Revised Opinions and Goodbyes

I haven’t been the biggest Miguel Vargas fan, but after last night, that may change. Ditto Tim Elko in the opposite direction. Vargas went 3-for-4 in Houston with two doubles and a triple in a 4-3 White Sox loss to the Astros. The triple and a double came against Framber Valdez, who on the whole had himself a pretty good night with twelve strikeouts in five innings of work. So, Vargas got it done along with rookie Edgar Quero, who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Talk about having a plan. Twice, Quero went to the opposite field to drive in a run. Quero, all of 22, seems to know what he’s doing. Elko, not so much. Last night, he struck out three more times. On the season, he’s fanned 24 times in 58 at-bats, and fourteen times in his last 23. Throw in a .155 BA, and we have a problem at first base. And it’s one where Andrew Vaughn won’t be part of the solution. GM Chris Getz traded Vaughn this morning to the Brewers in exchange for starter Aaron Civale. On the upside, that should cut down on the Sox using an “opener” once every five games. But who’s on first? It may as well be Elko for the next three games in Houston, if only to see how the exit of Vaughn affects him. Either he puts up some nice numbers over the weekend, or off to Charlotte he goes. The logical step would be to switch Vargas to first for the rest of the season and see what Bryan Ramos can do at third. And, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, add Brooks Baldwin—who hit his seventh homerun for Charlotte last night—to the mix. I really don’t need to see another three-strikeout performance from Joshua Palacios to know that he can’t hit. Baldwin can play the outfield or infield. Going in rebuild mode doesn’t mean having to lose all the time. Baldwin offers a chance at the occasional win.