Best-laid Plans

White Sox general manager Rick Hahn has a rebuilding plan he must be very proud of.  Hahn has traded veteran players for a bunch of highly touted prospects.  Hahn is in no rush to promote the new talent until it’s ready.  Yoan Moncada  is the first prospect deemed Hahn-ready.  One problem, though.  The Sox GM has failed to take into account what a threat starting pitcher James Shields is to the plan, and I mean that in the most literal sense.

After giving up six runs on eight hits in six innings against the Blue Jays last night, Shields has an ERA of 6.19.  More than being bad, Shields is downright dangerous.  In the first inning, he grooved a pitch to Josh Donaldson, who hit the ball just low enough to allow centerfielder Adam Engel to think he had a play.  Engel crashed into the fence as the ball went over.  For a second, I thought the rookie had broken his jaw, but luckily not.  Engel was able to stay in the game and make at least two “plus” catches that otherwise would’ve added to Shield’s hit total.

Then came the sixth inning, where Shields yielded three singles but no runs to a very slow Blue Jays’ team.  There were two out, which probably had right fielder Willy Garcia and second baseman Moncada thinking a catch of Darwin Barney’s flare to short right field would end the inning without any damage.  Indeed, Garcia made a diving catch, only to be clocked by Moncada’s knee; both players had to be helped off the field.  As with Adam Engel, it looks as though Garcia and Moncada escaped serious injury.  Center fielder Charlie Tilson should’ve been so lucky.

Tilson came up for his major-league debut with the Sox a year ago August 2^nd.  He singled in his first at-bat only to tear his hamstring going after a ball in the gap at Comerica Park.  Shields had already given up a single and two triples in the inning, so the rookie probably wanted to show what an asset he could be.  Tilson has not appeared in a game since the injury.

It would seem that the Sox can keep pitching James Shields or bring up prospects, but they can’t do both, not safely.