Centerfield Gap

Ken Williams and the Chicago White Sox placed a lot of faith in Brian Anderson this season. With the trade of Aaron Rowand to the Philadelphia Phillies, the Sox basically gave the job to the unproven former first round pick from the University of Arizona.

Anderson has not lived up to his promise.

Defensively, Anderson has been everything that Rowand was and more. He's the type of centerfielder that will probably never win a Gold Glove because he's too good. What I mean is he makes every play look easy.

A line drive into the gap - the kind most centerfielders would need to make a diving catch on - Brian reaches on the run, if he's not standing there already. The jumps he gets on fly balls are amazing. Along with his fielding, he carries a rifle on his right shoulder that doubles as his throwing arm.

There is one rather large problem with Anderson, though. How he's performing at home plate.

Anderson's numbers as of today: .178, 4HR, 12RBI, .259OBP, 39K (Or 1 in every 3AB's).

He is completely lost at the dish. He swings at bad pitches and takes good pitches.

Ozzie Guillen and the Sox staff have done everything they can to help Anderson keep his confidence but it's gotten to the point where they may ruin him if they let him keep struggling here. Another week or two of looking horrible and Anderson may become convinced he just can't hit Major League pitching.

So in the last few days Guillen has come forward and said he's strongly considering sending Anderson down to AAA Charlotte. With a recent rash of injuries in the bullpen (Jeff Nelson and Cliff Politte) the Sox could use an extra arm.

The problem with demoting Anderson is that the Sox don't have a backup plan. It was a risk that Ken Williams gambled on in the offseason and now it looks like it could be a losing one. Rob Mackowiak has platooned in center with Anderson, but he has misplayed quite a few balls out there that cost the Sox runs. It's hard to be mad at Mackowiak though because it's not like he's ever once claimed he was a centerfielder. In reality he's a utility infielder who can play the corner outfield spots occasionally. Mack is very valuable to the team coming off the bench but the team is weaker when he's playing everyday.

So the best bet at filling their hole in centerfield is via a trade. But who can the Sox get to play it? Well there have been a lot of rumors swirling around on sports radio and in the papers. Here's a list of possibilities and my take on what's most likely.

PUT DOWN THE PIPE

• Torii Hunter-The Minnesota Twins are shopping their superstar centerfielder - he's a free agent after the season and they don't think they will be able to re-sign him. There's talk they'd consider trading him to a team in the AL Central if the offer's right. While I absolutely love the idea of seeing Hunter rob home runs of other teams instead of ours, I don't see this happening. First of all, the asking price will be high; the Twins don't want to risk having Hunter play for the Sox without getting something for it. So would it be smart for the Sox to give up some big prospects for a player they may only have for a few months? If they intended to sign Hunter to a long term deal then they would probably have to include Anderson in the deal. And signing Hunter could tie up a lot of the money the team will need to keep its pitching rotation intact; Williams and Guillen have made it clear they'd rather have pitchers than hitters. I would love to see Hunter in a Sox uniform, but realistically I just don't see it happening.
• Ken Griffey Jr.-It's the same rumor as last season but this time just more ludicrous, given that the Cincinatti Reds now sit alone atop the NL Central. Teams generally don't like to give up Hall of Famers when they are in a pennant race. I'll admit that a lineup that goes Thome-Konerko-Griffey-Dye is a wet dream. There's only about 1300 career home runs in that foursome.
• Aaron Rowand-I heard talk about the Sox getting Rowand back from the Phillies, but I see this as nothing more than wishful thinking for Sox fans. They just want their old favorite back. The Phillies aren't going to get rid of Rowand while they're still in the NL East race. Plus if they did make the trade with the Sox for some prospects they would have basically given us Thome for nothing, all while paying the majority of his salary. For some reason, teams just aren't willing to do that too often.

More Sensible

• Darin Erstad-Erstad is a 2 time Gold Glove winner, and the Angels have struggled so far this year. If the struggles continue, they'd probably be willing to listen to offers for the veteran. A couple negatives about getting Erstad are his age and the fact that he's on the DL right now and has been hurt a bit the last few seasons. Throw in the fact that he makes $8 million a year and that could be just a bit too pricey for an aging player past his prime. (Though in the Sox lineup he wouldn't be asked to do too much.)
• Joey Gathright- A good prospect. He's the fastest player in the Majors but as of now he's more of a track star than a baseball player. Speed doesn't help much when you're not getting on base, and Gathright's average(.200) isn't much of an improvement on Anderson. He does have a lot of potential but that's not what the Sox need at this point.
• Juan Pierre-The last time the Sox made a trade with the Cubs they sent middle reliever Matt Karchner to the north side for a young righthander named Jon Garland. Obviously, the Sox got the better end of that deal. The Cubs have made it known that they will shop Pierre who has been a bust thus far in his first season there. Pierre is a player that Ozzie Guillen knows and likes from his days coaching third base on the 2003 World Champion Florida Marlins team. Positives for Pierre would be if the Sox put him in the ninth spot of the order the back-to-back combination of Pierre-Podsednik could drive pitchers insane - and putting pressure on their opponent is something the Sox love to do. Pierre is also above average defensively, but he has a horrible arm.
• Carlos Lee-The slugging left fielder from Milwaukee is a free agent after the year, and the Brewers are not expected to re-sign him. He doesn't play centerfield, but if the Sox needed to they could move Scott Podsednik(oddly enough, the man the Sox traded Lee to the Brewers for) to centerfield where he played while in Milwaukee. Carlos Lee was a fan favorite in Chicago, and many fans would love to have him back. While his defense leaves something to be desired, his bat has a tendency to make a lot of noise. Would Lee mesh with Ozzie Guillen though? When Carlos was traded there were rumors that Ozzie didn't want Carlos on the team because he's a numbers first kind of guy. This is a deal Ken Williams may think about, but probably only as a last resort.

Who I Want

• Mark Kotsay-The Oakland Athletics centerfielder is one of the most underrated players in the game. He plays Gold Glove-caliber defense and is a career .285 hitter with above average power. The only problem is that Oakland seems to know I want Kotsay on the Sox cuz just yesterday they signed the potential free agent to a 3 year contract extension through 2008. Still if cost-conscience Oakland falls out of the AL West race they might still be willing to part with him if the offer is good enough.

A big problem facing the Sox is the fact that it's still early June. A lot of teams aren't willing to make deals now because they are just a win streak away from being right back in contention.

So honestly I have no idea what Ken Williams is going to do. I do know he'll do something. He's never been the type of guy to just sit back and wait. Especially since he created the predicament he's now in, he'll be twice as determined to fix his own mistake.

Brian Anderson will be starting tonight for the White Sox against Cliff Lee. The Indians' other lefty, CC Sabathia, will also be throwing in the weekend series. Odds are this is Anderson's last chance to stay on the ball club.

It's put up or sit down time.