Struggling White Sox pitcher Todd Ritchie didn't have to suffer the embarrassment of moving to the bullpen this week, as Chicago placed him on the disabled list with an inflamed shoulder on Tuesday. Ritchie has not provided the veteran stability for which the White Sox were looking when they traded Kip Wells, Josh Fogg, and Sean Lowe to Pittsburgh to acquire Ritchie and Lee Evans.

In 131 IP this season, Ritchie has allowed 174 H and 18 HR with a 75:49 K:BB for a 6.18 ERA. His skills levels have declined sharply from his pre-season career marks of 2.6 BB/9, 9.5 H/9, 1 HR/9, and 5.7 K/9. The primary problem appears to be his baserunners allowed rather than either the homers or strikeouts, though both have also deteriorated. Lately, the White Sox haven't even been able to count on Ritchie to provide them with innings as he's had to leave games early due to blowouts. Currently, he isn't supposed to miss much time with his shoulder problem, but I don't expect Chicago to rush his return.

The White Sox recalled Jim Parque to fill Ritchie's roster and rotation spots. Parque was up briefly earlier this season, but Chicago demoted him after Mike Cameron's four-homer game. The 27-year-old lefty underwent shoulder surgery in May of last year and reportedly is only now regaining his full velocity. Unfortunately, he didn't have a lot of skills prior to surgery so we shouldn't expect much now.

In late July, the White Sox replaced pitching coach Nardi Contreras with Don Cooper. Contreras began work as Chicago's pitching coach in May of 1998, but the White Sox's recent struggles caused the team to desire a change. Mark Buehrle's the only pitcher that appears to have improved under Contreras' recent tutelage, while the development of several other pitchers has stagnated. Prior to assuming the duties of major league pitching coach, Cooper was the organization's minor league pitching coordinator. I find it odd that Cooper reportedly traveled with the major league team prior to his change of position.

Chicago has managed to avoid the major league injuries of many other clubs. The only other player they've placed on the disabled list in the last two months was the now-traded Sandy Alomar. Alomar only missed 18 days with a sore shoulder in the second half of June. During that time they were able to replace him with Josh Paul, who likely should have been in the majors already. Paul also replaced Alomar following the trade. The 27-year-old catcher has only limited doubles power and still needs to improve his plate discipline to take full advantage of his speed skills. Nevertheless, he's a more than acceptable catching option with considerable potential, especially when paired with Mark Johnson.

The White Sox filled Kenny Lofton's roster spot with Joe Crede. Crede spent all of last season at AAA Charlotte in the International League aside from a brief stint in the majors, but the White Sox returned him to AAA to start 2002 as they had little available playing time after the unfortunate decision to retain Royce Clayton this season. While his plate discipline still needs work, Crede possesses significant power potential and should have been gaining experience in the majors this season. Instead he was at AAA, where he had 112 H, 21 2B, and 24 HR with a 48:26 BB:K in 359 AB for a .312 BA, .359 OBP, and .571 SLG.

As expected, Willie Harris replaced Ray Durham at second base after that trade. Harris was up earlier this season during interleague play when Chicago wanted a fast runner and pinch-hitter off the bench. In order to make room on the roster for the extra offensive player, the White Sox carried one less pitcher, sending Matt Ginter to the minors during that time. Ginter still lacks the dominance you'd like from a reliever, but his other skills won't harm a team, so he's capable of providing good middle relief innings.

GM Kenny Williams needs to work out a waiver deal involving Clayton, because as long as Clayton is on the team he'll complain, tempting Manager Jerry Manuel to play him over more productive options. Harris' second base defense is reportedly quite poor, so he should go ahead and move to centerfield since Tim Hummel likely needs to spend next season in AAA. Jose Valentin works well at shortstop, allowing Williams' to show off his one of his few quality acquisitions by playing D'Angelo Jimenez at second base. They can deal Carlos Lee in the off-season and Joe Borchard can play left field next year. If Williams could find a way to remove Frank Thomas from the roster, then they could keep Lee as their DH. Paul Konerko and Magglio Ordonez are very nice anchors to the lineup at first base and in right field.

In late May, the White Sox acquired OF-R Scott Morgan from SD for a PTBNL. Cleveland drafted Morgan out of Gonzaga University in the 7th round of the 1995 draft. After signing, he went to Watertown in the Short-Season New York-Pennsylvania League. The Indians placed him at A Columbus in the South Atlantic League in 1996. Morgan split 1997 between A+ Kinston in the Carolina League and AA Akron in the Eastern League. He stayed at Akron through a portion of 1999 before receiving a promotion to AAA Buffalo in the Eastern League. Anaheim claimed him off waivers from Cleveland in 2000 and he signed with the Padres as minor league free agent after last year.

Morgan has significant power potential and some speed skills but needs to improve his plate discipline before he can utilize those tools. Since joining Charlotte, he has a .281 BA, .319 OBP, and .416 SLG in 221 AB on 62 H, 12 2B, and 6 HR with a 12:60 BB:K and 2/3 SB%. The 29-year-old might make it to the majors as a reserve outfielder at some point in the next couple seasons but has pretty much missed his chance.