Roster Moves

Well, cell phones work from Indiana, which is always good news.  Clare called yesterday afternoon to tell me the White Sox sent Jordan Danks back to the minors.  An above average outfielder who might hit fifteen homeruns if someone gave him 500 at-bats, Danks and players like him are all but non-existent on big-league rosters.  Thank you, Tony La Russa.

Once upon a time, teams carried players who could come off the bench to play late-inning defense, pinch hit and/or pinch run.  This was in the era of ten-man pitching staffs.  Then along came La Russa with his lefty-lefty, righty-righty matchups.  Something has to give on a 25-player roster, and it ended up being the jack-of-all-trades like Jordan Danks.  But, hey, this weekend the Sox will have a Tony La Russa bobblehead giveaway.

With luck, before long a team will make news by going back to the future with a ten-pitcher staff and six-player bench.  After some manager steals a few wins with his extra bench players, the competition will look to copy his success.  And the legacy of Tony La Russa will undergo a downsizing that has been too long in coming.