Monday, March 1, 2010

White Sox 2010 Preview Baby


Chicagos’ winningest team of the 2000’s (857-764, .528) failed to make the 80 win mark only twice during the decade. One of those years was 2009 when the Sox finished 79-83 in third place of the AL Central.

2010 is the start of a new year and a new decade. The White Sox will make the jump and finish in first place in the AL Central.


2010 Projected AL Central Standings

87-75 White Sox (79-83)

82- 80 Minnesota Twins (87-76)

72-90 Detroit Tigers (86-77)

72-90 Kansas City Royals (65-97)

63- 99 Cleveland Indians (65-97)

Right before last years all-star break, White Sox GM Ken Williams was really busy. The White Sox traded for Padres all-star pitcher Jake Peavy, they picked up Alex Rios from the Toronto Blue Jays and acquired Mark Kotsay in a trade with the Red Sox. While Rios batted below the “Mendoza Line” (.199) with three home runs, Kotsay batted .292 with 3 home runs, and Peavy won his three starts with a 1.35 ERA. These three pick-ups were no doubly moves by Williams to improve the team for the future.

It looks as if the White Sox are trying to have more of a balanced lineup and get away from the slow, softball like offense they’ve had the past few season. 2005 World Series MVP Jermaine Dyes’ contract was declined, they traded away Jim Thome and made a few key offseason acquisitions to get faster.

Juan Pierre was traded to the White Sox in December for two young prospects. This trade made it clear that Scott Podsednik would not be returning. Pierre had the most steals during the 2000’s decade ahead of Carl Crawford, he also has a .310 batting average in his ten seasons.

Mark Teahen was acquired in a trade from the Royals. Sensational Rookie, Gordon Beckham, will be switching from third base to second base to make room for Teahen. Beckham is a short stop by birth but played third base last season. He struggled at first to learn third base but eventually got the hang of it, now he is moving to second base which is a completely different throw than third base.

The lineup will be a lot faster than in years past but will also be losing a lot of the home run power. The White Sox are still missing a true lefty power hitter and are working with a “DH by comity.” Kotsay and Andruw Jones will be rotating in at DH, with Konerko rotating at the DH spot and at first base. Omar Vizquel is an 11 time gold glove winner but at 42 will be in a mentoring role for Alexei Ramirez at shortstop.

Here’s what the Opening Day Line-up should look like:

1. Juan Pierre -LF

2. Gordon Beckham -2B

3. Mark Teahen -3B

4. Carlos Quentin -RF

5. Paul Konerko -1B

6. Aj Pierzynski -C

7. Alex Rios -CF

8. Alexei Ramirez -SS

9. Andruw Jones -DH

After trading for Jake Peavy, the White Sox had a question at who would start Opening Day; Peavy or Mark Buehrle? Buehrle will make his ninth Opening Day start, a White Sox record. The top four starters will look like Buehrle, Peavy, Gavin Floyd, and John Danks. The fifth spot however is in question. My prediction is that Freddy Garcia will be the last spot in the rotation come April 5th.

Don't forget about Mark Buehrles’ Perfect game that highlighted his mediocre season of 13-10 (3.84) . John Danks had the tenth best ERA among American League starters with a 3.77 ERA. Gavin Floyd struggled throughout the season posting an 11-11 record with a 4.06 ERA. Peavy made only 16 (9-6, 3.45) starts in 2009 being sidelined with an ankle injury. The White Sox had the second best ERA in the American League and after adding Peavy, they look to improve on their already above average pitching rotation.

Bobby Jenks looks to return to peak form after giving up drinking alcohol this offseason. With the lose of Octavio Dotel the Sox added JJ Putz as another set-up man next to Matt Thornton. Scott Linebrink will hopefully return to the form of his first half of 2008 season.

Oh and the Twins wont be playing in the Metrodome this year. No more 1-11 on the road against Minnesota.

2 comments:

  1. After reading all your spam comments on the trib, I expected more than this...spell check is your friend!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice analysis. Interestingly, an article in the Trib today predicted a three way tie for first in the division: Sox, Tigers, Twins. Right. Like that'll happen. Like you, I think the Sox take it by a few games. Finally, as the previous comment mentions, spell check before posting. Typos takeaway from credibility.

    ReplyDelete