Following the loss to Oakland on Monday, Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said that Jim Thome will not be in the starting lineup on Tuesday.
But Guillen said it had nothing to do with the slugger’s 0-for-4 performance in Monday’s 2-1 loss. The plan before the start of the series with Oakland was to rest Thome a day, especially with a day game after a night game.
“I already talked to him and he’s not going to play [Tuesday],’’ Guillen said. “Give him one day off so he can rest mentally and physically.’’
Dumping Thomas for Thome was not a good move. It can be argued that Thome is a better citizen but he's definitely not a better DH.
Cost-wise Thome's DL stints make Thomas the better buy as well. Risk-wise Thome & Thomas were about even for the 2006 season.
As Thomas sets his sights on 600 HR, this will no doubt go down as one of Kenny's worst moves.
The best the Sox can do now is shuffle the lineup: Swish-Cab-Dye-Koney-Thome-Crede-AJ-Quentin-Uribe. When Owens returns, sit Thome, move Koney to DH, & play Swish at 1B.