Alexei is not a good SS. He has a strong arm and decent range, but he makes a ton of errors, doesn't charge the ball particularly well, and takes too long to get rid of the ball. Also makes a lot of poor, lazy throws in the dirt. Konerko has bailed him out a lot this year. I think eventually the White Sox will move him back to 2B, where he flourished. If Josh Fields had panned out at 3B, Alexei might be there right now and Beckham would be at SS.