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.

Carlos Quentin Traded for Prospects

Earlier today, Carlos Quentin was traded to the San Diego Padres for two pitching prospects. This move is both good and bad for a few reasons.

This is a good move because Carlos Quentin or some other outfielder needed to go. Quentin was probably the only option because nobody in Major League Baseball wants Alex Rios and his contract on their team. This was really the only option and room needed to be made for Viciedo and De Aza to show what they have. There were too many outfielders with Quentin being there and Kenny thought that he could get what he wanted for Quentin.

This is a bad move because the two prospects aren't exactly top prospects. Neither has impressive stats that jump out. Scouts might say something else that stats don't, but by looking at stats they aren't impressive. Neither one has impressive ERA or WHIP stats. Maybe Kenny trusts the minor league pitching coaches to help these guys along, but right now they aren't impressive. This could be a bad move because the return for Quentin wasn't good enough.

In the end, this had to be done whether or not fans like it. There were too many outfielders and the Sox believe that Dayan Viciedo is the real deal. They are probably right about that. In order to see that, Quentin had to go.

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.

Danks Signs 5 Year 65 Million Contract

Quite a few sources have said that John Danks signed a new deal with the White Sox, signing for 5 years and 65 million dollars. My first reaction to this signing was extreme surprise, because that is a lot of money. Slowly, I convinced myself that it was a smart move. There are a couple reasons that I think this is a smart and reasonable move. 

The first reason is because John Danks has done nothing but good since he has been a White Sox player. Last year, he didn't have many wins, but that was because he got absolutely zero run support. In his five years with the Sox he has only had one year with an ERA above 5.00 and that was his first year. Since then he hasn't had an ERA above 4.33. His average ERA is 4.03. Year after year he has shown that he can be a top of the rotation pitcher. By giving this deal, they are showing him that they trust him in big games and they want him to have a big role on the team. 

The second reason is because this is probably the money that the Sox were going to give Buehrle. I think Danks is a better long term investment. I was reluctant to admit this during the Buehrle sweepstakes, because Buehrle is beloved and I didn't want to see him go. Looking at both pitchers, I would rather have Danks in five years than Buehrle. Danks is younger and is basically a copy of Buehrle. So, we got Danks for longer and cheaper than the Marlins got Buehrle. I think that's a win for the Sox. 

The third reason that I love this deal is because it shows that the White Sox think they have found their ace. By giving Danks such a large deal, the White Sox showed that they are confident in Danks and that they want him to be there for awhile and be an important part of the team. I love this because until now, the rotation was a big question mark. Now Sox fans know for sure who will be starting on opening day.

So before you freak out about the Sox spending the Buehrle money on a guy like Danks, think it over. Danks is just like Buehrle, but younger and maybe better. We all loved Buehrle, but it was time to say goodbye. Say hello to the new ace, John Danks.

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.