For many, the term “hope springs eternal” applies to the giddy anticipation for another season of baseball. Maybe this is the year. Maybe things will come together and my team will make it to the series. Well unless you are fortunate enough to be a fan of one of the evil empires, or of the cubs, or just plain retarded, most of you should know going in that your team stands no chance. As a White Sox fan, I’m no different than most. Even at the onset of the most promising year, anticipation is always replaced by trepidation. I go into every season in full fretting mode, staring at a team with oddly moving parts, flashes of talent, bigger flashes of sucking and always with an insane person driving the ship. Don’t get me wrong, I love the insane person that manages the team, just like I like the angry one that serves as his boss. The Twitter and web site stuff, however, was garbage, proving that aside for a few rookies and veterans trying to reclaim lost magic, spring training is a colossal waste of time.
So, what to make of this team before it starts the 2010 season? There are things to get excited about, as well as plenty to get worried about. And in between are a whole lot of questions that could turn this season into one to remember, or one that makes us throw up all over ourselves. If you are looking for numbers, I have very few for you. I suggest consulting baseballreference.com, a wonderful source for such things.
Positives
Starting pitching is where the biggest strength lies with the White Sox. The rotation of Peavy, Buehrle, Floyd, Danks and Garcia is easily the best in the Central Division and one of the best in the American League. They are also very bull-doggy, intense, scrappy and baseball-ee, thanks to Peavy and Danks. Expect a lot of Hawk Harrelson love for Peavy and his glares and mitt-shouting. Expect a lot of Hawk love period.
Offensively, this White Sox team looks like no other team before, more closely resembling the fabled “Ozzie-ball” that everyone seems to want, with more speed, pitching and defense and less beer-league softball power. Speed comes with the addition of Juan Pierre, most likely your starting left fielder. I was a little thrown off by the pick-up of Pierre. To me, he’s a slap hitting out-machine, but I suppose he fits the bill as a table setter and is probably a minor upgrade from Scotty Pods, if for anything he’ll play most of the season. He’ll also steal you 30-40 bases, which is fine. The lineup overall is not full of base-cloggers like Thome and Dye, the latter who could run but would also make you think he was going to break apart turning every base. Konerko and AJ are still there, but will probably be split up by a more youthful Rios, maybe. There should be no shortage of runners moving from first to third, and sacrifices, as well as plenty of people caught stealing.
The White Sox defense has improved as well, especially in the outfield. Pierre is an improvement over Podsednick and can play angles and hops like a normal outfielder. His arm is terrible. So expect Ozzie to send out help, or put Pierre in as DH from time to time like he did with Pods. Rounding out the outfield, Rios is above average in center and Quentin should perform admirably in right field, his natural position, if (big if) he can stay in one piece. As insurance, the Sox picked up Andruw Jones, once big as a whale, but always an all-star caliber outfielder when he could pull himself away from the buffet. If Jones commits to the Ozzie plan, my ideal outfield would be Quentin, Jones and Rios. Around the horn in the infield, Konerko is solid if unspectacular and Beckham should be fine in his new spot at second. If Ozzie can keep him from drifting, I expect Ramirez to bounce back at short. Teahan should be steady at third, though he hasn’t played there a ton in the past. (Of note, one-hundred year old hall of famer Omar Vizquel backs up short.) AJ will block the plate, call a great game and throw out perhaps four baserunners all year. That’s what he does. He’s AJ.
Finally, we get to the bullpen, which features a gaggle of big hard throwing dudes, much more skilled than the 2007 version of big dudes (see Cisco and MacDougal). Closing out a game with a combination of Linebrink to Putz to Thornton to Jenks should strike fear in the hearts of opponents. This bunch will be putting up a whole lot of K’s, if they can stay healthy. Add converted infielder, possible closer of the future Sergio Santos to the mix and things could get interesting. Tony Pena (bad) and Randy Williams (left-handed specialist, meh) will round out the bullpen.
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