Jerry Owens

eadoff spot is so far so good, i'm very interested to see if the teams game level remains high once Jerry Owens returns. Ordinarily I would say of course, and be counting the days. But as it turns out, I'm a little bit in love with Carlos Quentin over there in left field. The guy has a cannon and isn't too shabby at the plate.  Though I am a tad concerned with his likeness to Jose Canseco.  I still think we need the speed and hopefully that just ads a whole new attack to our offense. It's a tough decision to make, but after sending Fields down, and the likely optioning of Brian Anderson, Kenny has got to be getting used to giving bad news. And as he always says, these problems are good ones to have.

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The mystery of interim leadoff hitter has been solved. Nick, um, Swisher. May as well be A.J. Pierzynski. I have no idea how this makes sense. A .250 career hitter, with 4 stolen bases LIFETIME. Not exactly a spark plug. I’m all for the swisher signing, but to bat 6th or 7th and be a clubhouse spark plug. As I’ve said before, the options with Owens out are slim, but this is not the answer. My personal choice would be to start Ramirez at second and let him lead off. I’m not exactly keen on Swisher in center, left field would be dandy, but that doesn’t smell as bad as the batting order. Fortunately, under the guise of "good numbers against Sabathia" but the reality of, we need to get off on the right foot, Pablo Ozuna will start at second on opening day and hit in the lead off spot.

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He’ll be rakin’ in no time.

Jerry Owens is going to start the year on the DL. This is gonna get worse before it gets any better. That groin injury is still hangin around and the team doesn’t want to take any “chances”. This is a good news bad news though. The DL placement will open up a spot for Brian Anderson to get some big league ABs and see if that spring at the plate can’t carry over into when it matters time. On the down side, I don’t know what Ozzie plans to do for a leadoff hitter. Alexei Ramirez (or “The Cuban B.B. Gun” as Guillen insists on calling him), meanwhile looks to be our Chone Figgins, basically being plugged into whatever position needs a rest, probably spending most of his time swapping CF time with Anderson.

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But we need a lead-off guy. Jerry Owens has had a quality spring, can cover plenty of ground in center, and is sure to burn up the basepaths a bit. I have no idea what the decision will be on this, though I think I lean in the direction of Owens, just hate to see Anderson not get another shot. No leadoff hitter. No wins.

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Carlos Quentin got pulled because of a shoulder. Jerry Owens of course missed that time with a groin, and now is missing more games, which worries me greatly (see end of season ’05 Podsednik). Smoke and mirrors really piss me off. I guess it really is only spring training and I should just let it go.

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Jerry Owens seems to think that not only is he going to earn himself the starting center fielder spot but he is going to steal 65 bases. Sound ridiculous? Not too ridiculous. He has increased his total every year through the minors: 30, 38, 40, and had a combined 56 last year between Charlotte and the Sox. Scotty Pods had 59 in 05 so if the kid even comes close to his goal that means we’ve got that whole lead off problem taken care of. That also means, without him saying as much, that he’s got to hit a lot higher than the .267 he gave us last year. For the fantasy folks this might be a good sleeper pick. I’m sure he’ll be around pretty late.

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500th Home Run ball? Let's start from the top of the order.
     With Jerry Owens coming off a .267 average with 32 stolen bags and a .324 OBP, he seems to be the front runner in my mind for the Sox leadoff man. Don't be surprised if defector Alexei Ramirez raises some eyebrows this March. Second base is a 3-way race between the aforementioned Ramirez, Danny Richar, and the almost perfect posterior Juan Uribe. I hope and pray everyday that Kenny Williams makes a move and ends Uribe's tenure with the Sox. He has made his contributions, especially in 2005, but really Juan, "Thanks, but no thanks." Danny Richar has too much potential to be sent down to AAA, and Ramirez's versatility in the field has him winning a bench job over Uribe. 3rd base? Josh Fields. Enough said. I love Joe Crede but he has played his last regular season game with Sox. I see him looking healthy and being dealt before the season opener. Maybe to the revamped NL West? With 2 rotation spots open, you can almost guarantee John Danks getting one of them with Gavin Floyd, Lance Broadway and others competing. I think it will be Floyd, but if he continues his struggles at the ML level, then I hope to see Broadway called up sooner than later. I'm not sure if it was his stellar performance against the Royals last September, or if I have a tiny man-crush on him, but I think he is the future of the Sox starters. And as for Mr. Incredible, "Stay positive," you and Chuck (his dad) will make your long-awaited trip to the Hall of Fame sometime soon. Congrats Jim, you deserve it.

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