Wheat and Chaff

The White Sox beat the Tigers by a score of 8-1 last night, leaving me to wonder, yet again, how the Brewers left starter Shane Smith unprotected in last winter’s Rule Five draft. The 25-year old righty went 5.1 scoreless innings for his second victory of the season. Two wins all year may not seem like much, but considering the White Sox have won a mere nineteen games so far this season, it’s something. Smith has started twelve times, going 2-3 with a 2.45 ERA in 62.1 innings and a 1.14 WHIP. Those numbers add up to a “keeper” in my book. But not Austin Slater or Michael A. Taylor. Yes, a combined three hits and six RBIs are nice, but Slater is 32 and Taylor 34. Why are they playing if it’s a rebuild? Two reasons, starting with the organization lacking outfield talent worth taking a look at. Considering that both Andrew Vaughn and Gavin Sheets saw action in left and right, respectively, this is a problem that’s gone on way too long. At the very least, GM Chris Getz could play prospects Kyle Teel or Tim Elko in left, but that would take something approaching guts. In which this organization is lacking, which gives us reason #2. Oh, well.