come. dont get me wrong that would be awesome, but someone like Jerry Owens shouldn't be in the Minors he would be great to have in the clubhouse next year. Sox should get rid of Carl Everett, Geof Blum, Willie Harris. Jerry Owens should take one of those spots, Dont forget bout Brian Anderson. :-D        

 

If I remember correctly, you wanted him called up this season.....

well, people say PODS has to improve his power as well.  Im cool with OBP myself.

 

I am too, but Owens OBP is pretty much AVG heavy. He's not going to hit .330 in the majors, so he better start to walk more or hit more doubles and homers.

I am too, but Owens OBP is pretty much AVG heavy.  He's not going to hit .330 in the majors, so he better start to walk more or hit more doubles and homers.

I'm even happy with only a moderately good OBP or BA from my leadoff hitter, on the condition that the leadoff hitter is fast enough that when he gets on base he causes problems.

 

In my opinion, there are 2 types of #1 hitters who really work well...guys with very high OBP numbers, whos entire job is to get on base ahead of the bigger boppers behind them. They can do whatever else they want in terms of power, but the key number for this kind of leadoff hitter is the OBP...because that translates directly to runs when your #2-3-4 hitters hit the ball off of or over the wall.

 

The other kind of #1 hitter gets on base some, but when he's on base with a walk or a single...the pitcher throws over there 3 times, comes close to throwing the ball away once, and then looks up and realizes he has a 2-0 count on the #2 hitter because he's not paying attention to him. The guy then steals 2nd. This is the other kind that works...he doesn't get on base as much, but when he does get on base, he finds a way to turn himself into a run, whether it's through a stolen base, enducing an error on the pitcher, or even just robbign the pitcher of his concentration.

 

Both of them work, both make the hitters behind them better. I would take a good version of either one. If healthy, we have a good version of the latter right now.

I am too, but Owens OBP is pretty much AVG heavy.  He's not going to hit .330 in the majors, so he better start to walk more or hit more doubles and homers.

 

I am willing to bet a .62 differential from average to obp is right around league average for lead-off hitters if not better. Maybe later i will look into it more in depth...

I am willing to bet a .62 differential from average to obp is right around league average for lead-off hitters if not better. Maybe later i will look into it more in depth...

 

Oh, I know that. But, like I said, I doubt he'd be able to hit .330. He can probably hit in the area from .270-.300 (if he develops properly), but that would still leave his OBP in the area of .330-.360. That's right around where Podsednik's is; and, I'm not the biggest Podsednik fan. Essentially, he seems to be what Scott Podsednik is (without looking at Pods' minor-league numbers) -- a good OBP, low slugging speedster.

 

For you and me, though, qwerty, let's hope he gets better reads than Scott does.

Even though he was old for the league didnt Owens basicly make the same jump Chris Young did to AA? If so than what he did in AA just makes me think a lot more of him as our future leadoff man.

Jerry Owens - OF - White Sox   

 

 

Jerry Owens went 4-for-6 with a double and two RBI as the leadoff hitter for La Guaira of the VWL on Monday.

Owens is off to a 10-for-19 start in Venezuela. Oct. 19 - 1:23 am et

 

Maybe it's time to rename this thread "Jerry FOCKING Owens."

Even though he was old for the league didnt Owens basicly make the same jump Chris Young did to AA?  If so than what he did in AA just makes me think a lot more of him as our future leadoff man.

Difference is, Owens is what 3 years older and even though it was his 1st full season, he should be putting up numbers around that mark (probably a little below) like that at his age for a 2nd round pick.

 

Let's see how he does in Charlotte, a ballpark not as big, before we anoint him our next lead-off man.