Comings and Going

The White Sox announced their spring-training invites yesterday, with first baseman Tim Elko among them. How odd and decent. If Elko had managed fifteen homeruns in 200 or so at-bats last season, he’d be going into camp as the odds-on starter and Munetaka Murakami never would’ve been signed, but that didn’t happen. Instead, Elko struck out too much and suffered a torn ACL at the end of the season and was DFA’d in November. The Sox very quietly signed him to a minor-league contract in December and made the invite public yesterday. The odds of the 27-year old making the team range between slim and none, with none having the inside track, and that’s even assuming he’s healthy enough to play. My guess is he gets sent to Triple-A Charlotte with a chance to put up numbers that could interest a team like the Rockies. Oh, could the big guy launch some moon shots at Coors Field. The Sox also announced they were DFAing third baseman Bryan Ramos. If GM Chris Getz seemed reluctant to give Elko much of a chance, he looked downright intent on burying Ramos. What the 24-year old ever did to deserve such treatment is beyond me. All I know is that I watched him pass out U.S. flags during a pregame naturalization ceremony in 2024, and acted like a kid on Christmas morning. Two months later, Ramos did in fact become a U.S. citizen. I just checked, and the Rockies are thin at the corners. There are two guys who tried their best for the Sox and deserve a second chance somewhere. Why not Colorado?