Alexei takes a seat

The Sox have sort of fallen out of the public eye a bit recently, and rightfully so. I think the Bulls and 'Hawks have done enough to earn our attention. Maybe it's a good thing we forgot about the Sox: before last night's rain-out, they had dropped their last four (all on the road), which included a deflating come-from-behind win by the Royals on Tuesday.

Ozzie Guillen has seen enough and he's ready to make changes. That means Alexei Ramirez - and his lovely .255 OBP - are heading to the bench in favor of Jayson Nix.

It's easy to sit here and criticize the move for being premature. Most Latin players seem to be slow starters in cold weather cities, and now that it's getting warmer, Alexei should start to get more hits. His flaws are well documented - he has never seen a pitch he didn't like - but that's just the type of hitter he is. You don't walk your way off the island, remember. You swing as hard as you can at every pitch and hope your bat takes you there.

But I think Ozzie Guillen is a smarter baseball man than most of the national guys give him credit for. Everyone identifies him with the bunt-steal-sacrifice style that was deemed 'Ozzie Ball' in 2005, but don't forget he also put Nick Swisher - a slow, low batting average, high walk rate guy - atop his order to begin 2008. The move didn't work, Swisher was terrible, but it showed that Ozzie may not live by the SPEED KILLS mantra that everyone suspected. Example B in this case is Jerry Owens, the speedster who Ozzie bashed mercilessly and never even gave real at-bats to in the majors because he never earned them in the minors or in Spring Training.

So I'm willing to give Ozzie the benefit of the doubt on this one, assuming Alexei is back on the field regularly in a week or two. I'm also kind of excited to see what Nix can bring to the table.

Here's BP's scouting report on Nix from January 2008, when they rated him as the 10th best prospect in the Rockies' system.

10. Jayson Nix, 2B
DOB: 8/26/82
Height/Weight: 5-11/185
Bats/Throws: R/R
Drafted: 1^st round, 2001, Midland HS
2007 Stats: .292/.342/.451 at Triple-A (124 G)

Year In Review: Formerly a well-regarded prospect, Nix put himself back on the radar with a solid showing at Triple-A, which came at the perfect time considering the departure of Kaz Matsui after the season.

The Good: Nix is a solid all-around talent with plus speed and gap power at the plate who has worked hard to tone down his swing to cut down on his strikeouts. He's a superb defensive second baseman with fantastic hands, the ability to run down balls in the hole, and a silky-smooth turn on the double play.

The Bad: At 25, Nix has little projection left in him, and he will likely never be a star. His approach remains aggressive, and his offensive value depends more around his hitting ability than his ability to get on base.

Doesn't sound too bad to me. And from the few at-bats I've seen of his this year, he looks like a 'professional hitter', not unlike Chris Getz, who has been nothing but solid through one month so far. 

I don't think Alexei Ramirez's 2008 was a fluke. It wasn't solely a byproduct of no one in the league having tape or a scouting report on him. He looks like a true hitter .300 hitter to me. But maybe a week or so on the bench will do him some good. When he returns, the weather will be warmer, and maybe we'll start seeing the line-drive machine he proved himself to be as a rookie again. 

And maybe the Sox have something in Nix. Cheat already urged the Sox to give him a shot at center. If he can hit, why not? Hopefully this all becomes a moot point though once Brian Anderson returns, but it's still a nice option to have.

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Congrats to everyone at Top Ten on list number three hundo. Tons of exciting TTCS news coming next week, so stay tuned. 

UPDATE

- Wait, woah, what?