Eaton to the DL along with a spate of odd roster moves

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Along with their announcement of their 2013-heavy Saturday lineup, the White Sox pushed across a slate of roster moves that varied between sad, odd, necessary or all three combined. The centerpiece being outfielder Adam Eaton going to the 15-day disabled list with a hamstring injury.

After Eaton pulled up lame running out a fairly disastrous inning-ending double play Friday night, he was pulled from the game and discussed in worried tones for the rest of Friday. In the post-game interviews, Eaton pretty much explained why management should put him on the shelf.

From Scott Merkin:

"It kind of started off [with] some small little irritation, and then it kind of felt a little more. You don't take anything serious in this game, especially with your body. You try to play through stuff, but that's what we were trying to do, and it kind of bit us in the butt. I don't know what other precautions we're going to take, DL or whatever."

The Sox become a lot less dynamic and a lot more dependent on Jordan Danks not embarrassing himself with Eaton gone. But taking their newly discovered leadoff man out of the cycle of pushing and re-aggravating his hamstring--albeit a different one from the last flareup--is paramount in a season more about building the foundation than doing anything with it. The important parts of what Eaton can do have been more or less established--take pitches, make contact, play defense--now having him healthy and in place when he's most needed is taking precedent over beating the Indians in May. As it should.

Seemingly corresponding to the outfield issue is the curious claiming of Moises Sierra, who was DFA'd by the Blue Jays on Thursday after a fascinatingly awful month of action: .059/.086/.145 in 35 plate appearances. Sierra, 25, has only seen scant major league action at any point, but seems to be a tweener in that he can't play center field, make consistent contact nor hit for huge power. 

One assumes the interest in Sierra lies in the BABIP-inflated .290/.369/.458 line he threw up in a little more than a month's worth of plate appearances last season, and that he would make a better full-time platoon partner for Alejandro De Aza than Danks would. He homered against the Sox on the night I proposed to my wife, so he'll always have that.

Since life with a single left-handed reliever has surely been hard on Robin Ventura, the White Sox also announced they're calling up Frank De Los Santos, who's had the chance to make just three appearances at Triple-A Charlotte since being promoted from Birmingham. Nothing about De Los Santos' numbers or profile suggest he's made a big step out of his org-arm history, and he could be overmatched even against a very strict MLB LOOGY workload. Yet if he records a single out, the Sox automatically win the Jesse Crain trade.

That's how it work.s, you know.

The Sox also will have to determine what pitcher they're getting rid of before De Los Santos reports. It's been real, Hector Noesi. (I hope).

Finally, in a depressing finale, Nate Jones was moved to the 60-Day DL, making him ineligible to see action before June 4. Since he hasn't pitched in a month and is reportedly still hobbling around, it doesn't looking like he'll be held waiting at the ready by that re-entry date.

Maybe Nate Jones isn't the first name thought of when discussing dominant relievers, but in case you haven't noticed, the Sox could really use someone who strikes out a batter per inning out of the bullpen right now.

 

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