Not unless the former first-round pick makes a serious commitment to improving his defense this winter.

"Right now, I don't know what way we're going to go," Guillen said. "If we go with kids, then (Fields) will be the third baseman. If we say no, we got this guy signed, we got to win, (Fields has) got to be better. He has to.

"Unfortunately for him, his manager believes in defense. I think defense is a big part of baseball, and people don't realize that. ... If you play good defense, your pitching staff will be better. I don't know who came up with the idea your offense is going to win. Not in the American League. If you don't catch the ball in this league, I don't care how good your offense is in this league, it will catch up to you."

Guillen made it a point to make sure that bench coach Joey Cora played drill sergeant with Fields during spring camp, getting him on the back fields for early-morning extra work, and Fields actually had the staff feeling that his defense had reached major league ability.

But somewhere along the way this season he regressed, and Guillen wants that addressed this winter.

"He's got to get better on defense," Guillen said. "If he wants to play on a winning team, you have to play defense."

WHITE SOX 4, INDIANS 2: Making his first start of the year in the No. 5 hole of the Sox lineup, rookie Alexei Ramirez continued his Rookie of the Year campaign push, hitting his 16th home run of the season in the sixth inning. He is now hitting .306.

Ramirez's shot proved to be huge, as was the performance of RHP Javier Vazquez. Vazquez went six innings, allowing just two runs on five hits while fanning five, and he also had a no-hitter going until the fifth.