• Not a Wise choice in CF for White Sox

  • By Rob Neyer | March 31, 2009 1:19:02 PM PDT
Last week I wrote about the White Sox's lovely center-field options. Today, Mark Gonzales reports that the Sox have made their choice:
    Corky Miller's throwing abilities earned him the backup catching duties over an improved Donny Lucy. And Dewayne Wise pulled away to win the majority of the leadoff and center-field duties from Jerry Owens, who has been placed on waivers and could be sent to Triple-A Charlotte as soon as Wednesday. Wise said manager Ozzie Guillen "told me he was proud of the way I played this spring, and best of luck to me. He said for the start of the season he was going to put me there, see what happens. If I swung the bat well, I would probably stay there. If not, he may go with a guy like [Chris] Getz. But he told me it was my job to start off." This caps a remarkable ascent for Wise, who started the 2008 season at Charlotte and cleared waivers after a brief promotion in late May, only to return three weeks later and give the offense a spark. "This is a great feeling," Wise said. "This is something I wanted my whole career. "Now at 31 I get the opportunity. I just go out and have fun, do whatever it takes to help the team win." General manager Ken Williams said Brian Anderson "stunk on Day 1, but right around Day 20, he started to pick it up and turn it on. So now he's back to the point where he was finishing up last year, and he'll help [in center]."
Wow. In the hierarchy of horribles, giving Dewayne Wise an everyday job is right near the top. He's got more than 500 plate appearances in the majors and a .254 on-base percentage. He did play exceptionally well in Triple-A last season, posting a .319/.402/.565 line in 55 International League games. But Wise has been mixing good Triple-A seasons with lousy ones for a long time; his career line at that level is .256/.308/.440. Obviously, unless Wise has a really, really good excuse for his Triple-A performance, he's not likely to manage even a .300 on-base percentage in the American League. As I wrote last week, Ozzie Guillen was not gifted with any viable options for center field this spring, and that's on Ken Williams. But just because Guillen has to choose from a list of unqualified players doesn't mean he has to stick a sub-.300 OBP at the tippy-top of his batting order. I'm not going to argue that the White Sox can't win without getting anything from their center fielder. But it sure seems like an odd way to start the season.

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