The Chicago White Sox

Why hasn't Kenny Williams read Moneyball!? At least Joe Morgan READ IT. Yes, he may have dismissed everything it stood for and thus making him a huge hypocrite because what's talked about in Moneyball is what makes Joe Morgan one of the greatest 2B if not baseball players of all time… but I digress. Williams needs to learn that getting on base and not homeruns creates a great offense. This offense doesn't have that. I'm glad the White Sox got rid of all the players that they did but the problem was the didn't get any huge improvements in return, at least not those that will pay off in 2009. They let go of Javy Vazquez (good, if he didn't strike you out he gave up a HR), Joe Crede (a 3B with great power but didn't walk and had a back problem in which he didn't fix after the '05 season like the team asked him to), and Nick Swisher (I don't care how good your plate discipline, you can't have an OBS THAT low like Swisher did. You still need to make SOME contact. He really was pissing off the team) To replace Crede, the Sox signed this Cuban guy Dayan Viciedo who supposed to be amazing but he's only 19. They also have Josh Fields who regressed heavily from his potential ROY season two years ago. Neither option is too hopeful. To replace Swisher the team is starting again Brian Anderson. Again, like J.D., Alexei Rameriz, a guy who can hit HRs but can't walk. On the upside, he's a phenomenal defender. I mean one of the best. The offense still had Carlos Quentin, Jim Thome (I don't care his age. He could be 70 and still have the ability to walk and hit 20-30 HRs), and Paul Konerko. And if you doubt Paulie let me put something into perspective. Jermaine Dye was top ten, maybe top five in OBS and OPS in the AL at the All-Star break. By the end of the year Paulie had a better OBS than J.D. (yes Dye stopped walking and hitting HRs but give Konerko some credit from bouncing out of slump and ending the year great). A.J.'s also one of the better offensive catchers so I have no complaints about him. To round out the offense we have 2B Chris Getz (Rameriz will play SS). Who last year had a BA of .286 and an OBS on .286. Yeah, so Kenny should fucking read Moneyball so his offense will improve! Now after all that this team could still beat my expectations if this teams pitching improves. Because of bullpen inconsistencies and my natural cynicism (plus the way this bullpen performed in the second half, now granted I think a lot had to do with Linebrink's injury so if he can stay healthy…) I think it will be hard for Bobby [Jenks] to save games when the bullpen blows leads. Now the rotation is solid with Buerhle, Danks, and Floyd but I also think the rotation has too many questions to be considered good enough to go better than 82-80. The stud of this rotation will be John Danks. However, just how disappointing that fact is, let me just give you a taste of what Baseball Prospectus is predicting out of Danks in '09: 10 W/ 4.27 ERA, 1.34 WHIP/ 137 SO, and this guy is your ace! Floyd is predicted to regress, Mark Buerhle is consistently inconsistent, Clayton Richard is too young and hasn't shown enough that he can pitch well and consistent and free agent Bartolo Colon, while actually pitched decent last year, will be too injured to have any real impact. Now Kenny has shown me he knows pitchers so I won't be surprised in this rotation and bullpen exceeds my expectations and the ChiSox are in another division hunt (hell, they did last year), but right now Cleveland and Minnesota look too good for me to place my beloved Sox any higher. On the plus side, Detroit and Kansas City look really really bad; bad enough for me to think the White Sox won't be last or second to last in the division. On the bright side, I do think the Sox have much better depth because of trades and whatnot but as some coach (I think NFL) once said, and I'm paraphrasing here "Depth is only good until you need to use it".

Projected position in division: 4th

Players to draft:
-Carlos Quentin: This man would have been the AL MVP had he not been injured in the last month. The guy walks and had power and being in the number three hole will help him generate RBIs and Rs. Hell, last year he had AJ Pierzynski and Orlando Cabrera hitting ahead of him and he still had great RBI and R totals
-Bobby Jenks: He's a great arm in the bullpen that will get all the chances he wants to generate saves. Just be careful of his lack of ability to strike out guys and draft accordingly
-A.J. Pierzynski: Outside the top teir catchers (like Martin, Martinez, and Mauer, etc), there's guys like AJ. He doesn't put up great numbers as a baseball player, but as a catcher they're very valuable. It's not a bad strategy at all to wait until a lower round to snatch up AJ so you can get the guys you really want. And outside the top tier catchers and the god awful shitty guys, there's guys like AJ. He'll generate a lot more runs than he's used to if he continues to bat in the 2 hole
-Alexei Rameriz. I wouldn't expect another .300+ BA from him but like all White Sox, he hits HRs. This will be extremely valuable if you can play him at 2B. In fact, both SS and 2B are not that deep and while Alexei is not a top tier guy, after he goes, the drop off will be huge between him and the next best player

Guys worth the risk in the later rounds
-Jim Thome: It hurts him that he's only useful in the Util spot but he still walks and is projected to get 24 HRs
-Paul Konerko: He shows signs at the end of the year that 2008 is not indicative of what's to come. Again, another guy who walks and will get 20+ HRs
-Jermaine Dye: (notice a trend here is the type of player). He'll get around 25 HRs and is a good #4 option in your outfield

Players to avoid:
All White Sox pitchers outside of Bobby Jenks