The 2009 Chicago White Sox are much different looking than the team that won the division title in 2008, which is not necessarily a good thing. Starter Javier Vasquez is gone along with shortstop Orlando Cabrera and third baseman Joe Crede and outfielders Nick Swisher and Ken Griffey Jr. – all have left by either trade or free agency. This leaves a lot of question marks and each of those slots being filled by first or second year players with little experience. Couple that with the starting rotation that currently looks like this: Mark Buerhle, John Danks, Gavin Floyd, Lance Broadway and either Bartolo Colon or Clayton Richards as the fifth starter. Buerhle is the resident veteran and ace of the staff; Floyd has three years of experience, Danks has two and Broadway and Richards each have had a couple of cups of coffee. Even with the addition of the journeyman Colon, who was let go by Boston despite finishing great last season, this is a bit sketchy. Buerhle, Floyd and Danks pitched quite good last year and there’s no reason to think they’ll do any different in 2009. And Colon could possibly rebound to have a decent year as he was showing signs of life after the All-Star break. But without a solid number four and five starter they had better count on a lot of run production to offset the expected pitching woes coming during those outings. Jeff Marquez, acquired in a trade with the Yankees, may figure into the starting rotation equation but he’s not likely to be an impact player.
To replace Cabrera at shortstop Alexei RamÃrez has been moved there; replacing Crede at third is Josh Fields who the White Sox are still expecting to develop into an offensive weapon. Providing some stability to the Sox are Carlos Quentin, who will be back in full force after missing the last month of the season with a fractured wrist, and Jermaine Dye remains in rightfield for now. During the past month-and-a-half Dye’s name has been dropped at least a dozen times as a possible trading chip, most prominently in connection with the Phillies. A.J. Pierzynski continues to be both a reliable catcher and excellent hitter for his position and they could not do without him. Sluggers, first baseman Paul Konerko and DH Jim Thome will both be back as well though each of them had a major dropoff from their usual career numbers. Konerko hit .240 with only 22 homers and for a little more than the first two months of the season he barely managed to hover above the infamous ‘Mendoza Line’ until getting hot – or at least as hot as he could get. Thome batted just .245 – his worst average ever for a full season – but did hit a very respectable 34 HRs with 90 RBIs.
The Sox couldn’t possibly survive a drought this season like each of them went through last year. And last season they had the luxury of having swingman Nick Swisher who added 24 homers though he didn’t hit for any better of an average – a paltry .219. All the Sox have for bench depth is the well-traveled journeyman utility infielder Wilson Betemit who takes the place of departed free agent Juan Uribe. Betemit is useful in that he can play all infield positions…just so long as you don’t need any of them played very well. Dewayne Wise and Jerry Owens return to the squad but their only value is as outfield subs – though Owens does possess speed and is a legitimate threat to steal. Which brings up a very important point – there is not one bona fide leadoff hitter among all the current members on this squad. GM Ken Williams should have been making bids on Boston’s expendable outfielder Coco Crisp when he was on the trading block but instead he was too busy trading away quality & value and getting nothing in return to show for it.
As it stands right now I think the White Sox are planning on just ‘phoning it in’ this season and waiting for players to develop in the minors. I can see them giving challenges to Minnesota and Kansas City but they appear vastly undermanned when matched up against Detroit or especially Cleveland. I think it’s going to be a long year in Chicago and I wouldn’t be surprised to see manager Ozzie Guillen get more than a few ejections this year, possibly even taking a walk if it gets too hard to bear.
One suggestion for the Chicago front office: It’s time to dump centerfielder Brian Anderson already. He can’t hit, can’t steal bases, only an average fielder with no range to speak of and marginal at everything else. He adds nothing to the team they couldn’t get from a player out of Triple A. Move either Quentin or Dye into center and sign Adam Dunn, inserting him into either left or right field. People knock Dunn for his play all the time but it’s as average (or better) than over half of the 700+ players who played outfield in the majors last season. Dunn would also be a long term solution for DH when Thome hangs it up – which ought to be by the end of this season or next.
Filed under: AL Central
