Help for the foundering White Sox won’t be coming from the minor leagues, manager Ozzie Guillen said.
“To this point — June 13 — no, I don’t think so,” Guillen said Wednesday. “Of course they will be [promoted eventually]; they have the talent.
“But right now, I don’t think they’re ready. I think they will be maybe in a couple of months, maybe the next couple of weeks. [Josh] Fields and [Jerry] Owens, the ones we have here …
“It’s not easy to play at this level, play in Chicago. You can play at this level when you have a young team, [but] we are trying to win. It’s hard for them when we struggle and they come here. Hopefully the next couple of months we find out what we have because, do I think those kids have unbelievable talent? Yes.”
So far, 2006 Opening Day center fielder Brian Anderson batted .118 as a backup and was demoted to Triple-A Charlotte. Outfielder Ryan Sweeney returned to Charlotte after hitting .200 in a three-week stint. Owens (.200) faces scrutiny with Darin Erstad about to return from the disabled list, possibly as soon as Friday.
Andy Gonzalez is batting .214 but has helped the Sox with his versatility.
Guillen believes a full year at Triple A can only help their development. But Guillen, a staunch supporter of winter ball, said he no longer would try to influence players to play in Latin America — even in his native Venezuela — to get more at-bats.
“If you don’t want to go, don’t push it,” Guillen said. “When you don’t want to do something and all of a sudden you’re doing it, you’re not going to do it 100 percent, and you’re hurting a lot of people.”
Late last October, a philosophical disagreement between the Sox and LaGuaira of the Venezuelan League led to the firing of manager Razor Shines and the early departure of Anderson, Fields, Sweeney, Sean Tracey, Heath Phillips and Boone Logan. Owens, who got into trouble with then-Sharks manager Joey Cora for leaving LaGuaira in mid-December after batting .356, went to Scottsdale and hit .310 in the Arizona Fall League.
“Obviously, when you get more at-bats and you have more experience, you play a little bit more,” Guillen said. “The more at-bats you get, the more experience, the more maturity … That’s why I always say winter ball is good.”
The Sox completed a trade with Texas last December after Nick Masset had 15 saves with a 2.61 ERA for Mazatlan of the Mexican Pacific League.
