Nothing Personal

White Sox top prospect Luis Robert has been promoted to Triple-A Charlotte, and that’s a good thing, except where it’s not.

The 21-year old center fielder is on a tear, hitting a combined .349 in high-A and Double-A, with 16 homerun and 53 RBIs.  What’s not to like about a player with 29 stolen bases and a .401 OBP?  Too bad it likely means the end for one or both of my favorite Sox players the last two seasons.

Adam Engel, demoted to Triple-A around six weeks ago, will have to yield his spot in center; he’ll either be made to play the corners or moved.  Daniel Palka, fresh off a 0-for-10 second chance with the big club, will either share time with Engel or be moved.  This is when sports stops being fun.

It’s at a point where both players would be better off with other organizations.  The problem with Engel is he can’t hit major-league pitching, as evidenced by his career .207 BA over three seasons.  Something else is going on with Palka, who is a godawful 1 for 45 on the season after hitting 27 homeruns as a rookie last year.

Young Daniel may be his own worst enemy, not a jerk but as my daughter calls him a “goof ball,” if in the best sense of the term.  He put up great numbers in the minors for the Diamondbacks and Twins, yet never got a chance with them.  He hit those 27 homers last year with the Sox, yet gets sent to the minors twice.  All I can see is that Palka has a droll sense of humor that may rub important people the wrong way.  It also doesn’t help to go 1 for 45.

Lucky for Palka he’s a left-handed hitter with power.  His role model should be Matt Stairs, whose career didn’t take off until he was 28.  Stairs managed to play 19 seasons, during which he hit 265 homers.  That be you, Daniel, should you put your mind to it.