So, Tell Me Again Why Does Josh Fields Want To Get Traded?

Rumors floated around yesterday not involving Roy Halladay involved Chicago White Sox third baseman Josh Fields, proving to me there are other players on the trading block. It wasn't too long ago when Fields' name being tossed around the rumor mill in association with a blockbuster trade.

And maybe, it still could be.

Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that Fields has asked to be traded. And while the once-prized prospect who was supposed to make South Side fans forget about Joe Crede has been usurped by Gordon Beckham, I am hardpressed to find a reason to want out of Chicago.

(Well, other than having to drive through the South Side at night, of course.)

His numbers are disappointingly underwhelming, batting .220 with a .301 on-base percentage while slugging .354. It looks like the Louisville Slugger he once carried to the plate in 2007, when he hit 23 home runs, drove in 67 runs and slugged .480, has turned into a wet newspaper overnight.

(And no, I'm not going to make a "nobody reads newspapers anymore" joke.)

Had Fields played his cards right, he could have re-emerged as an option at third base if manager Ozzie Guillen shifted Alexei Ramirez to second base and moved Beckham to shortstop.

Could the former prospect need a change of scenery, perhaps? It's possible. But to me, it looks like he needs a change in plate discipline (71 strikeouts in 71 games/251 plate appearances) more than anything.

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