Carlos Quentin was probably the best pickup any team made two offseasons ago. The White Sox got Quentin for a song from the Diamondbacks, and all Quentin did was produce a .288 average, 36 home runs, 100 RBIs and 96 runs scored over 130 games. The right-handed-hitting slugger finished with a .394 on-base percentage, a .571 slugging percentage and was hit by a pitch 20 times for good measure.
However, he had to sit out September and the White Sox’s playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Rays after he suffered a fractured right wrist after punching his bat when he fouled off a ninth-inning pitch from Cliff Lee during a 5-0 loss in Cleveland on Sept. 1. That the White Sox won the AL Central without him was fairly surprising.
Quentin is recovered from that injury but has chosen to turn down an offer to play in the World Baseball Classic after he had accepted a spot on Team USA’s 45-man provisional roster. Quentin said he and the Sox mutually agreed he should withdraw.
“Given that it’s a great honor, I can’t thank USA Baseball enough for even considering me,” Quentin said. “Hopefully I’ll have that opportunity again. Missing that last month, it’s the right decision to forgo it and be ready for this season.”
Quentin entered 2008 spring training as a long shot to make the roster. But once he got his chance, he never left the starting lineup until he broke the wrist. He probably would have won the AL MVP award considering he was leading the AL in homers the day he got hurt. Quentin says he has to learn to channel his passion.
“Obviously, I didn’t want to do that,” Quentin said. “I play with passion. … It has always been an ingredient to my success. I learned I have to be a little more careful sometimes, but I don’t ever want to
While manager Ozzie Guillen has cautioned fans against thinking Quentin can have quite those same numbers again, Quentin will need to approach them for Chicago to repeat as AL Central champs with a few young players expected to move into the starting lineup – bet on White Sox futures at WagerWeb.com.
Quentin said he’s anxious for spring training to start so he can get back on the field again with his teammates.
“I’ve been hitting since the beginning of December on a regular basis. One-hand drills, live pitching. It felt great,” he added.
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