Chicago White Sox: Will Patience Pay Off With Brent Morel?

The Chicago White Sox could be turning over the hot corner to rookie Brent Morel in 2011, if all indications from the club are accurate.  After impressing the organization with his defense at third base in the twilight of the 2010 campaign, Morel appears to be getting first dibs on the starting job as players prepare to report to spring training next week.

Manager, Ozzie Guillen, has implied that the starting job at third is an open position that will be filled by the player who earns it during camp.  However, it looks like Morel is going to get a good look.

The rest is up to Morel and the patience of the White Sox.

Let's key on the patience of the White Sox.

Chicago GM, Kenny Williams, has showed a win-now attitude in his tenure running the organization.  A lot of money has been committed to pennant contention this season.  The White Sox have other options at third base that might produce short-term success.

For better or worse, Mark Teahen was traded for, and signed to play third base before injuries and ineptitude gave way to the ageless Omar Vizquel.  Both players are back for another run with the team, which begs the question of, "how long will the club allow growing pains if Morel struggles early this season?"

Personally, I think Teahen is best suited to a utility role.  I think that is how Guillen would like to use Teahen, as well as Vizquel.  Will that hold true in the middle of a hotly contested AL Central race?

That remains to be seen.

Morel could make questions like these moot by coming out solidly in the early going.  If that doesn't happen, how committed are the Sox going to be in his major-league development?

It could go either way.  The White Sox have had patience pay off in the past.  They've also pulled the plug and messed up a promising prospect.

Joe Crede, like Morel, was a highly touted defensive prospect who the club had to wait on to develop some pop in his bat.  They stuck with Crede through some trying offensive struggles, which paid off before back problems derailed his career.

The White Sox resisted the urge to give up on Crede, even when he hit .239 in 2004.  Morel won't have the same pop in his bat like Crede did, so will a .240 average keep him in the lineup?

Brian Anderson's.225 average wasn't good enough in 2006 with the White Sox in contention to repeat as AL Central Champions.  Anderson, who had been a .300 hitter everywhere he ever played (as he liked to tell us), never got another shot at a full-time outfield job and is now pitching in the minors.

If the race is tight this season, will Guillen stick with a third baseman hitting .235 with three or four homers at the all-star break?  Even if Morel is playing defense at a high level?

If Williams wants to win now (and who doesn't?), the answer to that question may lay in Teahen's bat and Vizquel's capable glove.  If Teahen shows he can stay healthy and hit, Morel is going to get a lot less rope.

If the White Sox give the job to Morel this spring, they should be prepared for the possibility that he could struggle at the dish.  If they don't think they can live with that and keep Morel in the lineup, Teahan has to get a fair shot to win the in spring training, even with as poorly as he played this year.

If the White Sox want to anoint Morel the incumbent at third, that's fine with me.  He definitely has the long-term potential to hold down the hot corner.  I just hope Chicago is prepared to stick with Morel as he learns his big-league lessons.