The White Sox have placed 30-year old righty reliever Brian Bruney on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to June 25th, due to left hip inflammation. Bruney pitched in 1 game for the White Sox this year earning a win by throwing a hitless, scoreless inning in which he whiffed 2 batters and walked 2 batters. Bruney has pitched in 24 games (0 starts) in his first two years with the Pale Hose and he is 2-0 with a 6.53 ERA and a 1.94 WHIP. This is a bad break for Bruney.

UPDATE: (8/15/2012) - The White Sox have lost Bruney for the rest of the 2012 season after undergoing surgery recently to repair a torn labrum in his left hip.

The White Sox have designated 34-year old lefty reliever Will Ohman for assignment. Ohman pitched in 33 games (0 starts) for the White Sox this year and he was 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. He pitched in 92 games (0 starts) for the White Sox in his two years with the team and he was 1-5 with a 5.09 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. The White Sox should deal Ohman, because there is no way that he will accept an outright assignment to AAA if he clears waivers. He is as good as gone.

UPDATE: (7/3/2012) - Will Ohman cleared waivers, so the White Sox released him. He won’t have too much of a problem finding a new job. That being said, the Pale Hose won’t miss him too much going forward.

The Chicago White Sox are 38-35 on the season, which has them in 1st place in the A.L. Central, 1/2 a game ahead of the Indians and 2 games ahead of the Tigers. The White Sox already made a big move in acquiring Kevin Youkilis earlier this week. They need to make a small move for a starting pitcher, who could also pitch in long relief later in the year when John Danks comes back off the D.L. They could also use a backup outfielder, who can handle more than one position. I know that the White Sox and Cubs don’t like dealing with each other, but it makes sense this time around. Outfielder Reed Johnson and righty starter/reliever Randy Wells can likely be had without giving up A or even B type prospects. The White Sox should try to make a deal like that happen.

The White Sox have acquired 33-year old righty swinging 3B Kevin Youkilis and a lot of cash from the Red Sox for 28-year old righty swinging 1F/OF Brent Lillibridge and 25-year old righty starter/reliever Zach Stewart. Youkilis played in 41 games for the Red Sox this year and he was 32 of 142 (.225 avg, .670 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 4 homers and 13 RBIs. He has now played in 952 games in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 959 for 3,348 (.286 avg, .874 OPS) with 594 runs scored, 133 homers, 563 RBIs and 26 stolen bases. Youkilis is a 3-time All-Star who also owns 1 Gold Glove. He is going to fit right in for the White Sox and he will fill their biggest need as Orlando Hudson and Brent Morel gave them no offense out of 3B this year.

Brent Lillibridge is versatilie in the field and he’s really fast, but he just can’t hit. He played in 49 games for the White Sox this year and he was 11 for 63 (.175 avg, .422 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 0 homers, 2 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Lillibridge played in 256 games in his four years with the Pale Hose and he was 96 for 442 (.217 avg, .653 OPS) with 76 runs scored, 15 homers, 50 RBIs and 28 stolen bases. Zach Stewart pitched in 18 games (1 start) for the White Sox this year and he was 1-2 with a 6.00 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. He gave up a stunning 10 homers in only 30 innings pitched for the White Sox this year! Stewart pitched in 28 games (9 starts) in his two years with the White Sox and he was 3-7 with a 6.14 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP.

I wonder if GM Kenny Williams had a ski mask on when he made this deal, because he stole Kevin Youkilis from the Red Sox.

The White Sox have designated 35-year old lefty swinging outfielder Kosuke Fukudome for assignment. Fukudome played in 24 games for the White Sox this year and he was 7 for 41 (.171 avg, .489 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 0 homers and 4 RBIs. He has now played in 596 games in his first five years in the majors and he is 498 of 1,929 (.258 avg, .754 OPS) with 264 runs scored, 42 homers, 195 RBIs and 29 stolen bases. Fukudome should hook on with another team this year, but he’s no big loss for the Pale Hose.

UPDATE: (6/26/2012) - The White Sox have released Kosuke Fukudome.

The White Sox have placed 30-year old righty starting pitcher Philip Humber on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to June 17th due to a right elbow flexor strain. Humber has pitched in 12 games (all starts) for the White Sox so far this year and he is 3-4 with a 6.01 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. He has now pitched in 40 games (38 starts) in his first two years with the Pale Hose and he is 12-13 with a 4.42 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. The White Sox have called up 30-year old righty reliever Brian Bruney to replace Humber on the pitching staff. Bruney pitched in 23 games (3 starts) in AAA-ball for the White Sox this year and he was 1-3 with 11 saves, a 1.85 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He has pitched in 272 games (1 start) in his first 8 years in the majors and he is 18-12 with 13 saves, a 4.70 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP.

When John Danks went down to injury, the White Sox needed someone to step up. So far, 23-year old rookie lefty Jose Quintana has been that guy. He has pitched in 7 games (5 starts) so far this year for the White Sox and he is 2-1 with a 1.53 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. He has only given up 30 hits and 6 walks in 35 1/3 innings while whiffing 20 batters so far this year and those are impressive numbers. In his five starts so far this year, Quintana is 2-1 with a 1.86 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. The White Sox will likely bump someone else from the rotation when Danks is ready to return to it and it will be Phil Humber.

26-year old lefty reliever Leyson Septimo is looking rock solid in AAA for the Pale Hose. He has pitched in 18 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the White Sox so far this year and he is 2-1 with 1 save, a 1.00 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. He has only given up 12 hits in 27 innings so far this year while whiffing 35 batters, which is impressive. Septimo does need to tighten up his control a bit as he has walked 14 batters so far this year. Septimo has now pitched in 175 games (0 starts) in his first five years in the minors and he is 10-10 with 15 saves, a 5.02 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. Despite those career numbers, Septimo could get his first shot at the show in some point in 2012 for the White Sox.

35-year old lefty swinging catcher A.J. Pierzynski has really turned up the power this year for the Pale Hose. He has played in 57 games for the White Sox so far this year and he is 60 for 210 (.286 avg, .829 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 11 homers and 40 RBIs. In his first 14 years in the majors (this is his 15th year), Pierzynski has career highs of 66 runs scored, 18 homers and 77 RBIs. He’s on pace to smash all of those career highs in 2012, and the White Sox hope he keeps thumping the ball like he is right now.

25-year old righty swinging 2B Gordon Beckham had a rough April. He played in 20 games for the Pale Hose this year in April and he was only 9 for 59 (.153 avg, .434 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 0 homers and 2 RBIs. But, in May & June, Beckham has played in 40 games in which he is 43 for 164 (.262 avg) with 26 runs scored, 8 homers, 25 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 60 games for the White Sox this year and he is 52 for 223 (.233 avg, .663 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 8 homers, 27 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The White Sox hope that Beckham keeps swinging the bat well.