Posts tagged AlexeiRamirez at FanHouse

If you are tired of hearing rumors -- whether real or conjectured -- of Brian Roberts being traded to the Cubs, you may take a deep breath. We're here to bring you another Roberts-to-Chicago scenario, but this time he is being tied to the White Sox.

Roch Kubatko of the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network reported on Friday night that the White Sox have made the latest attempt to nab Roberts ... Kubatko wrote that the teams have talked about a deal that would send right-hander Gavin Floyd to Baltimore. The issue, according to the report, is that the Orioles want more.

At first glance, the move would seem to make sense for the White Sox. They are shifting Alexei Ramirez to shortstop after letting Orlando Cabrera walk in free agency. They don't have any really great options to immediately step into second base.

On the flip-side, 22-year-old Gordon Beckham -- the White Sox first round draft pick this past year -- is a star in the making and will possibly be ready as early as June to take over second base for the Sox.

The White Sox caught lightning in a bottle with "The Cuban Missile," Alexei Ramirez last season. The 27 year-old Cuban import finished second in the American League rookie of the year race in 2008, so the White Sox are trying to strike gold again for 2009.

Kenny Williams has reported inked Dayan Viciedo to a contract worth a total of $11 million. He's only 19 years old, but was an All-Star in Cuba when he was only 16. According to the report, there is some debate on whether or not Viciedo is currently major league-ready. There is no debating the prodigious power of the young Cuban.

For the White Sox, spending this type of dough on a young third baseman is a sign they aren't fully convinced that Josh Fields is the future. He took a huge step backwards in 2008 after hitting 23 home runs with the big club in the previous season. Since he's still only going to be 26, I'll guess the Sox enter the season with him as the starter in the hot corner, while Vicideo adapts to the United States in the minors. Should Fields falter, the Sox would then have the option to make the change during the season or wait until next season.

Either way, the potential of Viciedo, if scouting reports are accurate, is enough to make White Sox fans love this acquisition.

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2009.

The White Sox enter this offseason at once pleased with the way 2008 ended and also wondering what might have been. And sure, you can say that for any team that makes the playoffs and falls short of the ulimate prize, but it's particularly so for the Pale Hose, who lost their best hitter by a country mile, Carlos Quentin, for the season in early September.

Would things have gone differently had Quentin been in Chicago's lineup for the ALDS? We'll never know. What we do know is that the South Siders aren't about to rest on their laurels after winning the AL Central.

No one will ever accuse general manager Kenny Williams of being timid or cautious as he attempts to reshape his roster -- that's why many consider him one of the better executives in the game -- and he's already begun to do just that this winter.

The least dramatic unveiling of the MLB awards happened a few minutes ago. Everyone -- well, almost everyone -- knew the top AL Rookie was Evan Longoria and the top NL Rookie was Geovany Soto.

Each player had a major hand in taking his respective team to the postseason, combining a power bat with solid defense.

Longoria was a unanimous selection in the AL, while Soto garnered all but one first place vote in the NL. Yeah, seriously, some clown voted for Joey Votto over Soto. While you can argue that Votto's stats were right on par -- if not better -- than Soto's, there's no other real rationale for the vote. First base, by nature, is an offensive position. Catcher is a defensive position. Soto played above average defense behind the dish while putting up nearly identical offensive numbers to Votto, a first baseman. The choice should have been easy for everyone.

The closest competition in the AL, if you can even call it that, for Longoria was Alexei Ramirez. He's a nice player, but Longoria's numbers, defense, and presence in the lineup overshadow the White Sox rookie.

Last winter Kenny Williams and the Chicago White Sox signed a relatively unknown -- in the States, anyway -- infielder from Cuba named Alexei Ramirez. While most White Sox fans had absolutely no knowledge of the skinny import, Kenny insisted that the kid was the real deal and that he'd play in Chicago for years to come. Kenny knew what he was talking about, as Alexei hit .290 with 21 homers and 77 RBI in his first season in the Majors, and it looks like the Sox have a superstar on their hands.

Now what Kenny Williams wants to know is if he can strike gold in Cuba again. In June we told you about Cuban third baseman Dayan Viciedo after he defected from Cuba to America. Viciedo is the considered the best player the Cubans have had in a very long time, and MLB just gave teams permission to start talking to him. Though they may be wasting their time, because even Viciedo's agent says the White Sox have the inside track.

''[The Sox] have shown a lot of interest,'' [Viciedo's agent Jaime] Torres said. ''It seems they have done a lot of research. To be honest, they do have an edge having Alexei and Jose. If I were to tell you they didn't, I would be lying. They are an organization that got Alexei and are very happy. Chicago is a very attractive place.''

Torres is also the agent of Ramirez and Jose Contreras.

Bringing in Viciedo would make sense for the White Sox because they're moving on from the Joe Crede era at third base, and though Josh Fields is expected to take over in 2009, having competition around is never a bad thing. It seems far fetched that Viciedo would be ready to contribute this season for anybody, not just the White Sox, but the Sox felt that way about Ramirez as well.

He's only 19, but he did hit .337 with 14 homers for the Cuban National team at the age of 16, so maybe it isn't that crazy.

Every four years, Major League Baseball's postseason intersects with a presidential election. This is one of those years. In the spirit of the season, we here at MLB FanHouse have divided the playoff teams up for a series of debates. Tom Fornelli and Eamonn Brennan discuss the ALDS between the Rays and White Sox.

Eamonn and I took a look at this series and broke it down into six key areas: Starting rotation, Bullpen, Defense, Lineup, Bench, and Manager. Then for good measure we throw in our five-star lock of the week predictions, because we're psychic mediums in our spare time.

All of the debating goodness after the jump.

This is going to be our last Dugout for Fanhouse. We've enjoyed the experience tremendously, but we can't associate ourselves with these lowly bloggers for even one more minute while the true writers - nay, artists at MLB.com continue to fill our read-holes with poignant, topical editorial pieces like Mark Newman's Baseball a salvation in tough times.

I thought baseball was a game, but it turns out that it is a triumvirate of spiritual metaphor-men who have orchestrated a deep and lasting afterlife for us when we die, assuming that during our lifetime we have accepted Major League Baseball as our savior and believe it died on the Polo Grounds for our sins.

My first article there will be entitled: "Baseball Cured My Diabetes." It will largely accuse the Cleveland Indians of changing the biological makeup of my bloodstream.

The last Dugout ever is after the jump. Thanks fellas, it's been a trip!

The Chicago White Sox are barely managing to hang on to their one-game lead over the Minnesota Twins thanks to a recent rash of injuries, but as is often the case with the White Sox, all anybody wants to do is talk about their manager. That's why The Sporting News recently sat down to do an interview with Ozzie Guillen, and as you'd expect, Ozzie spoke his mind.

Ozzie's answered questions on Lou Piniella, the Chicago Cubs, his team, and just about anything he was asked. He also made sure to fill the pages with plenty of expletives as he is wont to do, and here are some of the highlights courtesy of the Daily Herald.

- Ozzie on the best manager in Chicago: "Me. Because our division is hard. Maybe all the people in the National League will be all mad, but I will trade (for a) National League Central (schedule) in a heartbeat. I will take that with my eyes closed."
- On media treatment toward the Cubs: "If (Carlos) Quentin was playing for the Cubs, he'd already be MVP. If (Alexei) Ramirez was with the Cubs, he would be National League Rookie of the Year. They talk about (Cubs rookie Kosuke) Fukudome more than they talk about Ramirez."

He's one of the most hated players around the league, and I understand the the thought process behind every fan that boos him when he steps to the plate or is introduced to the crowd. He is A.J. Pierzynski and he may have just saved the White Sox season on Sunday afternoon.

The Sox were on the verge of being swept at home for the first time this season and possibly falling even further behind the Twins when some heads up thinking by Pierzynski saved the day. After Paul Konerko singled home Brian Anderson with two outs in the ninth inning and sent the game into extra innings, A.J. led off the bottom of the tenth with a single.

That's when the odyssey of A.J. began. First he showed once again that he's the smartest base runner the White Sox have by tagging up from first on a deep fly to center by Carlos Quentin, and getting into scoring position with one out. Then a few seconds later he became the dumbest base runner in the world when he took off for third on a Jermaine Dye grounder to short.

A.J. was quickly caught in a rundown when the gears in his brain began grinding. There's no way a slow-footed catcher was going to be able to outrun a bunch of middle infielders, so he needed a new plan.

I have to admit, when I first saw Alexei Ramirez in a White Sox uniform, I thought the Sox had broken new ground by scouting for baseball talent in Ethiopia. The kid was so skinny that even Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen thought he was bulimic. Well, as it turns out, the Cuban import has been a fantastic addition to the White Sox this season.

I've already begun my Carlos Quentin for MVP campaign here on FanHouse, so I don't want to litter the place with more "The White Sox rule!" posts, but I have to say, Alexei deserves some recognition for A.L. Rookie of the Year. I wouldn't have said this a few weeks ago, but now with Evan Longoria on the disabled list, there's a chance Alexei could change a few minds.

Not that he cares. He's just honored to be playing here.

"It really feels like a dream right now that I don't want to wake up from," said Ramirez, who played for several national teams and for Pinar Del Rio in his native Cuba before this season.

"In certain lineups, [Griffey] has been hitting behind me, and it's an absolute honor to be in the same lineup."