Paul Konerko has been slumping all season long and the White Sox have decided that they have seen enough. Nick Swisher will be moving to 1B from CF with Ken Griffey Jr. coming to town. Konerko has played in 79 games for the White Sox this season and he is 63 for 295 (.214 avg, .661 OPS) with 34 runs scored, 9 homers and 35 RBIs. Konerko will likely lose a lot of playing time now as the White Sox don’t have a spot for him in the lineup unless someone gets hurt.

The Chicago White Sox have acquired 38-year old outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. from the Cincinnati Reds for 2B Danny Richar and reliever Nick Masset. Griffey played in 102 games this season for the Reds and he was 88 for 359 (.245 avg, .787 OPS) with 51 runs scored, 15 homers and 53 RBIs. The White Sox will likely start Griffey in center field with Nick Swisher moving to first base and Paul Konerko moving to the bench. Swisher has played in 105 games this season for the White Sox and he is 82 for 356 (.230 avg, .752 OPS) with 63 runs scored, 15 homers and 50 RBIs. Griffey should be an upgrade on Swisher defensively in center field despite the fact that he has been playing right field all season for the Reds. Griffey has now played in 2,480 games in his major league career and he is 2,646 for 9,185 (.288 avg, .922 OPS) with 1,596 runs scored, 608 homers, 1,754 RBIs and 184 stolen bases.

Danny Richar was going to likely be the White Sox starting 2B this season but he was injured this spring and never made it back to the bigs. He played in 62 games in AAA ball this season and he was 65 for 248 (.262 avg, .748 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 9 homers, 39 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. 26-year old righty Nick Masset was not the most effective reliever for the White Sox this season. He pitched in 32 games (1 start) for the White Sox this season and he was 1-0 with 1 save, a 4.63 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP.

Getting Griffey Jr. was worth the gamble for the White Sox who have really been upset with the play of 1B Paul Konerko who Griffey is essentially replacing. The White Sox won’t miss either Masset or Richar as they have better players than them on the current roster.

30-year old lefty swinging outfielder Dewayne Wise likely was getting one of his last chances this season with the White Sox. He had played in 183 major league games coming into this season and he was 68 for 339 (.201 avg, .598 OPS) with 45 runs scored, 9 homers, 32 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. Wise patiently played well at AAA waiting for a chance to show what he could do in the majors. When the call from the White Sox came to Wise he hit the ground running. Wise has played in 25 games for the White Sox this season and he is 15 for 50 (.300 avg, .821 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 2 homers, 5 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. He looks to stick with the White Sox the rest of the season if he keeps playing well.

The White Sox have placed righty reliever Scott Linebrink on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation. He has pitched in 42 games (0 starts) for the White Sox this season and he is 2-2 with 1 save, a 2.31 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. The White Sox have recalled righty reliever Ehren Wasserman. Wasserman was awful in his first chance with the White Sox this season as he pitched in 11 games (0 starts) and he was 0-1 with a 14.85 ERA and a 2.70 WHIP. Wasserman has been really effective in AAA ball this season so maybe he can turn his season around for the White Sox. Wasserman has pitched in 24 games (0 starts) in AAA ball this season and he is 1-0 with 7 saves, a 1.67 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP.

You knew it was just a matter of time until Joe Crede’s back started barking. He has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with back lumbar inflammation. Crede has played in 90 games this season for the White Sox and he is 79 for 310 (.255 avg, .797 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 17 homers and 54 RBIs. The White Sox have recalled Joe Fields from AAA ball to replace Crede on the roster and in the starting lineup. The 25-year old righty swinging Fields has played in 63 games in A+AAA ball this season and he is 58 for 231 (.251 avg, .788 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 9 homers, 31 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Fields has played in 111 games in his major league career and he is 94 for 393 (.239 avg, .785 OPS) with 58 runs scored, 24 homers and 69 RBIs. He has also whiffed 133 times in his career so far. The strikeouts will likely always keep his batting average down but it won’t likely ever hurt his power numbers. The White Sox were smart to have kept both Crede and Fields.

The White Sox activated Esteban Loaiza from the D.L. and then they released him. The Pale Hose weren’t happy with Loaiza since the day they signed him when he reported out of shape. He pitched in only 3 games (0 starts) with the White Sox this time around and he was 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. The White Sox might have been able to use Loaiza with Jose Contreras on the D.L. but they decided against it.

The White Sox have recalled 24-year old lefty starting pitcher Clayton Richard to replace Jose Contreras in the starting rotation. He will make his major league debut tomorrow. Richard was supposed to pitch on the Olympic team for the USA next month but his job comes first and that’s with the White Sox. Richard has started 19 games in AA+AAA ball this season and he is 12-6 with a 2.44 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP. He has only allowed 91 hits while walking only 20 batters in 121.2 innings pitched this season. It will be interesting to see how well Richard pitches as he was not a highly rated prospect coming into this season.

The Chicago White Sox have placed righty starting pitcher Jose Contreras on the 15-day disabled list with a case of right elbow tendinitis. He has started 19 games for the White Sox this season and he is 7-6 with a 4.60 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. Over his last 8 starts however, Contreras has been awful. In those 8 starts, Contreras is 2-3 with a 7.46 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP. Nick Masset will take over for Contreras in the rotation until he’s ready to return to action. Masset has pitched in 28 games (1 start) this season for the White Sox and he is 1-0 with 1 save, a 4.14 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP.

The White Sox spent a lot of money to improve the bullpen in front of closer Bobby Jenks and it has proven to be money well spent. Jenks has done his job as he is 2-0 with 18 saves, a 1.95 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP but Octavio Dotel and Scott Linebrink have been great too. Linebrink is 2-2 with 1 save, a 2.37 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP so far this season for the White Sox working mostly in the 8th inning. Octavio Dotel has also been solid this season for the White Sox. He is 3-4 with 1 save, a 2.98 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. Dotel has really been nasty as he has whiffed 60 batters in only 42.1 innings this season for the Pale Hose. He would probably close the next time Jenks is unavailable or injured. Matt Thornton is the top lefty in the bullpen and he also has wicked stuff. Thornton is 4-1 with 1 save, a 2.33 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP this season and he has whiffed 48 batters in only 38.2 innings which shows how tough he’s been on hitters. Lefty Boone Logan (2-2, 3.00 ERA) and Nick Masset (1-0, 1 save, 3.32 ERA) have been solid for the White Sox working early in games. No team can really match the White Sox bullpen top to bottom and that will serve them well the rest of the 2008 season.

The Chicago White Sox are 54-40 at the All-Star Break as they have one of the best all-around teams in all of baseball. But, the reason the offense has been so good for them is because of the power they have shown. The White Sox lead the American League with 129 homers as it is their main weapon on offense. Five players have at least 12 homers this season for the White Sox but Jermaine Dye and Carlos Quentin have really carried the offense this year. Jermaine Dye is hitting .306 with 56 runs scored, 21 homers and 56 RBIs this season for the White Sox and he’s very capable of having a huge second half this year. The White Sox pretty much stole Carlos Quentin from the D-Backs over the off-season as he’s been healthy and productive all season long. Quentin is hitting .276 with 62 runs scored, 22 homers and 70 RBIs this year for the White Sox. The biggest surprise this season has been the emergence of rookie Alexei Ramirez at 2B. Ramirez is hitting .312 with 31 runs scored, 7 homers, 29 RBIs and 7 stolen bases so far this season and he has shown no reason not to expect a huge second half out of him. Watch for the offense of the White Sox to really take off now with Paul Konerko back healthy.