White Sox bring back Podsednik with minor-league deal
Why
The White Sox reunion tour will finish up in Detroit this afternoon, before making stops at Tampa Bay and then Baltimore. By then, maybe they will have tracked down the likes of Mike Caruso, Carl "The Truth-osaurus" Everett and Dustin Hermanson, bringing them back in the mix, as well. Considering no one thought they ever would see Jerry Owens or Scott Podsednik back in a Sox uniform, why not? One day after announcing that Owens would take the roster vacancy left when Dewayne Wise suffered a Grade 3 right-shoulder separation in the 10-6 win over Detroit, the club said Tuesday that 2005 hero Scott Podsednik was signed to a minor-league deal with Class AAA Charlotte, where he will play center field. In other words, he is the insurance policy. "It's something to back up something here if it goes wrong or if it doesn't go the way we want to," manager Ozzie Guillen said of the Podsednik move. "Wise is going to be out for a little while, but hopefully the guys we put there are playing well. I think it's a good acquisition. He's going to play center field there in case we need him up here. It's good news. I think a lot of his teammates wanted it. A couple of guys came to me and said that right away. We'll see what happens." As for the immediate future, Brian Anderson becomes the everyday starter in center field, at least until he shows the club he can or cannot handle it. "I don't know how much [Owens] is going to play," Guillen said. "Brian Anderson will dictate how much he's going to play. The leash [for Anderson], I don't want to say it's short or it's long. I want to see how many good at-bats he's going to give me." And it sounds like he will get his share. Guillen said that Grade 3 separation puts Wise on the shelf until at least June. "It's unfortunate because this guy plays so hard and made the team out of spring training," Guillen said of Wise. "He struggled and then all of a sudden everything went back to normal and this happens." Before Tuesday's game was postponed, Anderson was in the nine-hole of the starting lineup, and Owens was on the bench. Considering where Owens was just a few weeks ago — seemingly on his way out of baseball — the once-promising prospect wasn't going to complain. Owens was waived by the Sox the last week of spring camp, and then leanred that no other team wanted him, clearing waivers. His only option was back to Charlotte or back home. He chose the first, and is now considering the entire ordeal "a blessing." "I just think, honestly, mentally, getting taken off the roster and getting sent to Charlotte was a blessing for me because you can get comfortable on the 40-man — you're a prospect, you're going to be playing every day and sometimes you take it for granted," Owens said. "I think I lost sight of what I bring to the table as far as being a leadoff hitter and an igniter. Just in the past 10-12 days, I've been able to sit back and realize what I have to offer to the Chicago White Sox. "I got to get my butt in gear and pick it up and it put things in perspective from me as to what do I want out of this game. Do I want to fall by the wayside? Do I want to turn it on and make a go of it?" The Sox are hoping that it's more than just talk coming from Owens. "A lot of people take this stuff for granted and they don't get serious until they take it away from them," Guillen said. "I don't see anybody get more opportunities than him to be on the big-league club. Now, when we play him, he needs to take advantage. We've been counting on him for the last three years to be the everyday center fielder and he couldn't make it. Now is the time to show what he can do."
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References:
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/1526041,http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/14/scott-podsednik-signs-min_n_186811.html,http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2009/04/14/scott-podsednik-back-to-white-sox/
