According to general manager Ken Williams, Cuban rookie Alexei Ramirez will not make the trip to Toronto because of visa problems that would make it all but impossible for him to return to the United States.
That means a roster move will be announced on Thursday's off day, with the club having to decide what it will need most for the four-game series against the Blue Jays. What the White Sox do have are options.
They could send a reliever down, calling up another pitcher such as Adam Russell for the bullpen, while Ramirez goes back to Chicago for the next four games. Or they could finally opt to call up Jerry Owens.
A source told the Sun-Times that Owens' name had been coming up frequently the last few days in meetings, and Williams confirmed that before the series finale with the Twins. Basically, Williams has put the decision about Owens on manager Ozzie Guillen.
The plan for the first month of the season had been an offense with high on-base-percentage guys at the top, and the sluggers behind them, but Williams built this team to also be able to play the game the other way. That's why he's leaving it up to Guillen right now.
"What I like about this team is we have the ability to go small-ball, go with more speed," Williams said. "I feel good that Ozzie is provided with that option. Ozzie only needs to give me the nod and we can give him that type of team without having to go outside the organization."
TWINS 4, WHITE SOX 3: The latest pitcher to make life difficult on the Sox was Minnesota starter Nick Blackburn (2-1), who went seven innings Wednesday, allowing three runs on eight hits. Not to be outdone, Nick Masset gave the Sox four innings out of the bullpen as the spot starter, leaving the game with three runs on his pitching line in the no-decision.
The trouble came in the seventh inning, when Justin Morneau broke the tie open with an RBI double off Boone Logan. The Twins bullpen then locked it down, sending the Sox north to Canada with nothing to show for the start of this six-game road trip.
Two of the four runs they scored in the two-game sweep by the Twins (13-14) came on solo home runs. The formula they had been using through the early part of the season was get on base by any means possible, then let the big boys do the damage. That was a big reason they are second in the American League in runs per game (4.96), trailing only the Tigers (5.07).
