Dayan Viciedo is happy to play right field for your White Sox. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

Dayan Viciedo is somebody we can hang some hopes and dreams on. He hasn’t yet had a full opportunity to dash our optimism about his ceiling. In the short time we’ve seen him play live baseball we’ve witnessed a lot of opposite field pop, the ball jumps off his bat in a way that makes you think he can develop some serious power. We’ve also seen a learning curve. His first MLB experience was accompanied by a running joke about his complete inability to take a walk. Last year he showed us that he actually does know what a walk is, and is interested in taking one from time to time. He was originally slated for third base, but that got scrapped rather quickly. I was perfectly willing to have 2011 be DHayan time before the money appeared for Adam Dunn. Now he finds himself learning the outfield. Needless to say that’s a work in progress. 2012 from Dayan Viciedo could bring us…well pretty much anything.

The systems again are in relative agreement, but I’d expect the power numbers to go up. If he can’t ramp up the HR count to 25-30 I’d at least like to see a whole lot of doubles from that strength launching some gap shots. When looking at what we should be getting as production from our corner outfield spots and realizing that most projections see us as falling short on both sides is a little bit depressing. If Carlos Quentin was a sure thing to play his share of games it’s almost enough to wish for him to be back. I do think that Dayan is under-projected, though. If I’m right, we’ve got a RF putting up RF numbers.  In 2013, when asked who the 5 best Cuban right fielders in the game are, I’d like to be able to respond, “Dayan, Dayan, Dayan, Dayan and Dayan.”

Alejandro De Aza Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-US PRESSWIRE

In a very limited sample, Alejandro De Aza hit .329/.400/.520 in 2011, heavily aided by a BABIP over .400. Obviously we aren’t going to see that sort of production over the course of a full season but Alejandro will get his chance to show us and hopefully he puts up a respectable line, if not one more indicative of his talent. As I’ve stated plenty before, I’d prefer he put up whatever line he chooses while playing CF but that’s not his call so until Ventura decides that Alex Rios is no longer the White Sox centerfielder we’ll be seeing De Aza in left for the most part.

This is encouraging. James doesn’t see De Aza getting a full year of playing time, though it doesn’t seem to be rooted in poor performance. As far as rate stats, though, we have a pretty consistent outlook across the board. Corner outfield-wise, that’s not necessarily the type of production we like to see with so little power but it’s productive, and a nice touch above what we got out of Juan Pierre. I questioned De Aza’s ability to stay in a lineup all year and produce much of anything. Knowing that folks that are smarter than me disagree, well that makes me feel good.

Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

Outside of Paulie, Alexei Ramirez is the player we can feel most at ease about. He came to the southside fresh off of a Cuban League HR title and showed a knack for hitting grand slams. His power dipped off slightly in the following seasons but he seems to have found a consistent home in the 15-18 range. Defensively we watched him go from sure handed at 2nd base, to not so sure handed at shortstop and finally to one of the best defensive shortstops in the game. He’s not going to challenge any walk records but he’s certainly fighting Hawk Harrelson and his Cubans can’t walk stereotype showing acceptable walk rates in alternating seasons. He’s consistent sometimes, and sometimes not, so clearly I cannot choose the wine in front of you.

The projections have built up an immunity to Alexei’s inconsistencies! If they have anything to say about it, we’re looking at Alexei remaining in that 15-18 HR range, walking a reasonable amount of times (you know, for a Cuban) and hitting in the .270s. The stolen bases hopefully are all gimmes. Alexei gets thrown out a lot and I’d just as well see him sit tight and wait for the bat to hit the ball before he takes off. Heading into 2012 I didn’t feel like I had anything to worry about in terms of our shortstop and it’s relaxing to see that projections are in agreement.