Nearly Lost in the Chicago Super Bowl Media Shuffle...

... is a report that is sure to put the look of a distraught puppy on at least a handful of pink #22 jersey-owning bitch hot Chicago girls. Various media outlets have reported today that Scott Podsednik has undergone what is alternately being called sports hernia or groin surgery, prompting the White Sox to sign Darin Erstad as a replacement in left field. I'm pretty agnostic about Erstad--he seems like the kind of hard-nosed, intangibles kind of guy that will fit in well with the Sox and give Brian Anderson, Josh Fields, Ryan Sweeney, and Podsednik a real competition for 2 outfield spots, even though he hasn't had a season even approaching his career year in 2000 when he hit .355 and hit 25 homers.

I'm worried about the fact that Scott Podsednik apparently suffered this injury after a routine workout in the middle of January. He was hobbled by a sports hernia on his left side last year and this one apparently occurred on his right side. At this rate he's quickly turning into the much cheaper, weak-hitting, speed version of Ken Griffey, Jr. Which is another way of saying that he's nothing like Ken Griffey, Jr. except he gets injured an awful lot.

Podsednik was only marginally useful last year, often making stupid defensive plays in left and getting thrown out on the basepaths at an obscenely high rate. Another injury isn't likely to improve his intelligent aggressiveness or speed. And I don't think Erstad is the answer. As White Sox bloggers have been suggesting for months now, what this team could really use is someone like Rocco Baldelli or Carl Crawford, but the Rays' price is probably much too high as they work to strengthen a farm system which is already ranked tops in baseball and a major league squad near or at the bottom.

Of course, from things Kenny has said this offseason, he's convinced the pitching staff--both the rotation and bullpen--will bounce back in a big way this year. So no pressure, Buehrle, Vazquez, Garland, Contreras, and company. No pressure at all.

In lieu of a boring Podsednik picture, I felt I should remind faithful FTG readers what his wife looks like. My pleasure.