White Sox Preview
By Benjy Lipsman in News on Mar 31, 2011 3:00PM
While the weather may deceive, spring is here and that means baseball! The White Sox open up their 2011 campaign in Cleveland tomorrow. Come October, will this Sox team find itself in the postseason? Perhaps. Last year's team finished 88-74, six games back of the Twins in the AL Central. While initial indications suggested that GM Kenny Williams would have to scale back the team's payroll in the offseason, he instead went on a spending spree in hopes of returning to the playoffs.
Key Additions:
Adam Dunn - DH/1B
Jesse Crain - Relief Pitcher
Will Ohman - Relief Pitcher
Key Departures:
Bobby Jenks - Closer
J.J. Putz - Relief Pitcher
Scott Linebrink - Relief Pitcher
The Sox roster remained remarkably stable for a professional sports team in this day and age. The addition of Dunn is the only every day player that wasn't with the Sox last year. The starting rotation remains in tact, as well. Only the bullpen saw big changes, with closer Bobby Jenks and relievers J.J. Putz and Scott Linebrink departing while Jesse Crain and Will Ohman join the mix.
Projected Batting Order:
Juan Pierre - LF
Gordon Beckham - 2B
Alex Rios - CF
P. Konerko -1B
Adam Dunn - DH
Carlos Quentin - RF
Alexei Ramirez - SS
A.J. Pierzynski - C
Brent Morel - 3B
The Sox batting line-up looks a lot like last year's, with the exception of Dunn in the middle in lieu of last year's DH by committee. Not exactly the "Ozzie Ball" we'd hoped for. Dunn has averaged 40 homers a year over the past seven seasons. On the hot corner, rookie Morel beat out last year's acquisition Mark Teahan, who remains with the team on the bench. If Morel falters, we could see Teahan given another shot at third. While there is some speed at the top of the line-up, we're concerned with the slow smashers clogging up the middle of the order once again. We've seen line-ups like this before, and they tend to be feast or famine when it comes to run production. While we can't expect Konerko to match last year's career year numbers, Dunn will add a lot of offense. Between the short outfield walls at the Cell and pitchers unfamiliar with the former National Leaguer, Dunn might chase 50 dingers. Overall, this year's line-up is an improvement offensively to last year's, which scored 752 runs -- 7th best in the AL.
Projected Starting Rotation:
Mark Buehrle - LHP
Jake Peavy - RHP*
Gavin Floyd - RHP
John Danks - LHP
Edwin Jackson - RHP
On paper, the White Sox have perhaps the best starting five in the AL. Buehrle gets his team-record ninth Opening Day nod. Behind him are Jake Peavy (eventually), John Danks and Gavin Floyd along with mid-season addition Edwin Jackson. Peavy, as expected, will begin the season on the DL as he continues to recover from a detached latissimus dorsi muscle that limited him to 17 starts last year. While he pitched for the Sox during spring training, he's expected to pitch a few more games in extended spring training as he tries to build back his stamina. In his place, Phil Humber will fill in as fifth starter. Buehrle will look to bounce back from a sub-par season, in which he went 13-13 with a 4.28 ERA. Danks and Floyd are both capable of winning 15-18 games a piece, while Jackson should also be capable of double digit wins.
The plethora of starting pitching means that top prospect Chris Sale begins the year in the bullpen instead of the rotation, where he's sure to eventually find himself. He'll join newly anointed closer Matt Thornton, along with Ohman, Crain, Sergio Santos and Tony Pena in a substantially reworked 'pen. Bobby Jenks, who burst onto the scene during the team's 2005 World Series season, is now in Boston after wearing out his welcome on the South Side. The hope is that Thornton can make the leap from set-up to closer. If not, we might see Sale in that role, and the acquisition of a closer might be Kenny Williams' biggest move should the team remain in playoff contention come late July.
If last year's team won 88 games, we see no reason why this edition of the White Sox shouldn't top 90 wins. They'll likely find themselves fighting with the Minnesota Twins into September for the division crown. Detroit could also make it a three way race. But we think the Sox have the roster to take the division... so do a majority of ESPN's experts. Let's hope the Sox can make it to the playoffs, and if they do that they have some success, because with the possibility of no football due to the NFL lockout, at least we'll have something to occupy our time this fall.