Dewayne Wise Named Full-time Starting CF/Leadoff hitter

[TheBigHurt]

This spring, Wise is hitting .302 with 3 triples, 2 homers, and 10 RBI. Anderson's hitting .283 with 4 homers and 9 RBI in more at bats, fewer total bases. And frankly, Anderson didn't look good for quite some time to start the Spring. I'll tolerate a platoon until i'm convinced it isn't working or I'm convinced one of them is outplaying the other in real games.

 

I just don't want to see them anywhere near the leadoff spot.

 

Is there a point to quoting a post debating CF and replying with discussion about leadoff which is totally unrelated or did you just not read my (very short) post through? I'm not talking about leadoff (and I highly doubt Wise is going to be any better in the long run and hell, BA could easily hit more HRs). BA is a better CF, period. The fact Wise is starting in CF says a lot about this organization's position this year as well as its overall stance.

[TheBigHurt]

????

 

Overreaction much? Most dreadful you've EVER seen?

 

Holes in the bottom of the rotation: Count back healthy, pick up vet Colon

Battle for 2B: Getz declared winner, great organizational decision

Trade both Swisher and javy: get a good return for both, Yanks cant pay a team to take Swish.

Minor league system continues to be solidified, youth injected into major league ballclub=success

 

Only major hole is CF/Leadoff, which will probably be half solved with Getz. Also nobody from the Sox has come out and declared Wise the full time starter, so I'd hold off judgement till at least April is halfway done.

 

I said ONE of the most, and I don't believe I'm overreacting. I can't think of one thing that happened this offseason that gave me a positive mindset for this year or even made me smile whatsoever. The last thing I had hope for was BA being the starting CF, but that didn't happen either. We get Wise instead.

[Kalapse]

It's just so frustrating when you hear the White Sox brass preach OBP and pit/pa at the top all offseason and even into S/T and yet Opening Day is just a few days away and our leadoff hitter is a bad baseball player with an especially low OBP and no patience. I really thought KW was going to make it a point to upgrade the leadoff spot after the departure of Orlando Cabrera and yet he somehow managed to downgrade. I just wish it didn't have to be this way, there's a rather large percentage of teams that don't have to worry about s*** like this, it'd be nice if KW had gotten creative this offseason and added us to that list of teams.

[FranktheTank35]

Wow.. just wow. Not even giving BA a shot?! Again? Just f***ing cut his ass then.

[mmmmmbeeer]

I'm sitting her racking my brain and, am I wrong to say that the last decent CF we had was 1-Dog? And before Pods, who the hell was our last decent leadoff hitter?

 

I just don't understand how over a period of several years we've been unable to bring anyone in to leadoff and/or play a solid CF with a decent bat. I know we had Chris Young lined up to take that spot but he's no leadoff hitter either.

 

It's very frustrating to look at this team with a whole lot of potential and to have one spot just completely ignored, no attempt made to fill the hole, just really irks me.

 

 

With all that said, if it's a Wise/BA platoon, I can live with it. Leading off? Hell no, but I can live with those guys getting PT against the right matchups.

[TheBigHurt]

I'm sitting her racking my brain and, am I wrong to say that the last decent CF we had was 1-Dog? And before Pods, who the hell was our last decent leadoff hitter?

 

So Rowand wasn't decent?

 

And before Pods, the last one I can THINK of was maybe Tim Raines. Other than that I can't think of a single person.

[mmmmmbeeer]

So Rowand wasn't decent?

 

And before Pods, the last one I can THINK of was maybe Tim Raines. Other than that I can't think of a single person.

 

 

 

Yes, he was. Thank you. I was getting more heated by the fact I couldn't think of anyone.

 

 

 

[TheBigHurt]

Yes, he was. Thank you. I was getting more heated by the fact I couldn't think of anyone.

 

That's ok. I know what you mean. That bit about a good leadoff hitter hadn't ever even occurred to me until you mentioned it, and I had to laugh because you're right.

[qwerty]

Ray durham.

[ThunderBolt]

If I’m BA I "request" a trade, and see what happens. If Ozzie really doesn't like him, i'm sure KW will willing oblige. He's deserves another chance, and we're not giving him one.

[Kyyle23]

So Rowand wasn't decent?

 

And before Pods, the last one I can THINK of was maybe Tim Raines. Other than that I can't think of a single person.

 

Raines was the left fielder while with the Sox, Lance Johnson was always the CF.

 

Mike Cameron, Aaron Rowand, Singleton had a nice year(one year), I think Dave Martinez was the CF for a while, Kenny Lofton was here for a minute.

 

there have been good CFers that passed through, and players who had a good year in center for the Sox. Its just a glaring need right now

[GREEDY]

I just don't understand how a guy that wouldn't make any other team's roster, is leading off and playing centerfield for a contender?

[Dick Allen]

This makes Darin Erstad look like a good move. Simply horrible. Maybe a miracle happens and Wise is useful. If not, I hope they figure it out quickly.

[ThunderBolt]

This makes Darin Erstad look like a good move. Simply horrible. Maybe a miracle happens and Wise is useful. If not, I hope they figure it out quickly.

Erstad at least had a track record of sustained success. Wise has the exact opposite.

[BaseballNick]

Suddenly, Alexei in CF and Beckham at SS sounds 1000X better than it did just a couple of weeks ago. I want to know what it was that Anderson did to Ozzie because it really seems like he's not getting a fair shake.

[jamesdiego]

Most of your people's pain, is my joy:))...Of course I would prefer Wise at the bottom of the order and Getz leading off. And no matter how much you guys call Ozzie an idiot for not having Getz leadoff right away, there is always a risk in it being too much for a rookie. Small risk for Getz, yes, but NONE of you know how he will do leading off without getting his feet wet first. And it will be a platoon with Brian hitting against lefties, it's not like he's going to purgatory or anything. If he clearly out hits Wise, he will see more playing time.

 

So it's gonna be a season battle between them for playing time. Mano y mano. To the death. And this time it's for real. And in my opinion Wise his gonna shove his bat up Brian's ass and turn him into a popsicle:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[R.J.]

It's bad enough that you're going to give a career minor leaguer 450 at bats. What justifies putting him in the leadoff spot? This is a truly baffling move.

 

It's one thing to step up and admit that maybe the CF situation didn't turn out the way you had hoped it would. Maybe you thought that Jerry Owens really had the tools to play every day. Maybe you thought he could last a year at the top of the order without being completely exposed. But you were wrong. And the rest of the "competition" was more or less an excuse for why we didn't spend our last remaining assets on an upgrade. It's a botched move.

 

But now you're being stubborn. It's over. You lost. If you're just going to close your eyes and ignore all the reasons why this move will fail because you're smarter than everyone else in the world then you're multiplying your failures exponentially.

 

Do not tell me this is it. Do not try and convince me that you see no reason to explore outside of the organization for an upgrade.

 

And yes, this late, you likely wont find anything. Melky Cabrera is stretched in center for what he might cost you. Juan Pierre is basically no help either. There's no way you want to pay Gary Matthews Jr. what he's making, or even 25% of it. But you had better be looking. You had better tell me that this isn't the solution to the hole you left open through the entire offseason.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

I don't think Wise will be in there against lefties no matter what anyone says. BA had 4 or 5 outfield assists this spring. How many did Wise have ? It's particularly annoying that Ozzie . who was known for his defense , can absolutely ignore defense on a team filled with average and below average defenders, especially in the outfield where potential outs will be turned into extra base hits.

 

No matter who plays CF they should be batting 9th.

[NorthSideSox72]

Most of your people's pain, is my joy:))...Of course I would prefer Wise at the bottom of the order and Getz leading off. And no matter how much you guys call Ozzie an idiot for not having Getz leadoff right away, there is always a risk in it being too much for a rookie. Small risk for Getz, yes, but NONE of you know how he will do leading off without getting his feet wet first. And it will be a platoon with Brian hitting against lefties, it's not like he's going to purgatory or anything. If he clearly out hits Wise, he will see more playing time.

 

So it's gonna be a season battle between them for playing time. Mano y mano. To the death. And this time it's for real. And in my opinion Wise his gonna shove his bat up Brian's ass and turn him into a popsicle:

 

 

Wow - a D-Wise fan. You may be alone here on SoxTalk.

 

So, fill us in. What makes you think Wise will do well? He's not been successful, at really any level, for any full season. What makes you think he'll figure it out now?

 

[FranktheTank35]

This makes Darin Erstad look like a good move. Simply horrible. Maybe a miracle happens and Wise is useful. If not, I hope they figure it out quickly.

That is very much not like the Ozzie Guillen I know. The guy is stubborn and will leave guys anywhere even if they don't want to play their themselves (Mackowiak). He also does the same thing with the bullpen. And how long did it take them to cut Widger? That guy couldn't play anymore.

 

We'll see how it goes, but I have a feeling Wise will be given a good chunk of time before BA ever whiffs the starting job. I hope I'm wrong though.

[klaus kinski]

For me the closest Wise would get to CF is if he was on the crew doing construction on gate 5.

 

There's no justification for this at all-

 

Whats the record for Unearned runs allowed in a season?

[ThunderBolt]

Jim Edmonds sure is looking good, right now...

[Melissa1334]

For me the closest Wise would get to CF is if he was on the crew doing construction on gate 5.

i agree

 

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

And yet the only information we have on this is from Cowley and Gonzalez.

 

 

It makes me mad that we probably coulda had Josh Anderson from ATL for someone like McD

This is who Detroit gave up for Anderson from the Tigers website on the trade.

 

The right-handed Darrow opened Spring Training with the Tigers as a non-roster invitee before being sent to Minor League camp on March 11. The 25-year-old sidearmer split last year between Class A West Michigan and Double-A Erie, but wasn't a key cog amid the newfound relief depth in the Tigers' farm system.

 

If Atlanta didnt want Mac because of salary looks like Egbert , Broadway , Russell, Wasserman or any number of guys would have been enough to snag Josh Anderson.

 

Anderson is younger, faster, steals more bases and plays a much better CF than Wise. How we let Detroit get him to play backup to Granderson is beyond me. I'm irked.

Edited March 31, 2009 by CaliSoxFanViaSWside

[jamesdiego]

Wow - a D-Wise fan. You may be alone here on SoxTalk.

 

So, fill us in. What makes you think Wise will do well? He's not been successful, at really any level, for any full season. What makes you think he'll figure it out now?

 

 

I don't think he's great or anything, but he's WAY better than people around tak about him. Somehow in many Sox fans minds, Wise and Owens got morphed into one freaky being. And it's more of my lack of faith in Mr Anderson. But of course I could be wrong and if he out hits Wise, then he should get most of the playing time. By the end of the year both might be on the bench so Beckham can play SS and Ramirez CF.

 

With Wise, he changed his swing before last year. Racked at Charlotte with a .319avg .402obp 9hrs in 55 games, and earned the callup. Hit .288 with us before Ozzie put him in the leadoff. It was too much for him, and sucked it up for the next 8 games with a .080avg. But that was only 8 freaking games until the end of the season that he blew. And it was after he got moved in the leadoff position in the middle of a freakin pennant race. But he then turned it around by hitting .286 with 5 rbi's in the playofffs.

 

But I don't support him leading off by any means. I think Oz wants to take it rightfully slow with Getz, but he'll be in the leadoff by years end. Wise should bat only bat against righties, with Brian replacing him at end of games. I believe in a fluid offense and Brian will be a huge black hole. We lived through Mackoviak people, Wise isn't that bad.