Chicago White Sox Fanatics

 How's the 2012 season going to be for the White Sox?  Will Robin Ventura be a good enough coach or will he not do a good job.  I don't know if he's going to live up to his standards.  Being a former playing gives him some knowledge, but never coaching before puts that away.  Will they make any trades or aqiure anyone new? Who knows, we'll just have to wait and see. 


Category: MLB

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm excited.  Now I'm always excited as the start of major league baseball approaches, but I am especially excited this year.  I feel that, talent wise, this is the best White Sox team we have had going into spring training since 2006.  Once again, Kenny Williams has proven why he one of the best GMs in baseball.  I cannot remember another GM getting as much return from his investments as Kenny.  Futhermore, I give Jerry Reisendorf credit for knowing when to step in and place loyalty above money without hurting the team.  Bringing back Konerko and A.J. was a gutsy move that you just don't see enough of in pro sports today.  Finally, I know Ozzie has to be excited with this group of players.  This group is probably the most versatile team Ozzie has ever had which should give him much flexibilty to work his magic.  However, with the addition of Dunn, there is still plenty of pop which is something we lacked last year. 

What I'd like to hear from other Sox fans is your opinion on the upcoming season.  What and who you like and don't like, what you think is our biggest strength and biggest weakness, your praise, concern, expectations etc.  Who is unvervalued or overvalued, who is your most improved player, who are your sleepers and how do you think the A.L. Central will play out.  Basically, just how you feel in general about the upcoming season.  Here's my take:

First, I'll start off with what I feel is our biggest strength and that is starting pitching.  Now just how successful this rotation will be has a lot to do with the health of Jake Peavy, but not as much as some fans think.  First off, Peavy is a bulldog and I believe he will do whatever it takes to get back into the rotation as soon as possible.  His injury is kind of a mystery so know one really knows what to expect, but Peavy is more than just a thrower.  He knows how to pitch.  I think there is a good chance he will be close to being our ace by the end of the year.  What makes Peavy's situation not so dire to me is the fact that we have Edwin Jackson and Chris Sales on the roster.  Jackson is my sleeper.  I was one of the few happy White Sox fans when I heard we acquired Jackson last year.  I followed Jackson when he had a solid year with Tampa and then was lights-out with Detroit.  He has filthy stuff and knows how to pitch in the American League.  I knew once Coop got a hold of him, he would straighten out his control issues.  Sure enough, he did.  He was one of our best pitchers down the stretch.  This guy is not just a fifth starter.  He has top-of-the-rotation stuff and I think he may be our best pitcher this year.  Fill in the rotation with the ever reliable Mark Buehrle, the ace-in-the-making John Danks and Mr. Inconsistency Gavin Floyd as well as Peavy(or Sales until Peavy returns) and I see no problem with our rotation.  Floyd may have the best stuff of all and is still relatively young enough to have a breakout year.  That being said, he will be our fifth starter.  Looking at his numbers, it will be hard to find a better fifth starter in baseball.  Here is how I think the rotation will look:

1. Jake Peavy (Chris Sales if Peavy is not ready right away)
2. John Danks
3. Edwin Jackson
4. Mark Buehrle
5. Gavin Floyd

Sales is the x-factor since Peavy is an uncertainty.  How many teams can boast a talent as good as Sales in their bullpen who is capable of filling a rotation spot?  Maybe just Arnoldis Chapman of the Reds. The only issues here seem to be what to do with Sales if Peavy is healthy, who gets bumped out of the rotation if Sales fills in and is dominant and, maybe, having three lefties in the rotation. Those concerns bring me to the next, but not less important, part of of our team--the bullpen.  Unlike the rotation, the bullpen is where my biggest concerns are.  Not for lack of talent though as there is plenty of talent in the pen.  Its just a matter of chemistry and who will fill what roles and mainly, who will close.  I think the biggest key in winning a division and having success in the playoffs is always bullpen.  You may get by with mediocre hitting (2005) or an average rotation, but no team in recent history has had a successful season without a dominant bullpen  Bullpen is also the hardest factor to predict year to year.  You can have a dominant bullpen one year (2005) and bring back the same bullpen (2006) and watch them falter the next year.  Look at last year.  We had the best bullpen in the Al for the first half of the season only to see them fall apart in the second half.  This year, you can count me in the minority who thinks that Santos should be our closes.  Call me old fashion, but I do not like lefty closers.  Plus, I just love Matt Thorton in that eighth inning role.  You cannot get to your closer without a great setup man.  I think this bullpen has the talent to be dominant and I like what Kenny did by going out and getting Crain and Ohman. Crane was a great eighth inning guy in Minnesota who will setup for us and who can also close games if needed.  He will fill the role vacated by Putz.  I like Santos to fill Jenks' role and Thorton to remain the setup man.  Ohman will be the situational lefty and Pena will fill the middle to long relief role that he excelled in last year.  I have know clue where Sales fits in, but I'm sure Ozzie will find a spot for him.  Here is how our bullpen will look:

Long relief            Tony Pena
Situational Lefty    Will Ohman
Righty Setup         Jessie Crain
Lefty Setup           Matt Thorton
Closer                  Sergio Santos
X-Factor                Chris Sales

Not bad if you ask me. 

Finally, I will talk about our lineup.  Obviously, I think the strength of our lineup will be offense.  However, I do think our defense was much improved last year and since we are pretty much bringing back the entire defense I think we will be even better this year.  It certainly helped that Alexi Ramirez went back to being the human highlight reel like he was when he played secong and not the game losing mental error he was in 2009.  I have to give Alexi credit because I was ready to give up on him beofre last year and he quietly went out and played like one of the best shortstops in the AL.  Honestly, he was the best all-around shortstop in the AL last year and if he keeps it up we will be in good shape offensively and defensively.  Our entire middle last year-Beckham, Alexi and Rios-was outstanding on both ends and I have a good feeling that they will be even better this year.  Konerko was finally healthy and it showed.  Even better than his play was that he got through the year injury free.  He should put up similar numbers this year since he is completely healthy.  Will we ever see Quentin completely healthy again?  I still feel he can be one of the best hitters in baseball if he could just stay healthy.  I will not hold my breath though.  I loved claiming Rios when it happened and if you look at his career numbers, the Rios was saw last year was the true Alex Rios, not the one we saw in 2009.  AJ is AJ.  He is not stellar on offense, but he is clutch and the fact that he cannot throw out baserunners is somewhat negated by how good a game he calls.  Finally, I am looking forward most to seeing how many bombs the Donkey can hit out of the cell and how far they will go.  This guy never hit less than 40 home runs until he went to Washington where he hit 39 every year in a huge ballpark.  45 bombs should be no problem and it will be interesting to see if he can hit 50.  Don't worry about the strike outs because he will walk over a 100 times.  Man did we need a lefty power bat and boy did we get one.  That he can play (I said play not play good) first and right is a plus.  Morrel will bring much needed defensive stability at third and Juan Pierre will make are offense go.  How fun is it to watch a guy who cannot hit one out of the park be such a force on offense.  I remember two years ago when Manny got suspended, Juan Pierre almost single-handedly took the Dodgers to the playoffs.  You wonder if he will ever slow down.  I think we will be solid defensively and a top 10 offense.  Here is how I think are lineup will look:

1. Juan Pierre     LF
2. Gordon Beckham 2B
3. Alex Rios CF
4. Adam Dunn DH
5. Paul Konerko 1B
6. Carlos Quentin RF
7. AJ Pierzynski C
8. Brent Morell 3B
9. Alexi Ramirez SS

I'm not exactly sure about the order, but I like Rios in the three, I like breaking up the righties and I think Quentin is adequate protection for Paulie.  I'm sure Ozzie's lineup will be much different.

As for the season, I think it is our division to win.  Mourneau is still shaky, but he should be back for the Twins along with Joe Nathan.  That being said, top to bottom we have the most talent in our division.  It will all depend on how our bullpen shapes out.  Detroit is third and very scary offensively, but their rotation is mediocre and bullpen is bad again.  I think Cleveland will be much improved and they have a ton of young talent.  They are gonna to be a force to be reckoned with very soon so we have to seize this window of opportunity now.  The Royals may have actually gotten worse with Greinke in Milwaukee, but what else is new.  We have the talent, we just have to go out and perform.  Ozzie always talks about how you can't win the Kentucky Derby without the horses, well, you got the horses.  Outside injuries, there is no excuse why this team should not win the division. Kenny and Jerry did their  job now Ozzie and the players have to do theirs. 

No matter how it plays I will enjoy it.  I can't wait and I look forward to hearing from other die-hards.  Go Sox in 2011!

Team MVP: Alex Rios and Paul Konerko

Most improved: Gordon Beckham

Best Pitcher: Jake Peavy

Sleeper: Edwin Jackson

Most undervalued: Juan Pierre

Defensive MVP: Alexi Ramirez

Most exciting to watch: Alexi Ramirez (defense) and Adam Dunn (offense) and Ozzie of course.



Category: MLB

The season is over for the Sox and I already miss it!  But, spring training starts if February and I look froward to a brand new start.  Go Sox in 2011. 

Category: MLB

Hell yeah nice win last night boyz! 6-1 beat down...Lets keep it up and put those Twins in the dust baby!!! Go Chi Sox!!!

Category: MLB