Bringing Buehrle Back

One of the biggest question this offseason is whether or not Mark Buehrle will be returning to the White Sox. His contract is up and there are talks that he will be headed to his hometown, St. Louis. This is a reasonable expectation, but I don't think that will happen.

First, if Buehrle leaves the White Sox won't have anyone that's ready to be an ace and will have almost no veteran presence on the pitching staff. Buehrle is vital to this team. Getting rid of him would be giving up the 2012 season.

Second, Buehrle does want to go to St. Louis, but only if he has to choose another team. He wants to stay with the Sox above all other things. If the Sox give him a fair offer, he will come back. He isn't going to leave the Sox unless the Sox decide to get rid of him. He wants to stay.

I just have very little reason to believe that he will leave. I think Kenny Williams wants Buehrle back and will do as much as he can to give him a good enough contract offer. Buehrle wants to play here and the Sox want him back. That should mean that he will come back. I don't want to see the post-Buehrle White Sox yet.

Sale in the Rotation

It was recently announced that Chris Sale would be in the White Sox rotation in 2012. There was some fans and writers saying that he might be in the rotation last year at the start of the season, but that never happened. This is different. He will be in the rotation next year. I think this was a smart move. After a very short stay on the White Sox in 2010, they wanted him to have a full year in the majors before making him a starter. In that year, he had ups and downs but overall had a very good year. I think he’s good in the bullpen, but I really want to see what he can do in the rotation.

If Buehrle or Floyd leave the Sox this year, his presence in the rotation will be needed even more. I think he can be a very solid 5th starter this coming year and possibly move up in the rotation.

Viciedo Called Up

The move that White Sox fans have been calling for almost all year has finally happened. Most fans think it's too late and I'm one of them. The White Sox have little to no chance to win the division and now they decide to call up a guy who could be a good offensive weapon for the Sox. It doesn't make sense. 

Viciedo was on fire before the all-star break while playing for AAA Charlotte. After the all-star break, he wasn't as good and his numbers have dropped. In my mind, he still deserved the call-up, but it was a little late. 

Another reason I don't want Viciedo up right now is because it is pointless. He isn't going to win the division for the Sox and now he has to be poisoned by Greg Walker. Brent Morel and Gordon Beckham have already suffered the effects of Walker's coaching and I hoped that Viciedo wouldn't be ruined by him. Now that Viciedo is up, the ruining of his skill could be entirely possible. 

In my mind, this call-up is pointless and could backfire in the end because of Greg Walker. I like Viciedo and I think he has a lot of talent, but I'm not one of the fans that thinks he is going to save the White Sox from all their problems and be better than Frank Thomas. I think he will be a good player in a couple years and is basically the future of the Sox.

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.

White Sox win two in a row

One of the biggest problems for the White Sox this year was facing division opponents, especially the Twins. The White Sox have been terrible against the Twins, and downright awful at Target Field, the home of the Twins. That hasn't been the case so far in this series, though. The White Sox have won both of the games so far in this series. The first game was thanks to Carlos Quentin hitting two homeruns and having a 4 RBI night. The second game was just a great game played by the White Sox.

The first run was scored by timely hitting and the next run was scored by great base-running and speed. The other runs all came in the ninth including a 2 run homer from Brent Lillibridge, aka Thrillibridge.

Overall, I'm very happy with the way the White Sox ended their 6 game losing streak. They have won two games where they normally don't win and won them by playing good baseball.

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.

Game Preview. White Sox vs Yankees Game 4

Once again, sorry for not posting for a day or two. I'm just too frustrated with these team to even write about them. Hopefully they avoid the sweep today.

Konerko is back in the lineup, which makes me happy. Hopefully the Sox get a win.

The lineup for today is:

Juan Pierre LF, Alexei Ramirez SS, Paul Konerko DH, Adam Dunn 1B, Carlos Quentin RF, AJ Pierzynski C, Gordon Beckham 2B, Alejandro De Aza CF, Brent Morel 3B

Humber is pitching today. He has not been pitching very well at all lately and hopefully he turns that around today.

The Yankees lineup is:

Brett Gardner LF, Derek Jeter SS, Curtis Granderson CF, Mark Teixeira 1B, Robinson Cano 2B, Nick Swisher RF, Eric Chavez 3B, Jorge Posada DH, Russel Martin C

Ivan Nova is pitching for the Yankees today and I honestly don't know very much about him. Hopefully the White Sox offense can get some hits off of him.

If Humber pitches well, the White Sox should be fine. I really like their lineup today and I like that Konerko is back. With Rios out of the lineup the team should look like it's showing a little more effort to win.