It took three stolen bases and a total of 18 hits, including four doubles, three triples and two home runs this spring for Dewayne Wise to prove to the White Sox that he was the man to bat leadoff and play center field in 2009 for the Chicago White Sox.The White Sox on Monday reportedly placed Jerry Owens on waivers, clearing the way for the 31-year-old Wise to take over as their starting center fielder and hit out of the leadoff spot. "(Manager) Ozzie (Guillen) came to me, told me congratulations," Wise told whitesox.com. "He told me he was going to put me in that leadoff spot, see what happens. He told me he was proud of the way I played this spring and best of luck to me.Although he only hit .248 last season, Wise did steal nine bases in 129 at-bats. With that kind of speed and if his springs numbers foretell of a hitting resurgence, Wise could be a very nice free agent acquisition or late-round AL-only flier if your league hasn't drafted yet.
You do want to be careful, though, if considering Wise for your fantasy team. There is a chance that Ozzie Guillen will use Brian Anderson as the leadoff man against left-handed pitchers, something he has thought about all spring.
Earlier in camp Guillen strongly hinted that backup center fielder Brian Anderson, a right-handed hitter, was likely to be used out of the leadoff spot against left-handed starters.If that's the case, Wise had better be tearing the cover off of the ball to be rosterable in any fantasy format.
