ChiSox look for postseason return
Missing the playoffs entirely a year after winning it all did not sit well with Ozzie Guillen and the White Sox. Chicago now looks to return to 2005 form.
Something happened last year that had not happened in the majors since the 1990-1991 seasons. Not counting the two year break between postseason play caused by the infamous 1994 strike, the two teams that were in the previous World Series, the White Sox and Astros, both failed to make it back to the playoffs the following year.
After Chicago’s Southsiders stormed through the 2005 season to win their first Fall Classic since the Woodrow Wilson administration, missing the playoffs entirely in 2006 was a huge disappointment. They still appeared to be the class of the division entering the ’06 campaign, with most picking the Cleveland Indians as their stiffest competition.
But the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins didn’t heed those prognostications.
The Pale Hose played ab as well as one could expect the first three months of the season. But despite a 52-27 record through June, Chicago was still 2½ games behind the Tigers in the division. A 10-15 swing in July started the slide and the White Sox’ fate was sealed with a 12-17 mark after Aug 31.
The pitching, especially the starters, that made Chicago the envy of about 29 other clubs in 2005 left White Sox fans green around the gills at season’s end. The offense was loaded top to bottom, finishing with a major league best 236 home runs in 2006. And the good news is the big sticks of that group are back in 2007.
And if Chicago fans are looking for a silver lining in last year’s disappointment, they only need look back in the books to the previous time their White Sox won the World Series then failed to play the following October. After the club won the 1917 World Series then plummeted to sixth in the then eight-team AL in 1918, the 1919 Pale Hose came right back in 1919 to find their way back into the Fall Classic.
Of course, that silver lining turned rather black in the end, so maybe we shouldn’t go there.
OFFENSE
Chicago boasted a quartet of 30+ home run sluggers in 2006, with two of those batters topping 40 in the long ball column. All four - - Jermaine Dye (44) Jim Thome (42), Paul Konerko (35) and Joe Crede (30) - - will be back in the middle of the batting order again this year. So scoring runs really shouldn’t be a problem.
Thome’s rebound season earned him his fifth All-Star appearance and marked the sixth time in the past seven seasons he has finished in the Top 10 of his league in home runs. Konerko might be the official team captain, but it’s clear that Thome’s leadership in the clubhouse is invaluable.
With Konerko and Crede back on opposite infield corners at first and third respectively, this rest of the infield is completed with Tadahito Iguchi at second and Juan Uribe at short. This will be the third straight season together for this infield foursome. Iguchi is one of the best-kept secrets in the AL despite two solid seasons since coming over from Japan. Uribe did pop 21 homers a year ago and finished with the same 71 RBI he had during Chicago’s 2005 championship season. But his offense suffered as he managed but a .257 on-base average.
Infield backups include Thome possibly spelling Konerko at first a few times, along with Alex Cintron who can play all over the dirt. Two more that could see time on the infield are Rob Mackowiak and Pablo Ozuna.
Dye is back in right, but the rest of the outfield is a little up in the air at this time. Chicago inked Darin Erstad to a 1-year deal, and it’s possible that Erstad opens the year in left while Scott Podsednik recovers from a 'sports hernia.' Once Podsednik is healthy, he will be in left with Erstad and Brian Anderson likely sharing a centerfield platoon. Anderson was a big disappointment in 2006 and his days with the White Sox could be numbered since the club has Ryan Sweeney just itching at a chance to play in the bigs.
Erstad is also coming off an ankle injury, so if both he and Podsednik are on the shelf, look for Luis Terrero to possibly spend some time in the White Sox dugout and outfield.
AJ Pierzynski is back behind the plate and coming off another fine season in which he clubbed 16 and hit .295. Toby Hall, formerly of the Dodgers and Devil Rays, will be Pierzynski’s backup.
PITCHING
As mentioned, the strength of Chicago’s world titlists in 2005 was the starting rotation. The quintet of Mark Buehrle, Freddy Garcia, Jose Contreras, Jon Garland and Orlando Hernandez, a group that started all but 10 of their regular season games, combined for a 3.75 ERA in over 1000 innings and were credited with 72 of the team’s MLB-leading 99 wins.
Hernandez was replaced by Javier Vazquez in 2006, and many expected the quintet to do even better last season. Instead, the rotation allowed an addition 105 earned runs over their 2005 figure, combining for a 4.62 ERA, almost a run higher. Overall, the staff saw its runs allowed number increase by nearly 150 from 2005 to 2006, going from the third-fewest runs allowed in the AL to the fifth most.
Garcia is now gone after the White Sox shipped him to Philly for young hurler Gavin Floyd. And Brandon McCarthy, the starting in waiting the past two seasons, was also traded, though it appears now that Chicago made a very nice deal in that swap by plying young John Danks from the Rangers in the swap.
But the heat is on Buehrle, Garland, Contreras and Vazquez to pitch up to their potential, and their paychecks, and get the Pale Hose back to the postseason.
The battle for the fifth slot in the rotation appeared to be Floyd’s coming into camp. But a couple of sour outings has the fourth overall pick in the 2001 draft losing ground to young knuckler Charlie Haeger and Danks who was just acquired from Texas. Haeger could figure into the long relief role and, ideally, Chicago would like to give Danks a little more seasoning in the minors before throwing him to the wolves that are AL lineups.
Big Bobby Jenks throws very hard and is off a 41-save season. But his violent delivery and history of arm trouble makes him one of the most fragile 270-pounders in the majors. And the White Sox bullpen might not be quite as deep as it has been in the past couple of seasons.
Mike MacDougal will be the primary setup arm and does give Chicago an experienced arm for closing if they need him to. Matt Thornton and Boone Logan provide bullpen help from the port side, as does Andy Sisco who the club picked up from the Royals in a swap for infielder Ross Gload. Another name to watch as the bullpen gets sorted out is Nick Masset who also came from the Rangers with Danks in the McCarthy deal.
Key Player(s): The offense is a known commodity as the White Sox should once again sit near the top in runs scored and home runs this season. So that leaves the defense and the pitching staff, especially the starters. The spotlight is on Javier Vazquez and Mark Buehrle.
Futures: Win totals vary from 87 at Bodog to 88½ at Pinnacle to 89½ at The Greek where the White Sox are listed at +1085 to win their second World Series in the past three seasons. Bodog has Chicago 7:4 in the AL Central, 11:2 in the AL and 10:1 to win it all. Over at Pinnacle, the White Sox are +257 in their division, +730 in the Junior Circuit and +1155 to win the Fall Classic.
Chicago bounced all over the sims, ranging from a low of 81 wins to a high of 94. I like them in the 89-90 range, and could see them reach the low-to-mid 90s if 2-3 of their starters rebound and get back in line with their 2005 showings. Put me down for the over right now as far as the current win totals go.
Missing the playoffs entirely a year after winning it all did not sit well with Ozzie Guillen and the White Sox. Chicago now looks to return to 2005 form.
Something happened last year that had not happened in the majors since the 1990-1991 seasons. Not counting the two year break between postseason play caused by the infamous 1994 strike, the two teams that were in the previous World Series, the White Sox and Astros, both failed to make it back to the playoffs the following year.
After Chicago’s Southsiders stormed through the 2005 season to win their first Fall Classic since the Woodrow Wilson administration, missing the playoffs entirely in 2006 was a huge disappointment. They still appeared to be the class of the division entering the ’06 campaign, with most picking the Cleveland Indians as their stiffest competition.
But the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins didn’t heed those prognostications.
The Pale Hose played ab as well as one could expect the first three months of the season. But despite a 52-27 record through June, Chicago was still 2½ games behind the Tigers in the division. A 10-15 swing in July started the slide and the White Sox’ fate was sealed with a 12-17 mark after Aug 31.
The pitching, especially the starters, that made Chicago the envy of about 29 other clubs in 2005 left White Sox fans green around the gills at season’s end. The offense was loaded top to bottom, finishing with a major league best 236 home runs in 2006. And the good news is the big sticks of that group are back in 2007.
And if Chicago fans are looking for a silver lining in last year’s disappointment, they only need look back in the books to the previous time their White Sox won the World Series then failed to play the following October. After the club won the 1917 World Series then plummeted to sixth in the then eight-team AL in 1918, the 1919 Pale Hose came right back in 1919 to find their way back into the Fall Classic.
Of course, that silver lining turned rather black in the end, so maybe we shouldn’t go there.
OFFENSE
Chicago boasted a quartet of 30+ home run sluggers in 2006, with two of those batters topping 40 in the long ball column. All four - - Jermaine Dye (44) Jim Thome (42), Paul Konerko (35) and Joe Crede (30) - - will be back in the middle of the batting order again this year. So scoring runs really shouldn’t be a problem.
Thome’s rebound season earned him his fifth All-Star appearance and marked the sixth time in the past seven seasons he has finished in the Top 10 of his league in home runs. Konerko might be the official team captain, but it’s clear that Thome’s leadership in the clubhouse is invaluable.
With Konerko and Crede back on opposite infield corners at first and third respectively, this rest of the infield is completed with Tadahito Iguchi at second and Juan Uribe at short. This will be the third straight season together for this infield foursome. Iguchi is one of the best-kept secrets in the AL despite two solid seasons since coming over from Japan. Uribe did pop 21 homers a year ago and finished with the same 71 RBI he had during Chicago’s 2005 championship season. But his offense suffered as he managed but a .257 on-base average.
Infield backups include Thome possibly spelling Konerko at first a few times, along with Alex Cintron who can play all over the dirt. Two more that could see time on the infield are Rob Mackowiak and Pablo Ozuna.
Dye is back in right, but the rest of the outfield is a little up in the air at this time. Chicago inked Darin Erstad to a 1-year deal, and it’s possible that Erstad opens the year in left while Scott Podsednik recovers from a 'sports hernia.' Once Podsednik is healthy, he will be in left with Erstad and Brian Anderson likely sharing a centerfield platoon. Anderson was a big disappointment in 2006 and his days with the White Sox could be numbered since the club has Ryan Sweeney just itching at a chance to play in the bigs.
Erstad is also coming off an ankle injury, so if both he and Podsednik are on the shelf, look for Luis Terrero to possibly spend some time in the White Sox dugout and outfield.
AJ Pierzynski is back behind the plate and coming off another fine season in which he clubbed 16 and hit .295. Toby Hall, formerly of the Dodgers and Devil Rays, will be Pierzynski’s backup.
PITCHING
As mentioned, the strength of Chicago’s world titlists in 2005 was the starting rotation. The quintet of Mark Buehrle, Freddy Garcia, Jose Contreras, Jon Garland and Orlando Hernandez, a group that started all but 10 of their regular season games, combined for a 3.75 ERA in over 1000 innings and were credited with 72 of the team’s MLB-leading 99 wins.
Hernandez was replaced by Javier Vazquez in 2006, and many expected the quintet to do even better last season. Instead, the rotation allowed an addition 105 earned runs over their 2005 figure, combining for a 4.62 ERA, almost a run higher. Overall, the staff saw its runs allowed number increase by nearly 150 from 2005 to 2006, going from the third-fewest runs allowed in the AL to the fifth most.
Garcia is now gone after the White Sox shipped him to Philly for young hurler Gavin Floyd. And Brandon McCarthy, the starting in waiting the past two seasons, was also traded, though it appears now that Chicago made a very nice deal in that swap by plying young John Danks from the Rangers in the swap.
But the heat is on Buehrle, Garland, Contreras and Vazquez to pitch up to their potential, and their paychecks, and get the Pale Hose back to the postseason.
The battle for the fifth slot in the rotation appeared to be Floyd’s coming into camp. But a couple of sour outings has the fourth overall pick in the 2001 draft losing ground to young knuckler Charlie Haeger and Danks who was just acquired from Texas. Haeger could figure into the long relief role and, ideally, Chicago would like to give Danks a little more seasoning in the minors before throwing him to the wolves that are AL lineups.
Big Bobby Jenks throws very hard and is off a 41-save season. But his violent delivery and history of arm trouble makes him one of the most fragile 270-pounders in the majors. And the White Sox bullpen might not be quite as deep as it has been in the past couple of seasons.
Mike MacDougal will be the primary setup arm and does give Chicago an experienced arm for closing if they need him to. Matt Thornton and Boone Logan provide bullpen help from the port side, as does Andy Sisco who the club picked up from the Royals in a swap for infielder Ross Gload. Another name to watch as the bullpen gets sorted out is Nick Masset who also came from the Rangers with Danks in the McCarthy deal.
Key Player(s): The offense is a known commodity as the White Sox should once again sit near the top in runs scored and home runs this season. So that leaves the defense and the pitching staff, especially the starters. The spotlight is on Javier Vazquez and Mark Buehrle.
Futures: Win totals vary from 87 at Bodog to 88½ at Pinnacle to 89½ at The Greek where the White Sox are listed at +1085 to win their second World Series in the past three seasons. Bodog has Chicago 7:4 in the AL Central, 11:2 in the AL and 10:1 to win it all. Over at Pinnacle, the White Sox are +257 in their division, +730 in the Junior Circuit and +1155 to win the Fall Classic.
Chicago bounced all over the sims, ranging from a low of 81 wins to a high of 94. I like them in the 89-90 range, and could see them reach the low-to-mid 90s if 2-3 of their starters rebound and get back in line with their 2005 showings. Put me down for the over right now as far as the current win totals go.
