The starting pitching on the White Sox could have anywhere from one to four decent pitchers. Gavin Floyd returns as the defacto ace of the rotation, but is badly miscast in that role. While he has provided solid strikeout to walk ratios and a decent WHiP since he has been given a full-time role, he has also had only one season with an ERA under 4.00. Likewise, John Danks does not strike out a lot of hitters, and gives up a decent amount of baserunners. Both slot better as a third starter. Jake Peavy continues to hunt for the elusive healthy season, and will probably be injured by the All-Star Break yet again. When healthy, he is one of the best in the game, but can he be counted on for more than 20 starts? Philip Humber pitched well last season, but does anyone really expect that to continue? Jason Simontacchi also had one good year, and how did his career go? Chris Sale actually could be the best of this group. He was lights out in the bullpen, and has the pitching repetoire and skills to succeed.
The bullpen could be a disaster. Matt Thornton proved that he cannot be a closer in the most empathic way possible, short of bring out a can of petrol to the mound and lighting himself on fire like a protester at the G8. However, when he was mercifully put back into the setup role, he pitched a lot better. Sergio Santos, last year’s closer, was traded for essentially nothing, so the closer role now falls upon hard throwing rookie Addison Reed. Reed struck out 12 batters in 7.1 innings last year, so he may have the makings of a Craig Kimbrel type of season (fantasy sleeper alert!) Jesse Crain returns to the bullpen, and is a solid piece for the seventh and eighth innings. However, any thought of him opening the season as the closer while easing Reed into the role is pure insanity. Will Ohman is pegged as the lefty specialist, but he really isn’t that good. The bullpen will be a lot worse than last year.
In the outfield, the White Sox will likely have Alejandro De Aza in left, Alex Rios in center, and Dayan Viciedo in right. There are enough question marks with the outfield, that they may as well wear Riddler costumes. Can De Aza, a 27 year old career minor leaguer, hit like he did in his 57 game trial over the final two months of the season? Can Alex Rios not be one of the worst players in baseball? Can Dayan Viciedo be a decent enough glove in right field where he does not evoke memories of Jose Canseco trying to field a ball? Chances are, two of these questions will be answered with ‘NO!’ Of the three, Viciedo has the best chance to be a solid contributor the entire season. Alex Rios did pull his astonishing disappearing act in 2009 as well, when he moped his way out of Toronto. De Aza screams fluke with his .404 BABiP last year. This group could be fairly bad.
Yet, as awful as the outfield could be, the infield may be even worse. Third baseman Brett Morel was atrocious until he went on a late season tear. Can he use that burst in September as a springboard for 2012? Unlikely, but there is a glimmer of hope, albeit a rather faint one. Alexei Ramirez is what he is, a 15 home run, 15 stolen base shortstop who plays solid defense and does not really do any one thing well. However, he may be the best bat in this lineup by default. One time mega-prospect Gordon Beckham has gotten progressively worse since his rookie season, and may actually be just a bench player. Paul Konerko continued to roll along, but is 36. How long will his body hold up?
Furthering what may be one of the worst lineups this side of the American League West, Adam Dunn managed to put up what may have been the worst season in major league history. Congratulations Bill Bergen, you are no longer the biggest embarrassment to be an every day player. The surprising part of Dunn’s collapse was how remarkably consistant he was for the ten years prior to that. Was this just a fluke season, or is Dunn….well….done? Chances are that he bounces back, but it really won’t be difficult to have a better season. At catcher is A.J. Pierzynski, a player who has played at backup level (check his WAR) over most of his career, yet still somehow finds a way to get over 400 at bats per season. Backup Tyler Flowers is another former top prospect whose stock has fallen dramatically (notice a trend here?) but he does have some power potential. If he can hit to start the year, he may finally end Pierzynski’s reign of terror at the catcher position.
In the end, the White Sox will be terrible this season. They have a rookie manager, no direction, a barren minor league system, and no hope. They will struggle to not finish in the basement of the American League Central.
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