bellzboy

Chi White Sox

03: 86-76
04: 95-67

Sox led the league in BA this spring. They were quiet in the offseason, but didn't lose many people either. Offense has huge potential, Starting pitching is average, bullpen is shaky.

Lineup:
The Sox have a power packed lineup. There are 6 guys who can hit 20 homers, 3 or 4 that can hit 30, and Thomas hit 42 last year. Magglio Ordonez was in a slump last year... he hit .310, had 29 homers and 99 RBI. This lineup can put up lots and lots of runs. The only real question mark is their leadoff man, Willie Harris, who wishes he was at the mendoza line last year. Batting second will be Jose Valentine, who will hit only from the left this season after switch hitting previously. He has decent speed, good power, and a tendency to strike out. Batting third is Magglio, mentioned above, he is in a contract year and should put up huge numbers this year. Thomas volunteered to switch with Magglio to hit 4th this year, and it is a good fit, since he won't have the average Mags has, nor is he much of a baserunner, but has more power. 5th is Carlos Lee, who had a career year last year and looks to improve on his 113 RBI, since he will have more people in front of him, having batted second most of last year. Konerko is hitting 6th, and is looking to rebound from his atrocious start and end last year(he did well in teh middle of the season...). 7th will be Joe Crede, who has good power, and is getting better every year as a hitter. 8th is Aaron Rowand who hit very well at the end of last season and during Spring Training, hopefully he can bring that into the regular season. 9th will be Sandy Alomar or Miguel Olivo, Sandy is a decent hitter for a catcher, and probably knows more about pitchers than most of the Sox coaches. Miguel was pretty bad last year, but had a good Spring and should turn the corner in his second full season.

Pitching:
The opening day starter is Mark Beuhrle, and he will win 15-18 games, with ease, especially with run support this year, which he didnt have much of last year. Loaiza is next, and he won 21 games last year with a wicked cut fastball. Hitters seemed to be figuring him out at the end of the year, but he added a couple new pitches in the offseason and should get 15-18 games as well. Third is Jon Garland, who, according to Sandy, has some of the best stuff on the staff. He is poised to have a breakout season and should get 14-16 wins with ease, especially if he is left in games longer than Jerry Manuel let him. Scott Shoenweis was in the bullpen the last couple years and had a horrible spring. I'm not sold on him and I would like to see him switch places with Neel Cotts, who has some great stuff, though he is very young. Dan Wright should be good enough for a 5th starter, he posted 14 wins a couple years back and that would be more than enough for us.

Bullpen:
Here is where it gets ugly. They have really only one good reliever, and he is a setup man, in Damaso Marte. He had a great year last year, but started this year off by giving up 5 in the ninth on two homers. Billy Koch is penciled in as the starter, and it looks like he is gettttign some of his velocity back, but he will never have the 100 mph speed he had before, and will be working on pitch placement now more than blowing the ball by people. The Sox are poised to lose a lot of close ones in the 8th or 9th, but hopefully the offense will make games a little harder to win late.