White Hot Sox

Check out my epic photoshopping, am I right?

Another sweep for the White Sox and they've won 8 in a row! There's no doubt that the White Sox are playing great baseball right now and they're finding ways to win games no matter what obstacle they're facing. The Sox have swept in 3 of their last 4 series; they are 9-1 in the last ten, and they don't seem to be stopping any time soon. The starters have pitched well, the bullpen has been solid, and the White Sox are playing great on offense right now. Not much is going wrong for them other than umpires throwing people out without a warning, but that's not a big deal. Right now the Sox are winning games and that's all that matters.

One of the biggest differences between this year and last year is that the White Sox no longer rely on Konerko to lead the team by having a big game every game or else the Sox lose. Konerko went 2-13 this series and the Sox still swept and scored 13 runs. That would have never happened last year. Now that the offense doesn't depend on Konerko for everything, the pressure is off of Konerko and he can just focus on playing his game. I think that is one of the reasons that this year has been different from every other year that he has played so far. If the White Sox offense keeps it up, Paulie will keep it up as well.

Another big difference in this series is that the White Sox did not depend on the long ball. Obviously it is how they won in Game 1, but that was a different game than the other two. The White Sox only had one home run in the last two games of the series and they still scored 11 runs. The White Sox offense has something that it hasn't had in awhile. That is the ability to hit in succession and score runs without necessarily hitting the ball out of the park. This is a big difference because when you depend on the home run ball, you're going to lose a lot of games when the ball just isn't going out. Now the Sox can win both with the home run and in other ways like they did on Tuesday.

Up next the Sox will play Seattle and will have to face King Felix in the first game of the series to try to improve their win streak to nine games. The series will be tough as the Mariners just put up 21 against the Rangers today, but the Sox can win this series and keep it rolling while staying in first place.

Weekly Links

As the blog is getting more and more active throughout the season, I decided to start a once a week link post. Basically giving you links to some of the things that I've read this week and some links on the White Sox action over the past week. 

• Konerko mania is going full blast right now especially after he hit his 400th homer in a White Sox uniform. Not only that, but he is floating around the .400 batting average mark which has gotten him a lot of press recently too. 
• Head over to Southside Showdown (a White Sox blog) to get a week in review of the entire AL Central. 
• Baseball Prospectus had a great article about the Indians and the difference between this year's hot start and last year's hot start. 
• Danks got sent to the DL this week, but should be back soon. For info on his trip, go here.
• South Side Sox, one of my favorite White Sox blogs, recently put out a great piece on Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko and how they compare to other 3-4 combinations in the league. 
• Everything you need to know about sabermetrics was put into a nice article by the ladies over at Aerys Sports. Check it out. 
• Last but not least, Snoop Dogg threw out the first pitch at the White Sox game on Thursday night. 

Series Preview. White Sox vs. Indians

The White Sox start a three game series against their division rival Indians today. This is a very important series because the Indians are leading the central right now and the White Sox are not that far behind them in the race. The Indians are a hot team coming off a sweep of the Tigers and they are 8-2 in their last 10 games. The White Sox are also hot as they are 7-3 in their last ten and just won a series against the Twins. This will be a tough series and will be a test for both teams in all three parts of the game. Whichever team wins the series will have a great advantage in the division heading forward.

Game 1
Jose Quintana (0-0 0.00 ERA) vs. Jeanmar Gomez (3-2 3.19 ERA)

Jose Quintana will get his first major league start because John Danks was recently put on the DL for having shoulder soreness. In AA, he pitched 35.1 innings and had a 3.06 ERA, 26 Ks, and 11 BBs. He made his big league debut in the bullpen for the White Sox and will now have a chance for his first start. Nobody knows whether or not he will have a good start, but the White Sox can hope that he comes out confident and by having stuff that none of the players have seen, he can fool some of their batters.

Gomez has been pretty good recently. In his last three starts he is 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA. He had a pretty strong start against the Marlins on Saturday and hasn't allowed a run in his last 16 innings. The last time that he pitched against the Sox, he gave up 6 runs in one inning. His pitching could go either way against the Sox and if players like Konerko, De Aza, and Rios keep up their hot streaks the White Sox can easily win this game.

The key to this game will be whether or not Quintana has the stuff to beat a major league team. The White Sox offense will have to back him up by scoring quite a few runs, but I think the Sox have a great shot to win this game.

Game 2
Jake Peavy (5-1 2.39 ERA) vs. Derek Lowe (6-2 2.15 ERA)
Jake Peavy has probably been the best pitching story of the year. He had a terrible year last year and came back this year and is dominating teams. He isn't up to the level he was when he won the Cy Young, but he is doing a great job being the second pitcher in this rotation. In his last three starts, he is 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA and 16 strikeouts. If he continues to pitch like he has previously, he gives the Sox a great chance to win this game.

Derek Lowe has pitched well this season and recently. He's had two quality starts in a row, one in which he pitched a complete game shutout. In his last three, he is 2-1 with a 2.71 ERA and 5 Ks. He'll be a tough test for the White Sox offense, but since they are so hot recently that challenge might not be a challenge at all. In 64.2 innings pitched against the White Sox he has a losing record at 1-2 and has 3.34 ERA and 43 strikeouts. The White Sox haven't really struggled against him and if they can score 3-5 runs, they can win the game easily.

Game 3
Gavin Floyd (3-5 4.66 ERA) vs. Ubaldo Jimenez (5-3 5.02 ERA)
Floyd has been Mr. Inconsistent this year having a good start and then the next time he goes out, he is horrendous. If Floyd has one of his good starts, the White Sox have a good chance. If Floyd has a bad start it kills the entire team's momentum and they will probably lose.

Jimenez is having an alright year. He has a winning record, but his ERA isn't something to get worked up about. The same story goes for his last three starts (he is 2-1 with a 7.16 ERA). The White Sox will be able to score runs against him, but the key to winning will be stopping the Indians offense from backing him up like they have done so far this year.

Story of the Week
Paul Konerko is the story of the week for the White Sox. He has been extremely hot and is on a 10 game hitting streak. He leads the team in almost every hitting statistic and might even have a shot at MVP if he keeps hitting like he is. Right now he is .384/.462/.649 with 10 HR which is quite impressive and is obviously leading the team. In the last week he is batting .615 with 3 HRs and 6 RBIs which is the reason he is the story of the week.

Series Recap. White Sox win 2/3 against Twins

The White Sox had a tough series, but ended up winning 2 out of the 3 games. The first game was the worst of the entire series, but the only game that was even close to easy was the second game. The pitching by the White Sox was not stellar in the series, but Chris Sale did have a great start in the second game.

The power from the White Sox was the biggest story of the entire series. The players that hit home runs this series are Beckham, Rios (2), Konerko (2), Pierzynski, De Aza, and Viciedo. The power was especially helpful to the White Sox in their win in the third game of the series as they came back in the 6th after their terrible 5th inning.

The Indians swept the Tigers, so the White Sox did not gain any ground in the central division race. The Sox will have a great chance to do that though as they are going to play a three game series against the Indians starting tomorrow.

Game Preview. White Sox vs. Indians

The White Sox go from Texas to Cleveland without a day of rest as they play the Indians today. This might be a small problem because of the little rest, but I'm sure manager Robin Ventura has them ready to play today. Playing the Indians shouldn't be as much of a struggle as playing the Rangers was, but who knows because the White Sox weren't exactly stellar against division opponents last year.

Chris Sale is on the mound for the White Sox making his first Major League start. If he can control his pitches and not leave that slider hanging, he'll have a good game. During spring training, he looked like one of the best pitchers on the staff and he'll hopefully keep that going into the regular season today against the Indians.

The White Sox offense will need to back Sale up with a few runs. They had big troubles with runners in scoring position against Texas and need to do a better job of bringing those guys home in this series and game. Brent Morel, who is still without a hit, will probably start today and will hopefully get on track against the Indians. Rios and Dunn have been pretty good so far and they'll look to continue that. Konerko is solid as he always is. De Aza and Beckham haven't really gotten it going yet this season, so I'll look to them to have big games. Neither Pierzynski nor Flowers have been great at the plate so far, but whoever is playing today will hopefully get a base hit or two and get on track for the season.

The White Sox can win this game if Sale pitches well. The offense will have to score some runs because I don't think Sale will shut them out. The short rest could hurt the White Sox, but this game is still winnable for the Sox.

Series Recap. Sox take 1/3 from Rangers

The first series of this season did not go the way the White Sox would have wanted, but I think they played well against one of the better teams in the American League. The Rangers came ready and they were good. The White Sox had to struggle and play a really good game just to beat them once. It was a good series and other than a few mistakes in the last game, the Sox were pretty close with the Rangers.

Opening Day didn't go the White Sox' way for the first five innings, but managed to score a run thanks to Dunn and his home run. (Wow, there was a lot of rhyming in that sentence). They scored another run that inning driven in by Alexei. For a first game it wasn't bad, but Danks could have used a little bit more run support. It's not fun losing when the other team only scores three runs.

The second game was by the far the White Sox best game. Peavy pitched well and only gave up 3 runs on 8 hits. Not bad for a guy that was a big question mark coming into the season. The offense played well, mostly led by Paul Konerko who drove in 3 of the 4 runs that the Sox scored. Only four players actually recorded a hit, but the offense seemed to be doing fine. The Sox did just enough to win the game thanks to the home run hit by Rios in the ninth inning.

The third game was not good at all for the White Sox. They didn't play good offense and Floyd didn't pitch a very good game. The Rangers came ready to hit Floyd's fastball and they sure did hit it. The Rangers had three home runs and scored 5 runs off Floyd. The bullpen did pitch well and fans got a nice taste of what Nate Jones can do. There were positives in this game, but the most important thing it did was point out the weaknesses in the team.

The story of this series was the White Sox continued struggles with runners in scoring position. In the second game, it wasn't as much of a problem as the Sox were 2-4 in that game with RISP. In the other two games they were 0-7 and 0-8, respectively. They aren't going to win games if they keep leaving runners on second and third with one or less outs. They have to get better at getting clutch base hits and bringing runners home. That's the key to this offense.

Game Recap. White Sox lose 5-0 to Rangers

The White Sox did not play a very good game today. They didn't score a single run and gave up 5, including three homers. The Sox end up losing the series 1-2.

The first few innings of the game were great pitching. The problem is that Floyd made three mistakes and all three of them were driven out of the park. The Rangers only scored one run that didn't come from a home run. After Floyd got out of the game, the bullpen was good. Nate Jones got to play in his first ever MLB game. His first two batters were a little shaky and he walked both, but then he got a double play and struck out Josh Hamilton. The thing that worries me most about this game is that Floyd didn't pitch well. If the White Sox want to be successful, Floyd has to pitch well.

The offense was a big problem in this game. Not a single player on the team had more than one hit. Everyone was equally bad. Konerko had two bad at bats today. Dunn didn't get a single hit and neither did Rios. Pierzynski really struggled today because for the entire game he had to face a left handed pitcher. I'm not sure why Ventura played him instead of Flowers against the lefty.

Right now everyone is to blame for this game. Neither pitching or offense was good and when neither is good,  it's hard to win games. The Sox should be able to get back on track against a team that's not as good in the upcoming series. They'll play the Indians in Cleveland next.

Game Preview. White Sox vs. Rangers Game 3

The White Sox aim to win the series today against the Rangers after tying the series last night thanks to the Alex Rios solo shot in the the ninth.

Eduardo Escobar will start in place of Brent Morel today. I like this change because Morel hasn't been good and because Ventura is being smart. He has said that he wants to get everyone in during one of the two first series.

This is what separates Ventura and Ozzie. Ventura knows that guys can't sit on the bench forever. He'll need more than one guy at certain positions and you can't expect a guy that has been sitting on the bench for six or seven days to just play a good game.

The White Sox can win this game as long as Floyd pitches well and the Sox get some runs early. Beckham hitting in the 2 hole could change things a little. He could either not play well or he could flourish in that spot. I like Ventura testing him there because if he does hit well there, he's a great 2 spot hitter.

Game Recap. White Sox win 4-3

Alex Rios was the hero in last night's game against the Rangers. Yes, Alex Rios. This game was very promising because both Adam Dunn and Rios had good games. They are both much improved compared to last year already. Rios looks a lot more comfortable playing in right field and won't make as many errors this year.

The first few innings of the game were kind of rough. The Sox started off well by scoring in the first. The Rangers scored to tie it in the 2nd and then in the third they both scored 3 runs to keep it tied until Rios' ninth inning heroics.

Paul Konerko had a great game getting 3 RBIs. Adam Dunn was good again and scored a run. Morel still hasn't gotten a hit this season. For that reason, he won't be playing today.

Game Recap. White Sox lose 3-2 to Rangers

The White Sox did not start their season is a good way as they lost to the Rangers on Opening Day. There was both good and bad in this game, but the bad overshadows the good because the Sox lost. If the Sox had won, like they should've, I think fans would be excited for the rest of the season.

Let's take a look at the good. Adam Dunn absolutely crushed the ball in the 6th inning. He now holds the record for most opening day homeruns. He did have an opening day homer last year, so let's not get too excited about that at the moment. Later in the sixth, Rios got hit by a pitch and then Alexei Ramirez hit a double. This allowed Rios to score from first with some nifty baserunning. It was the best inning the Sox have had all year (hardy-har-har) and it showed that Alex Rios and Adam Dunn might just turn it around this year. John Danks was good in the innings he pitched, but it's the same story for him. No run support, so he gets the loss.

The bad things in this game are numerous. The first thing is that the White Sox offense was invisible until the 6th inning and invisible after. Konerko was the best batter of the day going 2 for 4 (big surprise). Two White Sox batters did not record a single hit (Morel and Rios). Lillibridge also did not record a hit, but didn't have a single at-bat. Dunn was 1 for 3 while the rest of the team was 1 for 4. If the White Sox want to win, they have to score runs. Right now they're not doing that. Opening Day last year was more promising than this year (the Sox scored 15 runs).

The biggest problem today was the strikeouts. Morel and Beckham combined for a total of seven strikeouts. Morel also had an error in the field. This troubles me because getting a new hitting coach was supposed to help fix the problems in the offense especially in the young guys like Morel and Beckham. If they aren't going to hit this year, the White Sox have a problem. When only half of the infield is hitting, the team isn't going to do well. I'm anxious to see how long it takes Ventura to put Escobar in for one of those two players. Right now, that's the only solution, and I think it might work.

There was good and bad in today's game. The White Sox could have won, but they didn't. They have to move on and get ready to play the Rangers again tomorrow. They have a lot to improve, but I still think they can have a good season.

2012 Chicago White Sox Preview

The Chicago White Sox start their season today against the Texas Rangers. By just looking at the White Sox roster, I’d say that most people expect them to be 3^rd or 4^th in the division. I’m here to say that I disagree. I don’t disagree because I’m a White Sox fan with false hope that thinks that every year is going to be “the year”.

I think this season could be one of the better seasons in White Sox history, or it could be just another season near the bottom of the division. If you remember back to 2005, the White Sox weren’t expected to win the division and have the great season they had. They were a bunch of misfits with a lot of question marks that somehow came together and won a ton of games and the World Series. Take a look at the Cardinals last year. Did anyone except for maybe a few stupid Cardinals fans expect them to win the World Series? I don’t think so. You see, the Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies aren’t going to win just because they’re the favorites and because ESPN buffs them up to look big. The team that you don’t expect to win actually wins sometimes.

I’m not saying that I think the White Sox are going to win the World Series this year, but I think they can be a lot better than people expect. They’re picked by most “insiders and analysts” to be 4^th or 5^th in the division. Too bad this division is like no other division in baseball. Every single year all five of the teams have a shot at it because there isn’t a dominant team. This year the Tigers are picked to win it, which means that it’s almost certain they won’t win it. They have big Prince Fielder. I seem to recall another team in the AL Central that signed a big hitter from the national league and planned to have him save their team’s offense. I don’t think that signing worked out too well. The Tigers have no pitching other than Verlander. The Twins have injury problems and don’t have great pitching. The Indians have Ubaldo Jimenez who will hit anyone that he doesn’t like, so the White Sox should probably watch out for him. The Royals have a ton of good prospects that are growing up. I think the team to be most afraid of in this division is the Royals or the White Sox.

Before fans start throwing in the towel for this year’s season, watch a couple games and see how it goes. The White Sox aren’t going to be as bad as they seem. If things go their way, they can be one of the best teams in the AL Central and maybe get a chance in the playoffs. 

Opening Day Roster Revealed

The White Sox made all their cuts and finalized the roster for opening day a day earlier than most other teams. It was quite the treat seeing the roster for this year, and now I'll break it down.

Catchers
AJ Pierzynski- AJ has been a solid catcher year after year for the Sox, and I expect nothing less than normal this year. With Flowers playing catcher as well, he should get more rest and be more of a presence at the plate. I think he'll have the best batting average on the team at the end of the year. He's always healthy and is a great catcher. He's one of the best at making the pitchers he works with better. I'm looking forward to another successful season from him.

Tyler Flowers- Before last season, he was called up occasionally, but I was never impressed with how he played. He was a streaky hitter and wasn't that great of a catcher. When he was called up last year after Castro left the team, he played great. He was a good hitter and defensive catcher. I'm hoping he can continue playing that way this season.

Infielders
Paul Konerko- Konerko is always the one solid player on the team. Doubts were in my mind about how long he could keep up the pace, but from what I've seen this spring, he's ready to have another great season. Even if he doesn't have his best season, he will help lead the team and others will step up to take some of the load off his shoulders.

Gordon Beckham- He hasn't had that breakout season that everyone is expecting from him yet. There's always that hope that this year will be that year. I don't think it will be that year, but I think that his hitting will improve. He's a great defensive second basemen, but really needs to improve his hitting. I think the new hitting coach will help him improve a little, and I think he'll have an okay year.

Alexei Ramirez- He's had streaky hitting years in the past, but even if he is just average this year that would help the team. If he improves a tiny bit, that would make a huge difference. He's become better and better each year with playing defense. If he can shy away from too many errors, the White Sox infield will be defensively sound.

Brent Morel- Morel is one of the players that I think the new hitting coach will have the greatest effect on. He didn't hit well last year, but he's fixable. He'll bounce back this year by striking out less and popping out less. His defense is pretty good and as long as he doesn't make careless errors, he'll help add to the great defensive infield.

Eduardo Escobar- He's a rookie and he's looked pretty dang good this spring. That's basically all I can say about him, because that's all I know. I hope he can add something to the team and step into places in the infield when certain players aren't hitting or playing well.

Adam Dunn- This season is huge for Dunn. If he bounces back and hits 25 home runs, the White Sox are in great shape. His swing is already looking better and he is striking out much less than he was last year. By looking at last year's numbers, he can only go up.

Outfielders
Alex Rios- The new hitting coach is going to have a giant effect on Rios this season. Last year, Rios was lost at the plate. The hitting coach didn't help at all, and Rios just had a bad season. With the new hitting coach and maybe a new attitude, Rios can get back into the same form as the Rios from 4 years ago. I believe he can be that hitter again and I believe playing right field instead of center will benefit him defensively.

Alejandro De Aza- Last season was just a sneak peak into how good De Aza is. He's both good at the plate and out in the field. I trust him in center much more than I trust Rios. I'm excited to have him on the team full-time this year. I think he'll have a good hitting season and will help the offense improve.

Dayan Viciedo- He is a tank. I don't think anything else needs to be said.

Kosuke Fukudome- It's exciting to have him on board this year. It's also nice knowing that if Rios starts to struggle, there is someone who can adequately fill in for him. He had a pretty good spring and I'm happy to have him as a fourth outfielder.

Brent Lillibridge- He's been the streakiest player ever in the past couple years, but it's nice when he's hot. I think Venturra will be happy to ride him until he cools down if he does happen to get hot. Looking forward to him having a small, but important roll in this year's team.

Starting Pitchers
John Danks- This is his first year as the ace of the squad and I think he can handle it. Since he first started with the Sox, Buehrle was his mentor and now Danks has Buehrle's place on the team. He's up for the challenge and he's going to do a great job.

Jake Peavy- I'm not expecting Peavy to have a Cy Young year or be close to what he was before he came to the Sox, but I am expecting him to have a good season. He's a good number two pitcher as long as he has confidence and gets along with Cooper.

Gavin Floyd- He's been shaky the past couple seasons, but hopefully he has a good season this year. He's probably the pitcher that I'm most worried about this season just because I can't trust him to be good. He'll have good games, but he'll also have really bad games.

Chris Sale- He's had a great spring and I expect him to have a great season. He could falter toward the end of the season just because he isn't used to the amount of work that is put into an entire season as a starter. Otherwise, I think he's completely ready for this role.

Philip Humber- I'm not expecting him to pitch like he did last year, but for being the 5th pitcher in the rotation he's going to be very good.

Relievers
I'm going to address the relievers as a whole just because I don't know a lot about pitchers like Nate Jones and others.
My opinion on the bullpen is that it will be better than it was last year and has been in the past, but there still isn't a sure closer. I'd like to see Reed in the role and keep Thornton as the setup man because that's what he's good at. Jones has been good in spring training and I'm ready to see what he can do.

Chicago White Sox Year In Review

As the new year is coming soon, I thought I'd look back at the past year for the White Sox and comment about everything that happened. It was an interesting and disappointing year for White Sox fans.

The first thing that I remember from last year is the Sox resigning both Konerko and AJ Pierzynski. This was probably the most important signing of the offseason for the Sox. Konerko is the captain and is the most important player on the Sox. He shows up every day and does whatever he can to make the Sox win. He has been the White Sox MVP for the past 5 seasons. Signing AJ was also key for the White Sox. He is one of the most dependable catchers in Major League Baseball. Up until this season, he had never been on the disabled list. He's tough and a great catcher. He can also hit the ball well. His age is showing, but signing him was very important and made fans very happy before the season even started.

The next thing was spring training. Trying to figure out who will be on the team and who won't. Lastings Milledge looked like a keeper, but coaches thought different and kept him down all year. This turned out to be right.

The season started exactly as White Sox fans expected with a big win over the Indians. Adam Dunn and what was supposed to be an explosive offense scored 15 runs. Even though pitching gave up 10 runs, the offense outshadowed it and that's what fans expected. It turned out to be the opposite as the season went on.

John Danks couldn't buy a win in the early part of the season despite pitching good games in and out. The run support became a big problem for the Sox, especially when Danks was on the mound. Once he got his first win, it was more noticable that he was actually having a great season. This helped earn him a contract extension this summer. The slow start would prove to be a problem throughout the year for the White Sox offense. This was one of the biggest disappointments during the 2011 season.

Next was the campaign to get Konerko to the all-star game by voting him in for the final vote. The campaign went well and Konerko was elected to the game. Only Quentin and Konerko made it to the all-star game from the White Sox, which the AL lost.

The season went on and more disappointment happened. The White Sox failed to score runs and pitching wasn't as good as it should have been. Peavy remained injured on and off for most of the season. Humber was a nice surpise leading the Sox in ERA all year. It was easy to see that the White Sox had a lot of things to fix over the offseason.

Ozzie Guillen and Greg Walker were both fired, as they should have been. Robin Ventura was hired as the new manager for the White Sox. Fans hope that he can do better than the last ex-player manager.

The final part of this year that is memorable is Mark Buehrle signing somewhere outside of Chicago. He was deep in the hearts of many White Sox fans and will remain there for years. Even though he is wearing a different jersey now, White Sox fans will always love him for what he did in a White Sox jersey. The no-hitter, perfect game, winning a World Series game, saving a World Series game, and being the ace the White Sox needed. Not to mention the great fielding plays including the through the legs play last year. There aren't many words to describe how near and dear Mark Buehrle was in the hearts and minds of Sox fans, but he will always be remembered. It was great to have someone like him on the White Sox and I hope he does well in Miami and continues to be great. To fill the Buehrle void, John Danks signed a big contract and will probably be the ace next year as he is already scheduled to start opening day.

2011 was an interesting year for the White Sox to say the least. It could've been better, but it could've been worse too. There's a lot of improvement needed and hopefully 2012 is better than 2011 was.

Blind Optimism

Right now, every White Sox fan is probably going crazy. Buehrle is gone, Kenny hasn't made any big moves, and there are probably more players on their way out the door. There's not a lot of positives going through the fanbase right now, but why not? I think there are some things to be positive about.

The first is that despite losing Buehrle, the Sox still have a rotation that can do some damage. With the new manager and basically all-new coaching staff, things are going to be turned around. If Beckham, Rios, and Dunn can all have average years, the White Sox offense will be dangerous. If rookie outfielders Dayan Viciedo and Alejandro De Aza can preform, the offense will be even better.

Yes, these are all hypothetical, but lets look at the last time the White Sox won the world series. 2005. The first thought is probably that that team was perfect in chemistry on and off the field and this team has nothing to do with that one, but you're wrong. Before the start of the 2005 season the White Sox were picked to finish fourth in the division and had a lot of ifs on their team. Their entire pitching staff was a giant if and nobody knew if the offense would be as good as it was. The 2005 season also started with a brand new manager. You see, the similarities are endless.

Let us also look at last year's World Series Champion, the St. Louis Cardinals. Did anyone honestly pick them to win the World Series other than some meatball Cardinals fan? No. They fought hard and won series after series. They weren't a stacked team with a rotation like Philadelphia, they were just an average team that knew how to win games. So who says that the White Sox can't win the World Series this year?

Santos Traded, Buehrle Signed. Where do Sox go from here?

Earlier today it was confirmed that Mark Buehrle would sign with the Miami Marlins. This is a day that will live in infamy for White Sox fans. The day that one of the most consistent and leading pitchers left Chicago. There are many people out in White Sox land hoping that this is just a dream and that somehow the White Sox will still find a way to get Buehrle back. I know this because I had a similar thought when I found out that he would be leaving. I was one of those delusional fans that thought that the White Sox would still sign him despite everything being against them. Now that my delusional feelings can officially be ended, I have a few things to say about Buehrle leaving. The first is that the White Sox lost a very important player. When you think White Sox the first players that come to mind are Paul Konerko and Mark Buehrle. The White Sox no longer have one of their franchise players, and Konerko will have to retire eventually. A big question is who will take over as the face of the franchise. The second thing I have to say is that I'm going to miss him a lot because he was one of my favorite players to ever wear a White Sox jersey. Finally, the last thing I want to say is that the White Sox organization screwed up by not doing whatever possible to keep him here. He has been the White Sox ace and the most consistent starter for years. He has won a World Series game and saved a World Series game. He threw a no-hitter and a perfect game. Through thick and thin, he has been there and I don't know what the White Sox will do without him. He will be missed and I can't help but think that the Sox could've tried a little harder to keep him.

In other news, earlier this week Sergio Santos was traded to the Blue Jays for a pitching prospect. The prospect is supposed to be pretty good, but I'm not sure if losing the closer is worth it. It seems like Kenny Williams has started to begin rebuild time. Now the Sox don't have an ace, a closer, and their setup man is on the trading block. One of their best relievers has been moved up to the rotation and everything is a mess. I don' know where the White Sox go from here, but it doesn't look good and 2012 is going to be a long baseball season.

Sox sweep the Twins

The White Sox had the best game of the series today and finished off the sweep in Minnesota. This is the first time the White Sox have swept the Twins in Minnesota since 2004.

Peavy was brilliant today and got tons of run support that he didn't even need. Peavy pitched eight innings only giving up 3 hits.

The White Sox offense was explosive including four homeruns. The homeruns were from Lillibridge, Konerko, Ramirez, and Rios.

Overall, this game was probably the best in the series. Yesterday was a good game, but today the Sox were even better. Hopefully this success will continue for awhile.

I feel like the season is over.

I've tried to be optimistic about this season. I want to believe that the White Sox can pull of some miraculous comeback and actually win the division and maybe go somewhere in the playoffs. Right now, I just don't see that happening in even the wildest scenario.

This team was supposed to be good. The great starting pitching combined with the hitting that Rios, Dunn, Konerko, Beckham, and Quentin were supposed to provide was going to make them a genuine threat in the American League. Well three of those players that were supposed to supply offense have not. Sure, Beckham is great in the field and I love him to death, but he has been terrible at the plate. Dunn has not lived up to the expectations at all and Rios doesn't even care about the game. He jogs to pick up the ball and can't hit for nothing at the the plate.

The team hasn't lived up to the expectations and the season is basically over. I don't see this team pulling off a dramatic winning streak and winning the division. I can't see that happening with how awful the offense has been. I will still watch this team and I will still love them next year, but I can't continue to write positive things and say that everything is going to be okay.

The White Sox start a series against the Twins today. The Sox have been terrible against the Twins and will probably continue that in this series, but who knows maybe they'll manage to win a game or two against them.

Series Preview. White Sox vs. Yankees

This is a big four game series against the Yankees. The Sox really need to win or tie this series so they can stay in the race for their division. That will be tough, because the Yankees are a good team.

The Yankees are 7-3 in their last ten, while the Sox are only .500 in their last ten. New York is obviously the hotter team, but that doesn't necessarily mean they have a better chance to win.

Game 1
CC Sabathia (15-5 2.56 ERA) vs. Jake Peavy (4-4 5.27 ERA)

Peavy's last three starts have been terrible. He is 0-2 with a 6.61 ERA and 13 Ks. He looks to improve those numbers this series.

CC Sabathia has been good in his last three starts going 2-1 with a 1.57 ERA and 30 Ks. He has been dominant all season and these numbers are just proof that he hasn't slowed down.

This game seems like an obvious loss to me. Peavy and Sabathia is a giant mis-match. Peavy has been terrible lately while CC has been one of the best pitchers in the league all year. The White Sox offense doesn't look like it will be able to hit off this guy. Konerko is not in the lineup thanks to getting hit yesterday and that is just another reason to predict a loss. Who knows, the Sox might surprise me and somehow win.

Game 2
Phil Hughes (1-3 8.24 ERA) vs John Danks (4-8 3.79 ERA)

Hughes hasn't been good all season and especially not in his last three starts. He is 1-1 with a 6.06 ERA and 11 Ks.

Danks has been a lot better in his more recent starts going 1-0 with a 0.61 ERA and 18 Ks in his last three starts. Hopefully he continues to pitch well and gets himself another win.

This game can easily be won by the White Sox. Konerko could hopefully be back and Hughes isn't a very good pitcher. They can score some runs off of him and Danks will probably pitch well as he has been doing lately.

Game 3
AJ Burnett (8-9 4.23 ERA) vs Gavin Floyd (9-9 3.96 ERA)

Burnett has not been good in his last three starts going 0-2 with a 4.74 ERA and 20 Ks. Maybe the Sox can take advantage of that and score some runs off of him.

Floyd has been fantastic in his last three starts going 3-0 with a 0.81 ERA and 16 Ks. Hopefully he keeps it up and gets himself another win to get over .500.

This is another game that the Sox can easily win. Burnett has not been good lately and Floyd has been on fire. If Floyd pitches another great game, the Sox should easily win.

Game 4
Bartolo Colon (8-6 3.30 ERA) vs Philip Humber (8-7 3.44 ERA)

Colon has been pretty good in his last three starts going 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA and 19 Ks.

Humber has not been himself lately and the numbers show that. In his last three starts he is 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA and 14 Ks.

Hopefully Humber stops his nonsense in this game and the Sox can get a win and win the series. Colon has been pretty good, but hasn't been consistant this year. If Humber has a good start and Colon has a bad one, the Sox can win.

Overall, if the Sox win 2 of these games I will be happy. They have the chance to win 3 games and win the series, but the Yankees are pretty good and I don't know if they can really pull of winning 3 of the games.

Series Recap. White Sox lose 2/3 against Red Sox

This was not a great series for the White Sox. They got a good win in the first game thanks to AJ Pierzynski's homerun. The second game was so terrible that I don't even want to talk about it and the third game was okay, but they could have done much better.

Overall, I did not like what the White Sox did this series. I realize that it's only August 1st and that there is still a lot of time left. I just don't think the Sox have the will to win this division. They have the talent, but watching Rios play center I just don't see the desire to win.

The only guy I see with an actual desire to win games is Paul Konerko. He is busting his ass everyday to make this team a better team. He is taking pitches and getting hurt, yet still going to first base. That's why he is the captain of the team. Quentin has been stepping up lately, too. He hasn't been doing it to the same extent as Konerko has though. I want to see heart and desire and I want to see that they actually want to win. I haven't seen that lately. They all need a reality check so they get their butts in gear and start winning baseball games again.

Game Recap. White Sox lose 5-3

The White Sox actually had a good chance to win this game. Buehrle only made one big mistake and that the was the 2-run homer in the 2nd inning. In the bottom of the second the Sox came back and scored one run to cut the lead in half.

The White Sox scored one run in each of the next two innings to gain a 3-2 lead. They held that lead until the 7th when they gave up two runs. They also gave up a run in the 9th.

The game was not a very impressive one by the Sox. Rios had another play where he didn't really hustle and threw a dainty little throw that allowed a run to score.

Flowers looked good, but he gave up a passed ball that he should've blocked that lead to runs later in the inning.

Lillibridge played first base after Paul Konerko was knocked out of the game when he was hit in the left calf by a pitch. X-Rays were negative, but I don't know when he'll be back. Hopefully it will be soon, the Sox need him.