I was a little distracted yesterday, and as a result, I almost missed this tidbit from the Trib:

[The White Sox are] one of six teams interested in signing Jose Macias, who can play five positions and recently won the batting title in the Venezuelan League.

Two things: first, I have no idea what the White Sox, or any team for that matter, would want with Macias. In the Sox case it's especially odd, even though I'd imagine he'd only be getting an NRI, since they already traded for a superior Jack-of-all-trades player in Rob Mackowiack. It simply doesn't make sense. Still, I can't help but root a little mean-spiritedly for Jose to show up on the South Side. Schadenfreude's ugly, but it's very, very real.

The second thing that made me blink was that Macias won the Venezuelan League's batting title. That's the same Venezuelan League Our Boy Ronny has been excelling in this winter.

So, I took a quick peek, and yes, Jose's line was pretty impressive at .405/.451/.583, which, naturally, makes me call into question any positive vibe I get from Cedeno's performance. Of course, Macias did his work in 84 at bats, so sample size issues apply (and my goodness, I know the season is short down there, but when 84 at bats qualifies one for the batting title, it's not much of a title in my book), but I've reached a point in my mental/emotional state where I'm certain that anything positive I find in the club's offseason will quickly be quashed by some further influx of info, and this is no exception.

It speaks to the failures of the organization this winter and their effect on my psyche that a freakish few plate appearances by a known mediocrity can make me question the cumulative positives shown by a reasonably promising youngster. It shouldn't, but it does, and that the doubt stems from the work of one of Cub fans' greatest nemeses over the last few seasons makes it feel that much worse.